Leading Change is one of the most challenging tasks of top leaders. You may have memorized Kotter’s eight steps and have a big guiding coalition ready to help you out, but there are still plenty of pitfalls out there. Here are six of them to watch out for as you Lead Change:* 1. Cautious Management Culture. Peter Drucker is attributed with the quote “Culture eats … [Read more...] about Leading Change Pitfalls
strategy
Essential Strategic Leadership Skills
You have a vision of where you want the organization to go, but what skills do you need to lead it there? Authors of a Harvard Business Review article* suggest six essential Strategic Leadership Skills: *Anticipate. Pay attention to the competitive landscape. Look at new entrants and what they are doing differently. Look beyond product competition. What are others doing … [Read more...] about Essential Strategic Leadership Skills
Strategic Creativity
“Thinking outside of the box” is a difficult thing to do – especially when you have been ingrained within an organization or industry for many years. Following are a few techniques to help us all “think different” which are from a recent article in Harvard Business Review.* They are designed to help us identify possible strategic opportunities we had not seen before. 1. … [Read more...] about Strategic Creativity
Strategy Overload
We know we can’t do everything – but that does not seem to stop us from trying. At the organization level – this can create Strategy Overload. That is, too many goals, initiatives, and projects to the point that none of them are truly “strategic.” Everyone in the organization should know the top three Strategic Goals that should be completed in the next three years. The … [Read more...] about Strategy Overload
No Risk Strategy
When I share examples of strategies from other organizations with people, I often hear “that sounds risky.” I respond “Absolutely!” There is no such thing as a “no risk strategy.” Certainly some strategies are riskier than others, and we need to be responsible about the amount of risk we take. However, I think that most organizations err on the side of playing it too … [Read more...] about No Risk Strategy