Three Steps to Give Your Strategic Plan Traction

Written by Bruce Klatt and Shaun Murphy


We all agree Strategic Planning is a critical part of a company's success. All too often, however, strategic plans stall before they ever make it to execution - or they gradually lose momentum. The organization is then left in a vulnerable and uncomfortable position of continuing to go about its business with good intentions but no focused direction or aligned action. Move intention into action using this three step remedy.

Step 1. Accountability - Get a grip on Results

Get a grip on results by having each member clearly articulaterepparttar end results rather than just activities. We use an Accountability Agreement to accomplish this (see www.AlignOnline.com). An Accountability Agreement definesrepparttar 142472 business outcomes an individual is promising to deliver, and outlinesrepparttar 142473 resources and support that he or she needs from others in order to deliver these results. An Accountability Agreement is broken down into seven areas:

Business Focus Statement - Understand your company and your role within it.

No employee should sit onrepparttar 142474 sidelines as a casual observer of an organization's success. This area focuses onrepparttar 142475 business ofrepparttar 142476 company andrepparttar 142477 unique value each member brings torepparttar 142478 organization. In short, why doesrepparttar 142479 job exist and what do you bring torepparttar 142480 table? This is then related torepparttar 142481 role each person plays inrepparttar 142482 execution ofrepparttar 142483 strategic plan.

Operational Accountabilities - Outlinerepparttar 142484 end results you are accountable for achieving.

The strategic plan serves as a template to outline who is accountable for bringing about various end results ofrepparttar 142485 strategic plan. Focusing Accountability for various parts ofrepparttar 142486 strategic plan thatrepparttar 142487 individual can significantly influence and achieve isrepparttar 142488 key to clearly articulating who is accountable for producing specific end-results.

Leadership Accountabilities - Setrepparttar 142489 tone and culture.

Integratingrepparttar 142490 leadership style into your strategic plan sets a tone throughoutrepparttar 142491 organization. Leaders successfully executerepparttar 142492 plan by focusing onrepparttar 142493 people side of their role and how they expect people to work together. Leadership accountabilities setrepparttar 142494 tone forrepparttar 142495 leadership style, and introducesrepparttar 142496 notion that "leaders modelrepparttar 142497 way".

Goals- Your road markers.

Goals are specific milestones that are derived directly from your accountabilities. Goals can be described as SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Based.

Support Requirements- Identifyrepparttar 142498 support and resources you need.

Success in organizations demands a significant level of teamwork and reciprocity. The individual is accountable for achieving end results in a context of mutual support. No one gets anything done alone. The alignment meeting described below creates a conversation where this interdependence is made visible and negotiated.

If It Was Easy Everybody Would Do It

Written by Tim Knox


Q: I started my business about a year ago and everything is going fine. We're growing and making a profit, butrepparttar stress of runningrepparttar 142471 business is really starting to get to me. I spend more time worrying than working. Sometimesrepparttar 142472 pressure is almost more than I can take. I'm starting to think that I'm not cut out to run my own business. Do you have any advice that might help me decide what to do? -- Steven S.

A: I'm full of advice, Steven, and it's totally free. Just remember, you get what you pay for and I can't be held legally or morally responsible if my advice somehow lands you behindrepparttar 142473 counter at McDonalds. I'm not Dr. Phil, for petesake. I'm shorter and have more hair and less money.

Seriously,repparttar 142474 first thing you need to do is take a few deep breaths and take comfort inrepparttar 142475 fact that you are notrepparttar 142476 first entrepreneur to feelrepparttar 142477 weight ofrepparttar 142478 business world on your shoulders. Every business person, including yours truly, has feltrepparttar 142479 way you do at one time or another. For some, it's a feeling that occurs daily, especially when things aren't going as well as we'd like them to. And don't thinkrepparttar 142480 stress will magically disappear if your business takes off. I know people who run multimillion dollar corporations and they will tell you thatrepparttar 142481 stress level goes up in proportion torepparttar 142482 size ofrepparttar 142483 business. These same people will also tell you they love what they do and would never consider doing anything else.

The difference between these entrepreneurs and you, Steven, is that they have been in business longer and have learned to not only handle stress, but to take stress and transform it into a driving force. They feed offrepparttar 142484 stress. It fuels their creativity and innovation. Stress challenges them, it makes them think, makes them better entrepreneurs.

I thinkrepparttar 142485 real question isn't whether or not you have what it takes to run a business. The real question is do you have what it takes to handlerepparttar 142486 stress of running a business. These are two very different questions andrepparttar 142487 answers depend totally on you.

Even onrepparttar 142488 best of days running a business can be incredibly stressful, not to mention overwhelming and exhausting. It's only natural that there will be times when you wonder if it's really worth it. Asking yourselfrepparttar 142489 "should I just get a real job" question simply means that your human side is showing. And as a human you have a limited tolerance for things you can not control. And that's really whererepparttar 142490 stress of being an entrepreneur comes from. We worry about things we can't control. Things like finding new customers, payingrepparttar 142491 bills, making payroll, and a thousand other things. Sure, we can put forth our best efforts to make these things turn out in our favor, but we really can't controlrepparttar 142492 outcome.

So we worry. And worry breeds stress and stress breeds doubt and doubt breedsrepparttar 142493 feeling that an 800 pound gorilla is using your chest for a lawn chair. It's only natural that you being to wonder, "Is this what I really want to do? Do I have what it takes to run my own business?"

I remember once complaining aboutrepparttar 142494 stress of running my business to an elder entrepreneur. He waved at me like he was swatting a fly and said, "Son, if it was easy, everybody would do it. Now suck it up and move on."

Suck it up and move on… probablyrepparttar 142495 best business advice I've ever gotten. No fortune cookie was ever so onrepparttar 142496 money.

My mentor's eloquent point was this: running a business is never easy and always stressful, but that's what makes it so dang exciting. Running a business is like walking a tight rope… backward… with your eyes shut… and your pants on fire… Man, sure beats working for a living, huh.

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