Walls and Doors

The purpose of business has been shifting in recent decades from creating wealth to being purpose driven. Innovation is accelerating as the result of the intentional work of people trying to make positive change by addressing complex problems at their roots. I have spent the last decade working with diverse leading global organizations focusing on maximizing organizational effectiveness and improving overall performance. This work focused on fostering new mindsets, process and experience design, and transformational leadership to create organizations that embody creative behaviours in the products and services they put out to the marketplace. 

In order to be successful and deliver results, organizations need a strategy. That starts with a purpose that clearly states why we are together. That common purpose is supported by a plan that details what we are going to do. When you bring a shared purpose together with people who have a passion to build something better then you have a chance to open the door to innovation and make a positive change. 

The problem is that an overwhelming majority of organizations fail to execute their strategy. They hit a wall. As little as 10% of companies manage to turn their strategy into actual results. One of the main reasons why organizations fail to execute their strategy is because people are not engaged. No one really understands the plan, the objectives and the priorities. Many organizations produce documents that are too long, are not well understood, not agile, and often miss clear objectives, action plans and measures. This is the role of real leadership. Leaders make it easy for organizations to clarify and communicate objectives and priorities to ensure the strategy is understood and delivered by everyone in the organization. 

Performance is when what organizations do makes a positive change and addresses a complex problem. They are rewarded by becoming more successful and stay ahead of their competitors. Managing performance is THE most critical task of any leader. 

A new journey begins each day. We define our purpose and bring our passion to our work. There as a part of a community of innovation and entrepreneurship we have the opportunity to create positive change. We define our own path. We are leaders. Walls and doors. It is up to us.