How to Drive Your Strategy at Warp Speed
Susan Schramm
I help CEOs and boards fast-track strategies when the stakes are high | Go to Market Strategist |Board Member| Speaker|Author
Wouldn’t you like to be Captain Jean-Luc Picard, from the Star Trek Next Generation movies?
He’s a visionary leader with big ideas to make the universe better. His strategies often involve finding peaceful solutions and respecting diverse cultures.
His signature phrase: "Make it so”.
As in, "Lieutenant, set a course for Starbase 12, warp factor 7. Make it so.”
These three words convey his decisiveness and confidence that everyone will execute. It has become an iconic catchphrase, often used to signify the moment when a plan or command is set into motion.
But what if people DON’T make it so??
What if the people YOU need to take action – won’t??
In working with boards and C-suite teams driving high-stakes strategies, I find leaders frequently get frustrated when people don’t quickly start supporting their big ideas. They figure their strategy is logical and makes sense. It just needs to be executed, right? “Make it so!”
The problem is this:?
Even the BEST strategy will FAIL if people are confused, skeptical or not aligned.?
What many leaders miss is that Captain Jean Luc Picard – and EVERY leader who successfully executes a high-stakes strategy – ?has to get really clear about WHO: Who is it that needs to take action??
Many leaders make flawed assumptions when it comes to WHO.?
They make the mistake of underestimating the wide range of people who are going to need to do something new for their strategy to work. If people are surprised and confused by what you’re asking them to do, your initiative will be delayed, if not derailed.
Sure, it takes work. After all, Captain Picard is regularly challenged to not only get the members of his leadership team, the crew, and the Starfleet Command all on one page – he often has to convince an entirely different species!?
You can think about WHO from two perspectives: “internal” and “external.”?
Your internal WHO includes (at least!)?
o You
o Your leadership team
o Employees
o Contractors
o Partners
o Suppliers
o Volunteers
o Board members?
o Investors?
o Donors.
All of these people need to be informed, aligned, and ready to do their part. When your internal WHO is informed early and clear about your new direction, they can bring their different perspectives and ideas to help you anticipate issues and get results faster. ?
Your external WHO are all those people you don’t have as much control over but are also critical to your success. ?It includes (at least!):?
o Customers who invest in your solution may need to do things differently, such as changing their processes, training, or schedule.
o Community stakeholders will need to fully understand what you are doing differently if you want them to recommend you to others
o Industry associations, ecosystem partners, and even competition will need to play a part if you are striving to create a new industry standard or a movement.
o Beneficiaries who use your solution ?(even if they don’t pay for it!) ??will still have to be clear on what they need to do differently to get the benefit.
When you plan ahead for WHO needs to take action you will avoid confusion and speed results.?
Do you know the one group leaders most often FORGET when it comes to clarifying WHO??
Themselves! Leadership teams and boards need to consider how they will personally need to step up in new ways, or they can actually create risk for their strategy.?
Want to know two things you can do right now to ensure your next big strategy gets warp-speed results??
1. Start mapping out WHO needs to take action.?
2. Create your plan to make sure they know, understand, and believe in what you’re doing ?– so they can move WITH you.?
The faster you focus on WHO, the faster you can boldly go!?
I'd welcome your thoughts.?
-- Susan
This article is part of my LinkedIn newsletter, "Driving a New Direction," to equip and energize leaders with practical ways to move forward, whether you're leading a new strategy or getting one back on track. Click +Subscribe at the top of this page if you'd like insights like this once or twice a month.
Explore my website www.gotomarketimpact.com to learn more about my upcoming book "FastTrack Your Big Idea!" and workshops that help you quickly clarify your strategy and speed results. Or message me and let's connect!
This article originally appeared at www.gotomarketimpact.com
Mission driven entrepreneurs: Attract your audience like a MAGNET | Business Growth Strategist & Mentor | Author | Idea & People Connector | ??Global Citizen - ???????? ???? ???????? ?????????? ?
8 个月It's been a dream of mine for a long time to be able to say Make it so! Sadly, the only ones I can say it to are my cats...and not to much effect, obviously
Helping Educators Perform in the Digital Space | Strategic Planning, Operational Process Improvement, Marketing & Sales, E-Learning, Evaluation | Business Consulting, Coaching | LeveragedConsultingBook.com
8 个月The step before “Make it so!” is vital element here. When facing a crisis or situation change, it’s where Captain Picard gathers his leadership in his ready room and says Give me options! Then everyone feels consulted and a sense of ownership of the decision and direction - boldly going etc. Carmen Morrison spoke of this in her interview for my Rising Resilient series: available to listen or read at https://jayallyson.com/podcast/carmen-morrison-resilience-brain-reset/
Human Skills Strategist + Trainer for the AI Age | Building Inclusive Leaders Through Connection | Leadership Coach | Empowering STEM Women Leaders | Keynote Speaker | Bestselling Author | Engineer
8 个月Thanks for the actionable tips on how to drive things forward, Susan Schramm!
RN, Transformational Leadership Coach, Mentor, Teacher & Speaker supporting healthcare professionals through systems redesign.
8 个月As always, extraordinary perspective and applicable tools for us Susan Schramm. What came up for me is, what if you go through all the strategies for all levels of the team and still encounter those who are not 100% on board with some aspect of the mission or the process? This is becoming more apparent in various organizations, where team members have different values, political stripes, and varied opinions on EVERYTHING. Leading AND following or being a team member are challenging these days.
Holistic, Integrative Massage Therapist, Teacher of Traditional Thai-Yoga Massage, Quantum Energy Practitioner. ThetaHealing Life Coach, Mentor, OwnerCert. Pilates Instructor - Private/Corp/Group at Nautilus Plus,
8 个月This is in perfect timing Susan Schram. I was recently having this conversation about this application of what we can control inward and the developments that can occur, or not occur external to the situation. Your explanation makes an interesting read and has me want to jump-start into my next steps. Love the title, "How to Drive Your Strategy at Warp Speed". Captain Jean-Luc Picard would say, you nailed it!