The Power of Clarity: How a Robust Strategy Drives Growth

If we implemented a swear jar at 3SIXTY for use of the word “clarity”, a few of us would be in serious trouble.

We talk an awful lot about clarity.

What it is, how to get it, and why it’s important. ?

When we start working with a new client, we need to (quickly) get real clarity on their business, the challenges and opportunities specific to them, the dynamics at play between various people and teams across the organisation, as well as what they want to achieve. ?

We also speak about the importance of clarity with clients.

Particularly in the context of them being able to articulate a clear strategy for the business, and using this to rally their wider Team to a common, clear and communicable North Star (“where are we going?”).?

We find ourselves regularly speaking with SME leaders about things like alignment, accountability, purpose, delineation of roles & responsibilities, and KPIs.

Very often, when you pick at these seemingly disparate threads, the root-case is a lack of clarity. ???

With that in mind, let’s look at some of the areas in which SME leaders need to ensure they and their teams have real clarity.

All of these play an important part in developing a robust growth strategy for any business. ?

Landscape

Understand what’s going on around your business.

Call it landscape or environment or something else.

The starting point for any SME leader intent on growth, is to get real clarity on what’s happening in your space.

What are the trends? What is happening now that is creating disruption in your market, and how is this disruption manifesting itself?

What challenges and/or opportunities does this disruption present for your business?

Get razor sharp clarity on your own specific strengths/weaknesses (ask customers for their input. Why do they buy from you? Why do companies not buy from you?).

Are you clear on customer pain points and how your solution(s) can resolve these?

All of this requires a degree of open and honest self-examination.

Not always a comfortable exercise but worth its weight. Getting real clarity on all of this is the foundation for putting together a tailored strategy for your business. ??

?

Purpose

Clarity begins with understanding your organisation's purpose.

Beyond the services you deliver or the products you sell, why does your business exist?

You will have heard this described as your “Why?”.

It can be an often-looked part of strategy planning. In our experience, it's often seen as “wishy-washy”. But it’s a really important step.

Ask yourself what impact do you aim to create?

By clearly defining your purpose, you provide a guiding star for everyone in your business. Done properly, this aligns everyone’s plans and activities and focusses the entire business on a shared objective.

?

Make it Known

This isn’t just about a “Leadership Team” being able to say what the objective is. ?

If people at every level of your business can’t clearly articulate where you’re going, don’t be surprised if you’re slow in getting there (or worse).

And go wider in terms of stakeholders.

Engage partners and clients in open conversations about where you want to take your business. ?

?

Get Clarity on what you are really good at

I was at an event last week, and the CEO of a business was speaking about scaling and internationalising.

He talked about the “importance of?getting recognised by the market for being great at something”.

This sounds simple but it is (a) anything but, and (b) hugely powerful when done right.

Are you clear on why clients buy from you?

And why other companies have not?

There is hugely valuable intel hiding in these conversations. ??

?

Clarity, with a side of Flexibility

While getting real clarity on all of the above is really important for any SME with serious growth ambitions, (keep in mind, there is nothing complex or overly time-consuming in any of this) there needs to be room for flexibility.

The market – and wider world - won’t actually care as much as you do about your strategy!

Things will change. And when they do, you need to be able to adapt and go again.

?

There is power in clarity. When you get really clear on your “North Star”, to the point that you are able to communicate this succinctly across the wider business, you will have developed a powerful tool which will serve to align your team around a shared and unifying goal. This is a hugely powerful step for any ambitious SME looking to develop a robust and tailored growth strategy.

At?3SIXTY, we partner with the most ambitious Irish companies to deliver their full growth potential.

To find out more about 3SIXTY, visit www.3SIXTY.ie or get in touch via LinkedIn.