How to Create a Strategy That Can Greatly Improve
Individual & Organizational Achievement

By Mark Faust

How can you optimize your strategy to get the most out of the next one to three years? Does your team even have a printed and team created strategy? In our coaching of CEO’s, executives and sales professionals, we have often seen the roots of many problems go back to missing facets of a well defined strategic plan. Worse yet is no annual strategy at all. The 7 Tenets that need to be defined and re-examined each year are the following:

1. Vision

Everyone should have input as to what the Vision of the team is to be. A vision is the ultimate outcome that is the result of the team’s work and the ultimate outcome should be clear to every team member.


2. Mission

Every member of the team should be able to repeat a concise mission that defines what the team does, for whom it does it and the benefits of its work. Empowered with a good mission your sales opportunities greatly increase.

3. Values

Jointly the team should create a set of principles that determine how the team will work together and with others. The team should regularly monitor its adherence to those values. Having a clear set of printed values solves many arguments, will guide the team toward making decisions more quickly and effectively.


4. Roles

Each individual should clearly understand their role (responsibilities assigned based on talents) and the roles of all those with whom they interact. On a regular basis, roles should be refined and the process flow of the work should be mapped, measured and innovated upon through a systematic continuous improvement process. When selecting someone, they should be selected for talent, not simply experience, determination or intelligence.

5. Goals

When setting expectations excellent leaders should facilitate the input of the group’s defining of the right outcomes not the right steps.

6. Action Plan

As goals are set, CSF’s Critical Success Factors, i.e., measurable action steps that lead to the goal, should be identified.

7. Accountabilities

After the specific measures (CSFs above) are set, monthly, weekly and on some occasions daily forms of accountability/review/improvement should be set on the calendar. The accountability for any measure should be assigned to those who are most talented in the particular area of concern. There should be a focus on strengths and linking work to those with the relevant strengths not a focus on training areas of weakness to become strength. When developing the team, individuals should be helped to find the right fit not simply the next rung on the ladder.

Continuous Improvement

Adaptations and changes should be made to the plan and process as needed so as to create a continuously improving process of achievement.

Are you confident that your organization has prepared all of the above for 2003? If not discuss with the top echelon leaders of the team how you can involve everyone in having some input in creating each of the above.

Some of the techniques we use in our facilitations of strategic planning efforts are:

Survey - One on one phone or email surveys of all employees asking for there input which is then amalgamated and fed back for further refinement.
Read & Rip - With a manageable size group have them answer on an index card the appropriate question that elicits input for creating any of the above team oriented 7 Tenets. The facilitator reads aloud each card anonymously and then rips them up. He then asks the group to rewrite the answers using the input they’ve just heard. After the third writing a break out group will be read the cards for Version 1 of the Tenet.
Final Creation - In a final phase, a “writing team” breaks off from the group and stamps out the first version of the Tenet. The facilitator reviews with the group and moderates to insure everyone contributes, that no one overly dominates the process and that there is consensus on the final version.

Whether you’re a non profit, “mom & pop” or a division of a Fortune 500 having the above tenets refined, reviewed and reinforced will optimize your progress.

Mark Faust is Principal of Echelon Management a consulting and training firm that works with leaders of successful executive teams and sales teams who want to raise the bar and improve performance. He also delivers speeches to thousands of people every year. Mark can be reached at 513-621-8000 or faust@echelonmanagement.com.