Company on the Edge.......Push!

What makes companies successful? Why are some able to change and move forward, while others stagnate and retreat? Why do some companies perform steadily and grow, while others lag and contract?

There is no lack of consultants or business books that will tell you why some companies are able to adapt significantly to shifting conditions and improve their competitive standing, while others fail to improve, leaving in their wake wasted resources, frustrated employees and a tenuous future. We have heard of methods put forward to transform companies – total quality management, re-engineering, right sizing, cultural change, lean manufacturing. We’ve been inundated with the virtues of mission statements, vision statements, core competency analysis and value propositions. We’ve been schooled on how to do things “better”; better plans, better marketing, better sales, better hiring, better managing, better communicating.

All of these are powerful tools and concepts and when the principles and practices are diligently applied they can contribute to a more competitive future. As a consultant myself, my observation is that there are three critical factors in achieving the desired results for an organization and being able to actually apply those principles and practices.

Critical Factor # 1 – PUSH

Push, or as it is more commonly referred to as leadership. It has been my experience that organizations with a strong leader that defines what the future should look like, aligns the people with that vision and then inspires, motives and PUSHES them to make it happen are the successful ones. That doesn’t mean that there are not multiple leadership roles, but there must an overall committed leader that is recognized by the organization to be the that leader and is willing to take the heat and stand up as the leading force in the company. Leadership by committee, by voting and by consensus has led to complacency and slow decision making. This PUSH factor is the most significant and fundamental issue.

Critical Factor # 2 – PERSEVERENCE

For both the leader and the organization, as you work on any big goal or change process, motivation will wax and wane like waves hitting the shore. Sometimes you’ll feel motivated; sometimes you won’t. But it’s not the motivation that will produce results — it’s the actions. An important factor for success is that of PERSEVERENCE. It allows you to keep taking action even when you don’t feel motivated to do so, and therefore you keep accumulating results.

Perseverence commonly suggests activity maintained in spite of difficulties or steadfast and long-continued application. Endurance and perseverance combine to ultimately win in the end. The leader must demonstrate, unremitting dogged determination to achieve the desired results, overcoming the barriers and difficulties, while instilling the trait of Perseverence within the organization as a whole.

Critical Factor # 3 – PERSPIRATION

The gap in achieving desired results is the lack of discipline in getting things done. Too often the vision is articulated, the strategy is formulated, and the implementation plan discussed, and discussed and discussed. There is simply no roll up the sleeves hard work, and getting it done! Delegation and accountability are the cornerstone to executing, implementing and creating a “can do” culture. The lack of PERSPIRATION is the main reason companies fall short of achieving the desired results.

When you distill it down to the basics a successful organization requires a leader and an organization that is resolved to make the company achieve, no matter how big or hard the decisions and to display workmanlike diligence.