There has to be a ‘purpose’ for any entity; business or otherwise. Everything in the universe exists because it has a purpose. Seed has purpose to develop into a plant or a tree; the ebb and tide have purpose and so does the Divine alternation between day and night. There is nothing animate or even inanimate that does not have a purpose. Philosophers have thought, researched and have written extensively, that all living things are in a ‘process of continuous change and development’. Nothing in nature is static, everything is dynamic. And that’s with a purpose.
Business organisations have to be ‘living’ entities. There is no room for stagnation, even a pause in the pursuit of the purpose, can derail the organisation. The ultimate of a non-living organisation is the inevitable decline and final decay.
The purpose of the organisation must yield pleasure to the workers. The vision of the company must have value of relevance to its clients and counterparties. Leaders have to create enough passion in the team to reach out to the clientele; in doing so, they have to be enabled to offer what the demand or expectation is of the counter parties, ranging from shareholders to other stakeholders. The team has to have a sense of belonging to what they do.
I had the good fortune to work in an institution where its corporate purpose resonated deeply with my internal makeup ; some of its elements then and even now, to many were considered to be corporate (business) heresy … service to humanity, giving and value of interdependence, being a few, of that philosophy's cornerstones.
Vision has to be inspirational. To see things in the seed, that is genius (Lao Zi). The inspiration must possess the power to motivate. While it is significant, imperative and important to have measured metrics like revenue, expenditure, profit, return on investment, but more significantly, the vision must embody within itself, a purpose beyond numbers, like being creative to serve or facilitate others to perform beyond their known best. The intangible part of the vision of any corporate entity, is the one that remains a constant for a very long period of time, as the critical ingredient for passion to perform beyond the call. The leader must have the foresight and imagination to create dreams for his followers. An out of focus imagination cannot yield a forward looking vision or even strategy.
Vision represents ambition. It must therefore be a compound of several people's ambitions, for both, its acceptability and sustainability. In developing the vision of the entity, the nominated -- de jure leader must not rush to share his ambitions/desires first; instead there has to be free flow of ideas -- later, the leader must piece these inputs together to develop a wholesome fabric of vision that will motivate all constituents. Vision is described by Robert Collier as, ‘… it reaches the thing that is, into the conception of what can be. Imagination gives the picture; vision gives you the impulse to make the picture of your own’.
The process to create a slogan out of the vision, in my view, is unnecessary -- branding is not vision. Slogans are meant for marketing -- it is rare that slogans will actually lead to creating a backend environment that supports the usually tall claims made, in such cliché statements. At one point, the slogan of a very popular, second only to British airways was a UK airline called British Caledonian which was my all-time favourite -- ‘We never forget, You have a choice’. That’s exactly where the leadership and management failed to keep up the initial Years of momentum for ensuring class service -- in growth they forgot there is 'always a choice'. The airline busted and is not in existence. So is the case of several Fortune 500 companies of earlier decades -- they get out of step with their vision and slide into oblivion.
Since, businesses operate in an ever changing environment, it must have a management that will remain cognizant to identify available potentialities, the resources needed to tap into this potential and to further help, by inducing circumstances and opportunities, to match the available potential. The available human capital must match the situation.
With no action, vision remains a dream. The conversion of vision into visible action requires the development of a well thought out strategy. Usually, strategy will be the outcome of the manner in which the CEO and his management team thinks -- bold and conservative, simultaneously, or cautious to an extent that it becomes paralytic, when the going gets tough. A bold mind set will ensure development of a progressive strategy -- with ability to undertake amendments, with changing scenarios of the marketplace.
Who should develop vision and strategy? The board must help the management develop a vision. It is only enlightened boards that give management the strategic direction while simultaneously assisting in providing the right circumstances for the development of the organisation. Such enlightened boards are a rarity. The CEO must be tasked with trust and independence to develop ‘strategy’ alongside his colleagues. The strategy must encompass the vision of the board. Once developed, the strategy must be confirmed by the board. This is the ideal way. In the context of our local corporate environment, neither the vision nor the strategy remains within the single purview of the CEO/management, but rests, largely with the owner (The Seth Culture) -- concentration of ownership of any institution takes away the autonomy and independence as enshrined for the CEO and the management in the Code of Corporate Governance. The CEO is made subservient to an over indulging board in running the day to day affairs of the institution -- essentially, even the strategy developed with its (Board's) consent, is implemented by some overarching board members, rendering the CEO toothless. The ‘boss’ as they like to be addressed, wants that this position must be made known to all, even the janitorial staff and drivers are made aware that the ‘ivory tusks’ the management has ,is meant for beauty only, and not for real.
Strategy must be futuristic. The impact upon the organisation, if there are currents against their products/services must remain in focus. Strategy makers must possess entrepreneurial skills in addition to excellent managerial and administrative skills. Think like an owner and operate like a manager -- that is, a healthy combination for ensuring success of any business strategy.
The best example from recent history of a healthy combination of vision and strategy deployed, in harmony, is that of Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew, writing in his memoirs, says “I discovered early in office that there were few problems confronting me in the government that other governments had met and solved. So , I made a practice of finding out who else had met the problem we faced , how they tackled it , and how successful they had been”. These memoirs were published in the year 2000. Now look at the consistency of his leadership qualities -- we go back in history -- now, it is 1968, three years into premiership of the newly independent Singapore, Lee is visiting Harvard University ‘in conversation with the student newspaper Harvard Crimson’, he says about his aims, “look at fresh ideas, to meet stimulating minds to go back enriched with a fresh burst of enthusiasm for what I do”. He was there to study and review his own strategy for Singapore. Lee gave vision and developed a team to strategize and implement the vision. As a leader, he knew when to move forward and when to take the back seat, he was never short on feedback/ follow up. The economic miracle of Singapore in the shortest possible time is a reflection of Lee Kuan Yew’s vision and strategy rolled into one.
Those narrows of vision will render narrowness in behaviour. CEO’s are expected to be bold, courageous and battle hardened individuals; however the presence of these traits, is not a license to indulge in ‘adventurism’ -- walking into a visible inferno is no act of courageous leadership. Napoleon did. So did Hitler. With full knowledge of the consequences that would follow, they decided to attack Moscow, in bitter winter. Both lost. The risk/reward trade off must remain supreme on the strategy and strategic directions.
Only Helen Keller could have said this profound thought, “the most pathetic person in this world is someone who has sight but has no vision”. We have to develop for the country and the many operating entities a clear tool kit for guiding development of a universally acceptable vision, that does not restrict or creates bias or prejudice, but is all embracing to include all economic units of energy, towards a common and cherished goal.
The writer is a senior banker & freelance columnist.
"strategy" - Google News
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Vision and strategy - The News International
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