I have done a lot of presentations and panel discussions. There is one that sticks in my memory. Not the event itself, although I am certain it was in London and was innovation-related, more the look on the journalist’s face once I had finished answering his question. There were four or five panel members and the journalist was facilitating the Q&A session after each of us had presented. The audience was quite large, so microphones were needed for them to ask questions. Wisely, the journalist wanted to fill the awkward silence between reintroducing us all and the first question. He turned to me and asked, “Paul, what do you think are the most important things to remember in business?” My response was, “I’ll give you my top five, as without them most businesses will fail.”
1. Why are we?
The core purpose of a business is to assemble the resources to efficiently satisfy customer needs. No customers, no business. This is the business’ mission. Put the customer at the heart of the mission, they are your reason to exist, no matter how big or small your enterprise. Make sure that everyone knows the mission and why it is customer focussed.
Ask yourself, “Do I need to be a business?” The trend is clear. More and more people are opting to be freelancers or one-person businesses. This is due to a reduction in external transaction costs versus internal transaction costs i.e. it is getting cheaper and cheaper to outsource or automate.
2. What are the leaders focussed on?
If you are a leader in the business, then your people (staff) take priority over the customer. This sounds counterintuitive to some people, it is not. You deliver value to your customers through your people. Your primary focus as a leader is to pull together the best resources you can to efficiently satisfy your customers. Find the best, recruit them, develop them and retain them, or else the competition will. Value your suppliers and partners in the same way.
3. What are we?
Have a clear and simple identity. You have stated who you do it for in your mission. Your identity should explain what you do for your customers. It often helps to differentiate between markets and industries here. Focus on your industry in the first instance. Your industry is usually defined by what you produce or offer. So, you might be a packaging manufacturer or an insurance broker. As a packaging manufacturer, you might supply several markets, for example, automotive, pharmaceuticals and food. The markets are made up of many different products and producers. Whilst the industry is all about producers.
4. Where are we going?
Be bold and visionary. The vision for the business (often confused with the mission) is the destination we are heading for. It sets the direction for the business. If nothing else could inform a decision anyone has to make in the business, this is their guiding light or North Star. Like any destination it should have an arrival time and some features, so we know when we have arrived. Make it short and memorable though, everything else can go in the strategy.
5. How will we behave?
Behaviour, by and large, is how all external entities will judge your business. You cannot hide what you really are. For this reason, and several others, values are important. The most common and catastrophic error here is to be wrong about the business’ real values. This is no place for wishing and blind aspiration. A business that espouses caring values whilst being cut-throat will be cynical and ultimately slit its own.
He tried to stop me at this point. But I was on a roll and asked the audience if they would permit me one more…
6. How will we get there?
This is the strategy, map or plan. Strategy and plans are essentially the same thing. A strategy is usually over a longer timescale and has many plans within it (although not always 😉). Like the values discussed previously, this is no time for make-believe. Be realistic and make sure all the goals and milestones on the journey are SMART so that everyone can measure progress and contribute.
To wrestle back control, the journalist asked a fellow panel member, “What do you think Andrew?” He quickly responded, “I think Paul has covered the main ones”.
But did I? Maybe you have some alternatives or additions? If you do, then pop a comment below please…
Finally, these are not just important for organisations. I know they work for small teams and individuals. What is your life mission?
Be happy, healthy and helpful
Paul
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