I hear a recurring issue from CEOs. They’re frustrated with the silos that have formed in their organizations and don’t know how to break them down. Everyone is so focused on his or her own priorities, and therefore, there’s no alignment.
In his iconic business strategy book, Good to Great, Jim Collins shares what he calls the “flywheel effect” — a transformational phenomenon that he observed in some of the world’s most successful companies.
It’s not about a single big idea or innovation, nor one groundbreaking marketing campaign or lucky moment. Instead, it’s a gradual, focused progression — much like pushing a massive flywheel forward, turn by turn, accelerating momentum until it reaches a breakthrough point.
The key to understanding your company’s flywheel is to identify your four to six key business drivers and map how they work in a continuous cycle, influencing every decision, and building momentum based on each success.
the clearest vision, the perfect strategic plan and an exceptional product or service, but without the right team, you won’t get too far.
Legendary business guru Patrick Lencioni, author of The Ideal Team Player, says to look for three essential values in every team member. “It’s the combination of the three where the magic happens.”
I recently attended Patrick Lencioni’s first-ever UnConference, an event focused on teamwork, leadership and organizational health. Patrick, the acclaimed author of Five Disfunctions of a Team, The Advantage, and many other books, delivered a wealth of information around maximizing the “health” of your company. Additionally, he had several renowned CEOs who shared their leadership strategies and successes in driving winning cultures in their organizations. One of the most extraordinary was the keynote from Alan Mulally, the legendary former CEO of Boeing and then Ford, who is credited for turning Ford into the number one automobile brand in the USA.
Alan has been on Fortune’s list of World’s Greatest Leaders. He’s also known as one of the kindest, most authentic leaders. As he spoke in depth about the leadership principles that have guided him throughout his career, I could absolutely see why all of this was true. In fact, he believes that Skilled and Motivated Teams are the foundation of every successful company, and he showed us his Principles, Practices and Management Systems which were printed on a single sheet, and said he reviewed this with his team before each meeting.
New Year = Fresh Start. It’s the perfect opportunity to evaluate where you’re spending your time and to make necessary changes which will improve your performance and effectiveness.
We’ve all heard of the Pareto principle (the 80/20 rule): 80% of your results will come from 20% of your activities. How much time are you devoting to tasks that don’t have a significant impact? The key to boosting personal performance is understanding what your high-payoff activities (HPAs) are and making sure these are prioritized. Identifying these HPAs will bring the greatest value to you, your organization, team and customers.
