Pitch out those New Year’s Resolutions…NOW!

That’s right – dump the list…and the guilt that always follows when you don’t follow through. Sure, I know it’s important to make a plan. After all, strategic planning is a main focus of my business. I encourage people to make a plan and follow it. But that’s a very different scenario from our annual flirtation with resolutions.

Most plans and all resolutions are very light on methodical follow through.

When it comes to planning, less is more – fewer goals, fewer tactics. When Dolly Parton was asked about plastic surgery, she retorted,

“Honey, you’ve gotta nip it, tuck it, suck it or chuck it!”

Of course you need some goals; high-level descriptions of results you want. In business the Balanced Scorecard approach suggests goals in only 4 areas; financial, customers, employees, and processes. (Robert Kaplan & David Norton)

But even a limited number of goals won’t get you the results you need. For each goal, set at least one objective; a concrete description of results to accomplish a goal. Make sure they are SMART; Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time Related.
        
But goals and objectives don’t float out of the air. Their purpose is to fulfill a mission; what you are trying to do or be and for whom. The mission and your detailed plan are the basis for daily decision making and action.

Once all of these elements are in place, you can figure out how to achieve each objective, what activities or tasks you will perform. Most people start at this tactical level without all the detail in between. You can end up with a to-do list that keeps you busy…but…Busyness is not good business.

OK, full disclosure: My own plan in 2010 had too many goals and objectives. I didn’t accomplish some of them. But I had a plan, tracked my progress, and made adjustments along the way. The result was a very successful year. As I finish my plan for the new year, I’m following my own advice. I’m on a goals diet.

One of those few goals is to make more planning and process resources available. I’ve already accomplished my first objective; convert a 30-day email mini-course coaching program on strategic planning into a very accessible e-book. It’s now available on Amazon Kindle…

30 Days to Creating a Strategic Plan that Gets Results is packed with the coaching advice I’ve given my successful clients; practical, proven tips, techniques, and strategies that get results and help you face the inevitable challenges of implementing a plan in a dynamic environment.

What’s in it for you?

• Increased results from your efforts significantly.
• Be more productive and effective.
• Show vastly improved financial performance.
• Fulfill your core mission with greater impact and less wasted activity.
• Engage employees fully to accomplish defined goals.
• Delight customers, consumers, constituents or clients who recognize you as the best source for products or services.
• Do more with less in any economic environment.

Invest in yourself and your work for a prosperous and happy year. Get the results you want with no resolutions, no guilt, and no wasted effort.

Enjoy your success…Enjoy your results.

 

 *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

(c) Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, President, Advantage Leadership, Inc. Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com

 

Available on Amazon:
30 Days to Building a Strategic Plan that Gets Results (Kindle eBook)
Success Planning: A 'How-To' Guide for Strategic Planning (Soft cover manual)
Conventional Wisdom: How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers (Hard cover business book)

     Visit My Author Page on Amazon

http://www.advantageleadership.com/

http://www.conventionalwisdomcenter.com/

October is International Strategic Planning Month

This month the planet is celebrating International Strategic Planning Month. Why not join in the celebration?

What does your own plan look like? Tattered around the edges? Way off projected revenue and profit? Forgotten in some dusty corner? Not updated since February?

Or maybe you're one of those successful people who has a plan and keeps it up-to-date. You use the plan to guide your work, adjust it as necessary, and use it as a living document. If so, you celebrate ISP every month.

I was on a TV interview show recently with the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. He emphasized the need for executing the plan and adjusting the plan based on conditions on the ground. Now this is an important and even critical part of planning that too many people forget about.

Those of us who do create a strategic plan every year are often optimistic about what we can accomplish. We do the best job we can to analyze the environment in which we will be operating but none of us has a crystal ball...Stuff happens.

Unfortunately, too many folks drop the plan and start reacting to those unexpected events -- usually negative events -- and then we are into a downward spiral of firefighting.

When this year started, the ink on my plan was barely dry when the economic melt down hit me and my business hard. It was a scary couple of months -- disaster loomed and businesses were folding right and left. I was just as scared and worried as anyone else.

