BUSINESS EXCELLENCE COACHING
“The secret of success is that you have a purpose, stay focused and don’t allow yourself to be side tracked”
Shared purpose brings everyone together so that the organisation as a whole is working collectively towards the same vision. This provides the roadmap for strategic direction and serves as a true north for everyone to work in an aligned and purposeful way.
Aligning people in the business is the foundation of building for tomorrow. Transformation starts with understanding the “why”. People cannot align with a strategy if they do not know what it is. Therefore, it is fundamental that everyone has clear sight of your strategy and the direction in which we are heading.
It is imperative to cascade purpose both vertically and horizontally, removing silos and becoming systemic thinkers with customer-focus being central to everything you do. Aligning work with behaviours and core values at all levels will reduce waste, increase capacity and shorten lead times across the business, removing variation by not creating multiple approaches.
Silo thinking encourages individualism, stifling sharing and collaboration and hindering learning and experimentation. Work gets done by people, so it is therefore essential that we are all moving in the same direction under a clearly understood shared purpose. Creating and communicating shared purpose is the role of leadership.
They have the responsibility to cascade purpose effectively down through all levels of the business and align tactics to realise success. Improvements and daily activities then become purposeful, disciplined and focused.
The monitoring of success by using effective performance measurements that are visual brings daily work and its execution alive, so people know how we are doing and how they contribute. One of the most significant failures when deploying strategic intent is not considering how to execute strategy and plans. For this to be a reality, strategies need to align with our values and have a clear customer focus.
It is paramount that leaders find agreement on cultural and strategic direction that aligns the business and consistently anchors us to our vision, values, aims and goals. Once this is established and understood, aligned performance metrics must be deeply embedded at all levels to ensure consistency of purpose is sustained. An aligned business gets things done on time with less effort and is more agile and responsive to customer requirements.