How Do You Measure Success?

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It’s kind of annoying really, but the best example of effective strategy implementation is a successful diet.  And as millions of people fail every day at their diets, it’s no surprise that a similar success rate exists for organizations struggling to execute on their plans for the year.

Measuring the results that matter most is what creates success in both scenarios.  Successful execution of a plan is a game of inches (and pounds) where consistent movement forward is what will produce dramatic results over the long run. 

The first step is to identify those activities or measures that will be the bellwether of progress.  The second and equally important step is akin to the weekly weigh-in at weight loss centers across the country.  It requires the creation of a system for consistently evaluating progress relative to the measures of success. This provides the opportunity to make adjustments and allocate resources appropriately as time progresses. 

So how are you doing implementing your plans this year?  Bathing suit season is right around the corner…

Sales Growth Comes From Daily Discipline

Most of us look at sales success as a very complex combination of skills, techniques, attitudes, and actions joined together in a secret formula.   Scores of books have been written about ‘new’ selling techniques that will lead to greater sales success.

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When I worked in professional sales for a Fortune 100 technology company, we received what was considered some of the best sales training in the world.  We spent six months at the corporate headquarters gaining product knowledge and receiving sales training based on the latest and greatest in the industry.

What I discovered in the field, however, was that the single most important characteristic I needed to master to achieve success was fairly simple—it was discipline.  It was the discipline to do the simple things, the steps that make up the sales process, and doing them consistently.

It takes discipline to plan, and it also takes discipline to implement the plan. Since most of us tend to get distracted and our discipline erodes, it’s helpful to find ways to remind yourself of your daily goals.

Discipline is not magical; it’s merely movement . . . regularly, consistently, purposefully. 

Creating a Blueprint for Growth

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If you’ve ever watched a house being built, or had an addition put onto an existing house, you know that the standard method of communication is a blueprint.  Anyone who knows how to read blueprints can clearly see a vision of the finished product. The blueprint tells a story about what is being built, and what it will look like when it’s done. 

Imagine the chaos that would ensue if the team building a house didn’t have a blueprint to reference, or if the carpenter had a different version of blueprint than the bricklayer.  Ridiculous right?  It would never happen—no builder would ever imagine building a house without a blueprint. 

Building a business is no different--everyone on the team needs to have a blueprint to reference and it needs to be the same blueprint.  The same chaos and disconnect between the carpenter and the bricklayer happens every day in businesses who lack a blueprint that tells the story of what is being built.

Everyone Needs a Coach

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While talking with a colleague recently I was reminded of this truth, “everyone needs a coach.”  Heck, even professional coaches need a coach!  I was telling this person about how engaging a social media consultant/coach was positively impacting my marketing plan.  Positive in the sense that I was finally executing on it!  

The proverb “physician heal thyself” is true in all professions.  Yet as any consultant knows, it’s harder to apply your expertise in your own business because as is the case for our clients, we get in our own way!   It’s harder to get perspective on our own situation because we’re knee deep in it and we need an objective perspective to bring clarity, focus and accountability. 

So if you’re struggling to execute on an important initiative in your business and you feel frustrated and stuck, you might want to consider engaging that business coach.  If you bristle at the thought because you’re technically competent to do the necessary tasks on your own, then ask yourself, if it’s so easy, why isn’t it getting done?

Vision Without Systems Leads to Chaos

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We’ve probably all been in that situation at one time or another.  We have a clear vision of where we’re headed in a particular situation whether it’s the direction we want to take our business or a vision for a new product or service.  In that flash of inspiration the outcome is so clear to us that it seems impossible not to accomplish.

Fast forward 60 days and how often is it the case that the initial vision and clarity around outcomes is looking blurry and feeling chaotic?  According to Peter Senge, “Vision without ‘systems thinking’ ends up painting lovely pictures of the future with no deep understanding of the forces that must be mastered to move from here to there.” 

The key to fulfilling any vision is being able to distill it into an actionable and measurable plan.  The challenge of course is that creating the vision is often the easy part—it’s creative, fun and intellectually stimulating.  Taking the next step though is where the rubber hits the road.  It’s what separates good ideas from viable and sustainable successes.