Violate these Twelve Principles at Your Peril

Steven Covey, in his groundbreaking book 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People' observed that effective people lived their lives by a series of self-evident Principles such as Integrity, Fairness, Dignity, Hard Work and Excellence.

I believe it's possible to identify a similar set of Principles in the Business World, principles that every Extraordinary Business navigates by.

I know from painful experience that violating at least some of these can lead to disaster.

My family got our strategy wrong when we failed to face up to the decline of the British Car Industry and had to sell our car dealership in the UK when Rover cars collapsed. 

It was painful. It still is painful. We violated (at least) one of the 12 Principles of an Extraordinary Business.

I share these Principles here because I don't want you to make the same mistakes we did.

These Principles are

Find your Strategic Sweet Spot – why you Matter to your customers

1. Make a difference in people’s lives (do what matters)

2. Stand out from the crowd (be different)

3. Stay close to your customers

4. Tell your story well

Be Bold in your dreams

5. Bold in your aspiration (stretch youself)

Be an effective and inspirational leader

6. Focus on effectiveness (choosing the right road) over efficiency (going down the wrong road fast)

Strive for Operational Excellence

7. Help people bring their passion and enthusiasm to work

8. Take calculated risks and push the envelope

9. Drive efficiency

10. Improve faster than the market

11. Minimise bureaucracy

Focus on creating value

12. Focus on the cash

Could you be Extraordinary if you didn’t matter to customers, if you did the same as your competitors, if you didn’t challenge yourself to grow, if you never spoke to customers, if your leaders were despised, if you people were nothing more than gofers, if you never went outside your comfort zone, if you never told your story, if you let costs creep up, if you evolved slower than the market, if you piled on the red tape or you never made money?

I have spent the past 20 years on a quest to understand how to write great strategy.

If you want to find out more download our Simply Magic Strategy Blueprint by clicking on the link here.

It will show you how to write a Simply Magic Strategy to build a Great Business.

Choose the open water over those pesky rocks!

Cheers

Tim

Co-founder The BE school