What I did was go back to the drawing board. I rewrote my plan, set new goals, devised new strategies, and set out on a new execution path. Everything I tried didn't work but some things did. As my friend the CEO said, "you can have the most elegant strategy, but when you hit the beach, it's execution that counts." Usually I'm not a big fan of war analogies in business but this is one of the times when the metaphor fit...and worked. I had to be more nimble, more creative, and more survival oriented than at any time in my business life.

The payoff? It's October and I'm still in business celebrating International Strategic Planning month. My plan? I just finished a new update that will take me through the second quarter of 2010. I may revise it a gain in 3 months -- the plan is only as good as the execution.

What about you? Have you made your plan for 2010? Now's a good time. Remember the old chestnut that's still floating around because it's true -- Fail to Plan -- Plan to Fail!

Want to know more about the Do's and Don'ts of Strategic Planning? Download it for free today. http://tinyurl.com/yfp6zfo

(c) Rebecca Staton-Reinstein and Advantage Leadership, Inc.

Plan is a 4-letter word!

"Listen, Rebecca, nobody has time for this planning stuff in this economy. They just need to survive. Planning's for when things calm down."

That was the 'conventional wisdom' from a chum of mine recently. Well, I beg to differ -- I'm not being self serving -- so here's the 'evidence.'

The September 25 - October 1 edition of the South Florida Business Journal reported in two separate articles on local banks that are doing well because of their planning. We could all take a lesson from them.

Coral Gables, Florida is the home of Gibraltar Private Bank and Trust. Several years ago the bank, founded by Steve Hayworth in 1994, was acquired by Boston Private Financial Holdings. It has just been repurchased by Hayworth and a group of investors.

Hayworth said he moved to repurchase the bank because he felt it was in the best interests of his clients. The bank will stick to its business model.

"In this environment, I see an opportunity for an integrated private bank and wealth management," Hayworth said. "We are very focused on private banking and wealth advisory services for professionals and affluent families."

"The bank will stick to its business model." This is one of the keys to Gibraltar's success for many years, first as it prepared itself for acquisition, then as it prospered under the Boston company's auspices, and now as it strikes out on its own again. Steve Hayworth and Gibraltar were featured as a case study on the power of strategic planning and leadership in Conventional Wisdom: How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers. They attributed their phenomenal growth and doubling their assets in four years to the robust strategic plan they put together and FOLLOWED. In fact, they coined a telling phrase, "The Plan is the Boss." When other banks were faltering, going under, or just flailing about in an economic downturn, Gibraltar and Hayworth stuck with their plan and forged ahead.

In the same issue of SFBJ an unrelated story featured the Florida Shores -- Southeast Bank, founded by Steven Hickman in 2006 in Pompano Beach, Florida. Obviously this wasn't a great time to start a new bank and the bank and Hickman took a lot of flack for their slow initial growth. According to the Business Journal

Hickman said he wanted a manageable rate of growth that stuck to the bank's business plan. Because of that, Florida Shores has a relatively clean balance sheet.

"A lot of the banks that grew faster are paying the price now," he said. "We have good capital and plenty of money to lend."

"Manageable rate of growth that stuck to the bank's business plan." There's that pesky planning again! Hickman, in an email, was quick to give credit to his entire team for being the fastest-growing South Florida bank. But as was clear from the leadership philosophy he shared in Conventional Wisdom: How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers, Hickman had been an expert and booster of strategic planning since his early days in the banking business. He knew its power in helping keep any venture on track and successful over the long haul. The proof of the power of that approach is in his balance sheet.

Planning in tough times? Is it a must for survival? Think about the framers of the U.S. Constitution, also featured in Conventional Wisdom. The United States were hardly united. Europe had cut off our credit, inflation was rampant, and foreclosures were devastating the farm-based economy. The latter led directly to Shays' Rebellion where local farmers in Massachusetts closed down the bankruptcy courts and marched on the state arsenal. Foreign powers were perched on our borders just waiting to pick off the disintegrating states like road kill. In fact, the U.S. faced the most threatening crisis in its history, rivaled only by the winter of 1776-7, the Civil War, and the Great Depression. Tough times indeed!

