Leverage the science of organizational development with a clear perspective
Small business owners and entrepreneurs: You certainly have your hands full, responsible as you are for absolutely everything about your business. Ironically enough, as soon as you employ other people to help with your work, you gain another set of tasks and jobs—and one of the most crucial to your future success is leadership. As you turn your eye to planning for the new year, don’t overlook your workplace culture.
Many large organizations and institutions do this kind of planning as a matter of routine. They know that investing in a people-centered approach pays huge dividends in terms of business success and employee retention (and how neglecting culture allows problems to grow). But you don’t need to have a big, sophisticated HR shop to be strategic about guiding the culture at your business. You can leverage innovative practices stemming from years of research on organizational development to reap the benefits of effective leadership tactics.
All the elements your business needs to thrive.
I regularly work with small business owners who are feeling stuck and overwhelmed. They are juggling the daily work of the business and it can be hard to take time to plan the next steps required to advance their longer-term vision. I wanted to help set these folks up for success by giving them a straightforward, holistic way to develop and execute strategic plans.
Together with my people-centered philosophy and values, I synthesized what I have learned in graduate school programs, continual study and independent research, and in my years as an HR professional and leadership coach to develop my new VIEW for Success model. It gives business leaders a clear, strategic perspective on the all the essential elements you need to achieve great things. When you consider each component, you know you have everything necessary to nurture a positive workplace culture that will make your organization truly thrive.
5 areas to focus your view.
The VIEW for Success model is about creating a Vibrant Inclusive Engaged Workplace. What makes it truly unique is the way it integrates all the important components of effective leadership into a single, cohesive perspective, while allowing you to determine the path you take to optimizing each of the different elements.
1. Organizational fundamentals
To make progress, you need to make sure the basics are in place. Do you know where your organization is going? Do you know what is important to you? What do you and your company stand for? What do you do better than your competitors? You need a clear definition of your business’ strategic goals, and your brand’s positioning.
2. Confident leadership
Many people take on leadership roles without being fully prepared or having skilled mentoring, and leadership often means the difference between success and failure; between retaining star employees and losing talent and commitment. You can develop a leadership skill set that will have a great, positive impact on your people. An authentic, effective leadership style can inspire your team members to ever-higher results.
3. Engaged employees
Effective leaders model the behaviors they want to see in employees. You set high standards, and provide genuine, motivating acknowledgement to people for reaching them. You clarify roles and responsibilities to reduce conflict. Using a strength-based approach, you encourage people to excel. You value everyone’s contributions and treat people fairly. All this results in employees who are excited to apply their full talents and creativity in the workplace.
4. Collaborative teams
Teams of people that work well together, and even challenge each other to higher standards of excellence, reduce poor-quality decisions and generate more productive, more innovative outcomes. When your employees feel respected and valued, they are more resilient to change and difficulties. You can take concrete leadership actions that set the stage for successful collaboration.
5. Supportive systems
To help employees feel valued and cared for—so they can do their best work—healthy organizations put in place systems, policies and practices that support the desired culture and actions. You can create an environment that enhances people’s wellbeing. You can put people-centered practices and policies into effect. And you can provide people with regular feedback to help them gauge their own performance expectations before problems arise.
When you are strategic and purposeful in each of these areas of focus, you can expect to see tangible improvements to your business outcomes.
A map that leads to your bright future.
One of the things I like best about the VIEW for Success strategic model is its flexibility. Whether you are starting with a clean slate and need to build all five areas from ground up, or you just want to tweak some things and make deeper improvements in other places, this approach will work for you. The VIEW for Success isn’t a cookie cutter. It brings together all the elements you need to cover, and allows you to build your ideas in a customized and generative fashion.
Integrated Success can show you how to use this unique and holistic approach to map out a bright future for your business—in a way that gets you where you truly want to go. Drop me a note, and let’s talk.
Yours in success,
Linda
Linda is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Integrated Success HR Consulting & Coaching, LLC. She is a Gallup-certified Strengths Coach and a leader in strengths-focused development. Integrated Success works with organizations in developing effective teams and human resources practices to bring out the best of individuals for their own success and that of the organization. That’s why we say Integrated Success is the engine behind individuals and organizations thriving!
