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Enhanced Winning Management Practices – The Fancy Four
By Marsha Lindquist
In a previous article, “Essential Management Elements Truly Work – The Big Four” we talked about the basic four elements of successful management (See www.MarshaLindquist.com/articles.html). Without them, doing the fancy stuff means your organization will spend more money, exert more energy, and still not get the expected results. With those pieces already in place, there are four imaginative practices that will put you over the top – but only after you do all of the four basic elements described previously and remain focused on doing those four every day. If your organization then complements that with excellence in a couple of these areas, your chances for a success are greatly improved. Jumping to do the enhancements seems sexy, but the basics will carry the day.
To set the stage, the four fundamentals of successful organizations are quite ordinary, but important.
1. Have and maintain an overall plan and focus on it
2. Encourage an open-minded corporate culture
3. Be nimble and quick
4. Implement flawlessly
While not so easy as you think to implement and maintain, these fundamentals almost guarantee your organization will make more money, succeed in accomplishing your goals, and be sought after for your sterling example of how to thrive.
What is the fancy stuff? Some of them are really not so fancy. They actually make common sense. You may ask why you should do the elaborate things. Simply, even doing one of these next four can put you ahead of your competitors. Do two of these and you can really make a difference. They are presented in the order of the easiest to the more complex to achieve.
The Enhancing Winning Practices of Successful Organizations
1. Have Committed Leadership – invincible attitude starts at the top.
2. Find and Keep Talented People – gifted employees are your greatest assets.
3. Partner, Merge or Acquire – augment your talents with others.
4. Innovate – foster an environment that hails breakthroughs or idea generation.
Have Committed Leadership
Being a committed leader means that you are involved with your company, your employees, your management team, and the outside environment. As a leader, your ability to develop relationships along with your drive to motivate your management team will set you apart. If you envision yourself as a big shot rather than a vital average Joe, your organization will suffer. Those leaders who are truly committed to their organizations will be the ones who position themselves as colleagues cultivating an optimistic mind-set rather that “the boss”. What does that translate to? Higher probability of reliable proud performance. Winning leaders are able and willing to recognize breaks and troubles early. By grabbing these positive or troublesome moments and doing something about them, devoted leaders stay ahead. Sometimes it requires the use outside sources or to convene a look-alike board of directors if there isn’t a formal one already.
Find and Keep Talented People
There are three elements to this concept. Find the “rightest” fit for you, train and develop capable people, and promote them. Hire the people that are either the most talented you can find and that are the right fit for your needs. Match hires with what your clients are looking for but also make sure that they fit your corporate philosophy as well. Pay them generously. If they’re truly good, having that salary that is the envy of the business is still a bargain. Once you get the right people, continue to enhance their value to you and encourage their involvement in your organization by offering training and developing their talents even further. It’s amazing how often a well-prepared organization will not miss a step when they lose their best and brightest to a competitor. They replace that person from within. It’s always much more cost effective to promote a rising star than to go out and hire an unknown being.
Partner, Merge or Acquire
It’s no secret that growth is easier when you can establish alliances with others either by partnering with them, merging the two organizations or acquiring their operations. You can gain necessary talent– either in different skills or in greater quantity. Mergers or acquisitions work when they balance both organizations’ strengths or positively affect both organizations’ client interactions. Many organizations today are opting to associate to better position themselves for new business opportunities that they otherwise could not pursue.
Innovate
We all know about the organizations that are leaders in advancement through new technologies with large efforts spent on research & development. But most of the greatest gains come from the smaller innovations. These are things that your organization does to apply new know-how to your existing operations. It doesn’t have to be a big change to yield big results. Sometimes it’s a new twist on an existing product or service. This means turning your thinking just a little sideways and being open to the ideas. It also means pursuing them with ferocity once you deem them innovative – or something that your competition lacks or you can do better. Recognize that innovation is difficult but not impossible. Also recognize that sometimes the problem with innovation is that it’s difficult to recognize.
If you want to maintain a constant healthy presence, consider focusing on a couple of these enhancing management techniques. It doesn’t take much in order to really excel, however, concentrate on the four basics in the “Essentials” article first. Those habits will give you good basis for a sound track for success. Add a couple of these practices and you will almost assure your lead.
About the Author
Marsha Lindquist, a business strategist for over 15 years, draws on her proven “down in the trenches” experience, creativity, and participative manner to provide real solutions to businesses to assist them in building and growing their businesses. She is an energetic presenter and is also the Chief Executive Officer of The Management Link, Inc. As well as being the author of “Why Are You Still Working Your A** Off?”, she has written and published several professional journal articles on business strategy and negotiations. She can be reached by E-mail at marsha@marshalindquist.com
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