By Glenn Patch - San Diego Consulting Group
Over the past two years we have been consulting with a group of young executives transitioning a company from an autocratic style of management to one which is more collaborative. When moving from a founder-lead organization to one seeking input at multiple levels the greatest challenge is recognizing you don’t know what you don’t know. Although this might seem like a bizarre statement, these blind spots keep change from happening. It is the shift to knowing what you don’t know that is so essential.
At San Diego Consulting Group we work with transitional entrepreneurs and leaders to illuminate these unknown spaces.
Regardless of whether the company has years of history with multiple layers of management or a start-up looking to disrupt the status quo, the challenges of leadership remain the same. Becoming aware of what you don’t see and taking constructive actions to create followership are essential.
We cannot teach people anything, we can only help them discover it within themselves.
– Galileo
Transitional Management is a function of seeing leadership as a constant learning, non-linear process with many challenges. Employees need to see their leaders as credible and willing to make a difference. Emerging professionals come to the workplace with a different set of values and goals, often challenging leadership’s notion of a proper work ethic. Defining and living the values of an organization is a critical component to gaining followers. Decision making is a function of values. When management and staff understand the values of an organization and make choices accordingly, more consistent decision making occurs.
One of the most common requests we receive is to help “improve communication”. If we accept that communication is a function of understanding, then we begin to realize communication issues are about misunderstanding. As with much of problem solving, lack of communication is only the “identified problem”. It is often the lack of agreement on strategy and the articulation of clear expectations which leads to a breakdown in communication. Agreement on values is the first step in improving communication. Once you have a common set of values and make decisions accordingly, communication improves.
At SDCG we work with leadership and management teams to develop a clear vision for the company, determine the values the group will use to make decisions along the way and then explore different strategies to be implemented over a three to five-year time frame. Implementation is broken into annual planning where goals, objectives and action plans are combined with budgets for each operating unit. This provides the agreement required to hold the organization accountable.
When we align vision, values and strategy with an annual planning framework we begin to develop understanding within the organization. People then begin to comprehend their own purpose with the option to embrace or reject their obligations.
At the San Diego Consulting Group, we provide fractional solutions to your problems and exceed your goals. Our expertise in innovation, organizational development, marketing, sales and talent optimization combined with our deep technical and IoT background empowers our clients to unlock growth opportunities and create real market impact they would not realize elsewhere.
If you need assistance exploring alternative solutions contact the San Diego Consulting Group today.