Mother nature ripped a hole in your strategy. Government flip flops hacked it bigger. Then the wonderful variety of individual human responses, alongside an uncertain but hoped for recovery made that hole a shape-shifter.
What if we actively welcomed problems as a way to grow rather that fearing and avoiding them? What if we built a problem-seeking attitude into our teams?
Not in some glib LinkedIn-inspirational-quote kind of way, but actively?
I was due to take a leadership team I was supporting to a strategy retreat in a stunning venue in Spain. I arranged for regional food to be cooked on site, giving work to skilled but unemployed locals, and bought equipment to use.
Then bats happened.
Covid hit.
I rewrote the sessions. Rather than 3 days out, we did 8 weekly shorter bites. We made use of the time between to actually start implementing the strategy even as we were creating it.
Client feedback? “The energy felt by the leadership team was tangible despite being run remotely. With the Beyond the Quarter approach we have a clear path to work towards as a leadership team”.
We did miss out on the sunshine, wine and bonding.
But the problem made us create a new and effective strategy service.
We’re still facing problems today. Aside from an uncertain recovery, we have war in Europe, escalating supply chain costs, and the biggie – accelerating climate change.
We need to reframe problems from something that happens to us, to something we seek out and grow from. Business as usual won’t cut it.
{Oh – and the venue, as in these pics, is now available again – meaning we can do strategy at the venue or remotely. A new option coming out of crisis. PM me if that might be a thing for you!}
How we can support you
- Join us on a workshop on how to scale your company; create time to focus on the bigger picture; and keep values and purpose core to your company. For max 5 CEOs of companies with revenues between £1.5m and £15m.
- Subscribe to our Bite-Sized Business Tips - thought snippets for values-centred business leaders. Every few days, a short focussed read on a specific topic of how to lead a company that values both profit and purpose.
- Talk to us to explore how we can help you scale your company in the direction you want to take it.