Why are Strategies and Tactics Not Enough to Grow My Business?
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The answer is you can only know it if you have a blueprint or a vision for your business. Only based on this blueprint you can measure and evaluate if a strategy or tactic leads your company to come closer to your ultimate vision. Many articles, like Earl Nightingale's, have been written about the difference a precise blueprint can make in somebody's life. In the book ‘The Strangest Secret', Earl describes the business success a group of 100 Yale alumni had. They were monitored over a 40 year period and at the age of 65 only 5 were financially independent while 54 were broke. Astonishingly, not the smartest or most accomplished succeeded, but the ones who developed a strong vision and worked towards it. Of course, having a vision is not a sure sign for success. Brian Tracy points out that the strongest vision does not make a difference in your life if you live on what he calls "Someday Island". Someday you will get up to endure the pain and effort involved in leaving the cozy island and act. Someday just does not cut it! Without acting, even the most powerful blueprint is invaluable.
So why would a vision help a business? If you just look at the strategies and tactics some companies implement, they look from the outset impressive and well thought through. The key question however is not if you stay busy and can generate great marketing ideas, the key question is, are these strategies and tactics leading your company to get closer to your vision? How can you tell? Without a clear picture of where we want to be - nobody can. Business is not all about being efficient. Business is about doing the right things. Like in sales, only an increase in profitable sales is desirable. In other words, we need to define what we should do to create success. If we know the tasks which, when executed, will make a difference, only then do we need to concentrate on doing those efficiently.
Creating a vision seems to be a tall order. And it is. We lead our clients to do it in two steps. Step one, we focus on creating one's personal vision. If we can align one's personal vision with the vision for the company, we get the powerful combination which propels our success. Because where our mind goes our actions will follow.
Andy Birol expanded on this in a recent presentation. One of his key ingredients to success is that your passion and personal goals (he called it "Best and Highest Use") are in alignment with your business direction and goals.
I have developed a five step process taking into account that you need to revisit, rethink and sharpen your vision a couple of times to come up with the clear and compelling vision and direction it takes to drive your business growth. We will concentrate on some of the necessary steps in upcoming articles.
© 2009 Copyrighted by Dr. Joe Mayer, Managing Partner of The Growth Coach, who helps owners grow their businesses by focusing on vision and strategy. Joe can be reached at J.Mayer@Thegrowthcoach.com; http://www.mayerbusinessgroup.com/