So what was the response to this tough time? 55 men assembled in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to hammer out a strategic plan for the nation. That's right...a strategic plan...The Constitution. Want to know more? Check out Conventional Wisdom. Want to get through these tough times? Make a plan Stan and Fran! Create a strategic plan with short term actions that will move you toward your long-term goals. If you flail you fail. Or as that sage, business guru Yogi Berra said, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will do."

I don't know about you, but I'm following the lead of Hayworth, Hickman, and the framers.

(c) Rebecca Staton-Reinstein and Advantage Leadership, Inc.

You want to start planning when?

Government Seeks Small Business to Supply Strategic Planning Services
...That headline in an email came to my attention immediately and I kept reading the Request For Proposal. It sounded more and more intriguing as I raced through the details. I stopped for a moment when it said the firm would need top security clearance. But I didn't think that would be a problem. After all, my book, Success Planning: A 'How-To' Guide for Strategic Planning, is used by one of the US military's war colleges...

So I kept on reading and thinking about what they were requesting and how my company fit all the requirements. They also wanted only small businesses to bid on the job. Finally I got to the last line where they let the cat out of the bag...or should I say Baghdad...That's right...the government is ready to do strategic planning in Iraq!

What? Did I read that right? Politics aside, folks, it's a little late...Shouldn't they have had a strategic plan before? But I promised I wasn't going to write about politics...

Wait a minute...Is it really so absurd to engage in serious strategic planning? Even now?

Maybe not...Stick with me. What about your own business or organization? Is everything going 100% the way you want? Are all your results moving in a positive direction? Are you facing some tough challenges or even disaster? Where do you need to be by this time next year? What changes do you need to make to assure your future?

You see, strategic planning can start any time. The key is to do a thorough and excruciatingly honest situational analysis of every aspect of your operation. Be sure to include a SWOT Analysis: What are your Internal Strengths and Weaknesses and what are your External Opportunities and Threats?

Prioritize these based on their levels of impact -- High, Medium or Low. Or, if you need more sophistication, you can assign numbers or weighting factors. Then decide which of your highest External Threats you need to have a contingency plan for and how you can leverage the highest External Opportunities.

As you go through your planning process and set your Goals and Objectives -- the descriptions of the results you want -- go back to your Internal Strengths and Weaknesses. Decide how you will use your Internal Strengths (especially your highest ones) to help you meet your Goals and Objectives. These will be specific tactics that you will execute. Then look at the Internal Weaknesses. Which of them (especially the highest ones) will have a negative effect on reaching your Goals and Objectives? Decide which specific tactics -- actions --
you will need to take to mitigate or minimize these Weaknesses.

Remember, many people remember to look at the 'worst case' and forget to look at the 'best' case to maximize their Internal Strengths. Now all you have to do is execute your plan!

So maybe it's a great idea for the government to start this sort of analysis and planning in Baghdad...Plus, it's a fabulous opportunity for some small business...

And, no, I will not be applying for the job...Facilitating planning sessions in a flack jacket is not my idea of following Dr. W. Edwards Deming's dictum to 'have joy in work!'

-- Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, Ph.D., President

Advantage Leadership, Inc.

http://www.advantageleadership.com/

* * * * *

Want to learn more about creating a strategic plan that gets robust results?

There are two easy ways to get our best selling book, Success Planning: A 'How-To' Guide for Strategic Planning. It is now used in hundreds of companies world wide and is part of the curriculum at one of the US military War Colleges.

(1) Buy it directly from our website: www.AdvantageLeadership.com/book.html Add on our unique 30-day e-mail mini-course on strategic planning for more practical tips and techniques.

(2) Buy it on Amazon: Search on Strategic Planning -- we are on one of the first few pages

* * * * *

Look for our new book, Conventional Wisdom How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform and Progress Like the Founding Fathers early in 2008 and read more about how leaders handle mistakes and much more.

Based on the US Constitutional Convention of 1787 and interviews with successful CEOs, this unique business book combines history and business. I examine the Convention as an example of typical strategic planning with all of its creativity and messiness. Spring forward to the present and see how today's CEOs use the same techniques to transform their companies and translate vision into reality. Learn from all of the leaders --what works in the real world so that you can improve your own abilities as a strategic leader.

Mistakes Were Made!

Mistakes were made...Every time I hear that phrase I cringe...How about you?

