Brian Chernett
Abraham Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs for an individual (see picture). The basic lower level needs must be fulfilled to enable you to climb the triangle towards the self actualisation layer at the top.
Maslow's Hierarchy (source Wikipedia)
In my experience, business has a similar hierarchy. At the bottom is the day to day operation with such activities as
In the middle layer is the tactical activity. Medium term activities like marketing campaigns, promotion of products or services, decisions on the location of branches and business structure to meet immediate and forseeable needs.
The top layer is reserved for strategic issues. Such issues as consideration of what the business is about, what it stands for (and what it doesn’t) and where it can go and how that will benefit all of the stakeholders.
It is easy and seductive to remain in the operational layer. There is always something that needs attention, so it can be (and usually is) reactive. In the operational zone, your impact is usually immediate and so is the feedback on what works and what doesn’t. Many of us are naturally comfortable in that space.
Adding in a level of shorter term tactical thinking is often just an extension of the operational issues. Something operational doesn’t work well enough and you need to find a way to do it better. You are still dealing with the forseeable and the time frame for feedback on decisions made is still days, weeks or, at most, months rather than years.
Getting into the top, strategic, layer demands an ability to distance yourself, to be able to leave the operational and tactical behind and to look forward at possibility and at dreams. So how do you do that?
The more you can remove yourself from day to day issues, the more you can steer the business forward.
you can meditate, walk, run, play golf, listen to music whatever allows your mind to wander. You’ll find thoughts comibng into your mind unbidden as your unconscious mind begins to do this job for you.
and spend that time thinking about possibility. Dream for a while about where the business could be in a year, 3 years, 5 years, more. Then start to work back from there with a plan. Larger dreams will need to be broken back into smaller parcels of activity that can be achieved as part of the longer term pathway.
so that the team begin to look for opportunities to bring the dream to life and engage to implement the plans.
to find the people and resources you need to achieve that dream
Everything worthwhile that was ever achieved began as a thought or ‘dream’ in someone’s head and became real by communicating the idea (and enthusiasm for it) with others, building on that dream and taking action on it.
What are your dreams for your business?
What can you do today to begin the journey to their achievement?
Brian Chernett is founder of The Academy for Chief Executives (ACE) – He has 43 years’ experience as managing director of private and public companies, including subsidiaries of Booker Bros McConnell, the Landmark Group, and several other major companies. Find out more at www.chiefexecutive.com.
The Academy community provides a great place to build your leadership skills and learn more about motivating and developing your people, and how to focus the top team for the good of your company. As the leading providers of experiential learning, the purpose of the Academy is to inspire leaders to achieve their dreams by sharing and learning from real life experiences.