Is your team rowing together in the same direction for the same reason?
I was coaching an executive whose organization grew from a series of thirty+ small acquisitions over three years. The executive’s frustration was that his direct reports were not running their areas as expected. With curiosity, I asked what his direct reports would say if asked what those expectations were. The executive paused and responded honestly that he was not sure. The leader quickly realized that he had some work to do first. He stepped back and invested time to create a shared understanding and buy-in of the vision and objectives. The path to successful outcomes became clearer and smoother.
Are your direct reports making decisions in alignment with the goals? Is your business plan being executed smoothly? Disconnects in an organization are common and resolvable. The responsibility for resolving disconnects sits squarely on the leader’s shoulders.
Vision + Alignment + Execution ==> Accelerated Success
A straightforward approach to create clear connections across the organization is outlined in Wiley’s Everything DiSC Work of Leaders®. Combining multiple years of research and best practices from hundreds of leadership experts, the following model for the Work of Leaders’ resulted. The most successful leaders must be adept and intentional when:
Crafting a Vision,
Building Alignment around that vision and
bringing it to life by Championing Execution.
Although this may sound like leadership 101, not all leaders understand the best practices associated with each of these three fundamental steps of the Work of Leaders. Within each step are six best practice behaviors. Leaders need to be agile and choose the best behaviors based on each step. The behavior needed for success in one step may inhibit success in another. For instance, Remaining Open is critical during the vision crafting step. Yet an emphasis on that during execution may slow progress and confuse the team. Equally, the need to create structure during Execution is a best practice. If that is prioritized during the vision step, it may prevent creativity and bold thinking.
Accelerate your impact by strengthening the connections
All three steps and their set of best practices must be skillfully performed to accelerate the success of the organizational objectives and vision. Gaining a quick understanding of where a leader’s strengths and gaps are, allows growth to be targeted appropriately and efficiently. Value in real-time will be achieved as the behaviors are strengthened.
Having a view of an entire executive team acts as an impact multiplier for the organization. It will provide valuable insight into potential collective obstacles to meeting organizational objectives. A dashboard, shown below, will provide a view of behaviors that come more or less naturally for the team collectively. This can shine a light on where the collective preferences may help or inhibit the organization’s success.
Wiley’s Everything DiSC Work of Leaders® Team View
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Taking the time to step back, zoom out and look at yourself and your leadership teams’ development opportunity is a valuable investment to accelerate your organization’s success. MBM ELEVATE is ready to discuss how to harness and adjust this approach for your unique business need.
Mary Beth Molloy
Certified Executive Coach and Business Consultant, she delivers uncanny focus on the intersection of your business vision and goals and the leaders you’ve entrusted to achieve them.
She knows what it takes to accelerate and elevate business results through leadership development and performance. It’s her powerful blend of these experiences together with her practicality, purpose, and positivity that drive our value.
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