Mistakes were made...so vague, so passive, so un-leader like. Yet, people keep using it. It screams out from the headlines and assaults our ears from the TV.

Mistakes were made... At first it looks like the leader is taking responsibility for the mistakes. But study the grammar more closely and another picture emerges.

Mistakes were made...What does it really mean? 'Mistakes' is the subject of this sentence in the passive voice. But the object of the sentence -- by whom -- is not stated. By whom? We don't know.

Mistakes were made...What the leader is really saying is, "OK, folks, we tried to hide the mistakes but now you've got the evidence. So we have to say something that sounds like we're on top of it and sounds like we're taking responsibility. It also buys us time to decide whom to sacrifice...whom to throw over the back of the troika to the wolves -- the press, the public, the employees. Maybe while they're gnawing on those bones, we can think of something else to divert their attention."

Mistakes were made indeed...The first mistake is that we made a bad decision. But then we compound it by ignoring it, covering it up, blaming someone else or taking actions that are incorrect. There is only one correct answer.

"I made a mistake. I take responsibility.

Here's what I'm doing to fix it.

Here is what I've learned.

Here's how I will apply that in the future.

I will take the consequences."

I've interviewed a wide variety of leaders for my new book on strategic leadership. I chose them because they had a track record for translating vision into reality and transforming their organizations. I asked each one what their worst business decision was and what they did about it. They all had similar reports. These are typical:

"There was a story in the newspapers about a major mistake we made. You can make excuses for it or you can be transparent about what happened. I walked the media through it and they accurately described it to the public. I hope other companies who read the story will learn from it. The key is to take an adverse incident like that and turn it into something that we can learn from so it doesn't happen again."

"Mistakes? I've made some doozies! The ones I've always regretted were the ones where I reacted and said something I didn't mean. I was confronted with an email I had sent. I learned a lot from by boss that day about what a great executive does. He told me to go immediately to everyone on the list and apologize. It was hard but I did it. I learned a lot from that."

How do you create that environment of responsibility for the entire company? Listen to another CEO:

"I want everyone to see our corporate values walking down the hall every day. Let's combine the mind and the heart and have a mission and a culture. They've heard so much about making money, budget and business plans. When we switched to emphasizing the mission, values and culture, the metrics followed and we went from single to double digit returns."

Nary a one of the CEOs I interviewed said 'mistakes were made' or any of its variants. Their message was clear. Real leadership, strategic leadership, is about taking responsibility every day for the decisions you make and living your values in your actions.

I heard a story on the news that brought it all home in a different context. A high school student's parents were suing a teacher and the school system. The student, who had a good record, made a decision to turn in a class project late. The teacher had made it plain that late projects would not be accepted so the student earned an 'F.' The student made the decision not to turn the project. Now the parents are suing for the 'trauma' their offspring 'suffered.'

Mistakes were made! What lesson is this young person learning? What lessons are we teaching our employees and colleagues...ourselves?

I have some advice: Let's ban that despicable phrase, 'Mistakes were made,' from the language. Let's take full responsibility for our bad decisions, learn from them AND take the consequences. Let's demonstrate our values 'walking down the hall.'

-- Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, Ph.D., President

Advantage Leadership, Inc.

http://www.advantageleadership.com/

* * * * *

Want to learn more about creating a strategic plan that gets robust results?

There are two easy ways to get our best selling book, Success Planning: A 'How-To' Guide for Strategic Planning. It is now used in hundreds of companies world wide and is part of the curriculum at one of the US military War Colleges.

(1) Buy it directly from our website: www.AdvantageLeadership.com/book.html Add on our unique 30-day e-mail mini-course on strategic planning for more practical tips and techniques.

(2) Buy it on Amazon: Search on Strategic Planning -- we are on one of the first few pages

* * * * *

Look for our new book, Conventional Wisdom How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform and Progress Like the Founding Fathers early in 2008 and read more about how leaders handle mistakes and much more.

Based on the US Constitutional Convention of 1787 and interviews with successful CEOs, this unique business book combines history and business. I examine the Convention as an example of typical strategic planning with all of its creativity and messiness. Spring forward to the present and see how today's CEOs use the same techniques to transform their companies and translate vision into reality. Learn from all of the leaders --what works in the real world so that you can improve your own abilities as a strategic leader.