Success in business is relative to the goals and values of each entrepreneur. Nevertheless, for many, the notion of success equates to growth, profitability, brand recognition, and social impact. Regardless of your definition, your ability to achieve this success directly correlates with your team's ability to execute.
Creating a company culture focused on execution requires establishing a trust-based environment, a compelling vision, a management framework centered on accountability, and a culture that recognizes and rewards outcomes. Here's a breakdown of the challenges each of these components presents:
1. Trust
Transitioning from a directive culture to one based on inspiring leadership means evolving the style of all your managers and team leaders to that of a coach (inspiring, delegating, and assisting). The biggest challenge in this shift is trust. Trust doesn't just magically appear; it begins with a mutual understanding of what trust means, built at the same pace as the quality and authenticity of relationships among your team members. Essentially, this calls for vulnerability, openness, and honesty during business meetings and acting on the established principles of trust. By fostering a trusting environment, you accelerate performance, with every leader focusing on enhancing their department's capabilities rather than managing tasks or interfering with their team. The outcome is collaborative intra- and inter-departmental work, increased proactivity and judgment, risk avoidance, and seizing business opportunities.
2. Engagement
Creating an inspiring environment with a clear purpose and goals is a significant contributor to job satisfaction. Fulfilling one's potential involves understanding how each team member contributes to executing the game plan and thus to the company's success. High-performing companies maintain regular communication about the progress in achieving objectives, whether through dashboards, performance indicators, internal newsletters, or "town hall" meetings. Sharing allows teams to know if they're winning or losing, a vital source of motivation that fuels engagement.
3. Accountability
Blaming builds nothing and fosters a fear-based atmosphere, stifling initiative and engagement. Ensuring accountability involves a sound operational understanding, clarity of roles, and process improvement. Every mistake is an opportunity for improvement and a stepping stone to elevate company performance. Everything starts with being realistic about commitments and desired deliverables, followed by leadership. The aim is to keep teams constantly engaged in a conversation about improvement and to instill pride in the company's successes. The challenge lies in having the courage to correct, act, and be consistent.
4. Outcomes
Staying focused on the long-term vision and measuring progress is essential for success and performance. High-performing companies have implemented a results-focused management framework, with Objective and Key Results (OKR) management showing its power and being at the heart of their success. To ensure visibility and discussion around results, high-performing companies have digitized their management framework with Strategy-Execution solutions like Five15, Profit.co, Perdoo, or BetterWorks, to name a few. Constant measurement is a significant performance accelerator, offering the feedback required to maintain organizational agility.
Your company's performance hinges on your ability to implement, synergize, and harmonize these four fundamental principles. Achieving excellence is similar to attaining happiness: it's a choice. Here's how you can kickstart your performance transformation:
1. Organize a one-day retreat to discuss the four principles with your leaders.
2. In preparation, ask each leader to:
- Define what these four principles mean to them.
- Identify if and how the company enacts these four principles.
- Document what needs improvement and change for better performance.
3. During the activity:
- Share and exchange your thoughts.
- Define the desired environment.
- Draft an action plan to execute it.