On Leadership, Sherlock Holmes and The Analytical Leader

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Alexsys Thompson

Sherlock Holmes

Being Holmes

Known particularly for his shrewd logical reasoning, Detective Sherlock Holmes most certainly possesses a strength both envied and despised. Despite the efforts of those he seeks to thwart, Holmes’s uncanny ability to weed through the details of a case, find the facts, and solve the puzzle has proven he is the best at what he does.

Some might call his methods perceptive, systematic, logical, or even rigorous.

In the Strengths world, however, it is known as Analytical.

Being Watson

One must wonder, what’s it like to work for someone who is Analytical? No one knows the answer to this better than John H. Watson, Holmes’s very own assistant.

As an Analytical leader, Holmes constantly challenges others, following the motto “Prove it”.

When developing a theory of his own, Watson can count on Holmes to ensure his thinking is sound and essentially bullet proof. In Holmes’s more unsophisticated moments, Watson is also aware his ideas may be destroyed. In fact, if Holmes allows his Analytical to run amuck, he may all but completely deter Watson from speaking his mind ever again.

If you’re like Holmes…

Chances are, if you’re Analytical, your work rarely (if ever) has a mistake. You base your conclusions on proven data and facts, rather than “what ifs” and possibilities. You are able to create patterns and make connections to provide solid, agenda-free solutions, making you extremely valuable to your team and organization.

To others, you are unbiased, meticulous, and logically sound; for these reasons, you are the go to person to diffuse “fanciful thinking” and implement concrete ideas.

As a leader, you are able to provide your team with:

  • Substantial support for the bottom line
  • Relatively error free production
  • Trust worthy decision making
  • Stability in data based solutions

As with any Strength, you also need to be aware of the dark side of being Analytical.

Effectively Leading Watson

Below-the-line perceptions can be extremely powerful when leading your team. Not everyone on your team will have Analytical anywhere hear their top five, much less their top ten, so it’s critical that you understand how your feedback and/or direction are received.

Possible below-the-line perceptions are:

  • Paralysis by Analysis- too many reasons why a plan WON’T work
  • Seem argumentative
  • Ask too many questions
  • Struggle with Abstract thinking
  • Dream killer

Though your intention is to help Watson develop a sound theory, you may actually be creating an unproductive work environment for him. If Watson is high in the themes of Activator or Futuristic, your tendency to get “stuck in the weeds” will be very frustrating.

Remaining Engaged

In order to guarantee Watson remains engaged, and also develops a well-thought out plan, it’s important for you to see the forest for the trees. Remember the bottom line and present him two to three questions that can help him head in a solid direction.

There may be times when it is necessary to deconstruct Watson’s theories and redirect him to a more tangible path; be aware of how you deliver the information.

If you are too harsh, your feedback has the opportunity to be taken personally.

When you begin your line of questioning, be fastidious about which questions are essential to the bottom line. Remember, the big picture is the ultimate result of the details!

If you’re a leader strong in Analytical, how have you been able to balance your need for detail with the essentials of a particular project? Are you able to leverage the talents of other team members to get projects started? Have you found a way to deliver feedback to an employee in a way that is productive and leaves them feeling valued?

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Alexsys "Lexy" Thompson HCS, SWP
Alexsys “Lexy” Thompson is Managing Partner at Fokal Fusion
She helps building Strong Leaders through Strong People Strategy
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On Leadership, Humility and Authentic Spiritual Leadership

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Leonard Doohan

 Humility and Honor

Corruption, greed, and addiction to power and control over others ooze from the pseudo-leadership of so many contemporary leaders.

Adding insult to injury is that most of these people actually think they are virtuous. But everyone else around knows differently.

Authentic Spiritual Leadership

And yet, it is clear to anyone who studies authentic spiritual leadership that it is not based on power but on humility. This is a new model, a totally different way of thinking about leadership. This is the leadership of those who are aware of their vocation—they know they have not earned their leadership; it has been given to them.

Unfortunately, so many go through life today convinced that leadership is power.

Such superficial people fail to grasp the ultimate meaning of life or their own true destiny within the context of human development. There is no role in leadership today for arrogant, narcissistic people who emphasize their own self-importance, status, prestige, and power. One great mistake is at the root of all failed leadership—pride, and its constant focusing on self.

Leading With Honor

It is frequently the case that a leader has a place of honor in community, and he or she usually exceeds followers in many areas of organizational life with its interpersonal and task oriented skills. ‘

But such leaders should not exaggerate their own importance but rather insist on the importance of others and their gifts.

Leadership ultimately implies self-surrender, interpreting one’s meaning in life in the broader context of human development. Being able to appreciate the mystery of life and leadership as gifts helps one to be humble, to be one’s authentic self, to honestly know one’s strengths and weaknesses, and to engender genuine respect for others and their gifts.

Humility in Leadership

Humility in leadership is a recognition of one’s humanity and place in community. We are not in this world for our personal enhancement but to live and grow in solidarity with others. We are all struggling and striving to grow, and equally share in a spirituality of failure just as much as in one of mutual enrichment.

Even in our personal journey of spiritual leadership we can give ourselves permission to be less than perfect, as we experience insecurity, failure, and poverty.

Humility gives us the ability to bounce back, try again, experiment with fresh ideas, and stand up to resistance.

Humility helps us have faith, hope, and love in others, and especially in ourselves. Often there is more wisdom and courage in dealing humbly with failure than in expecting success all the time. Moreover, we learn so much in our humility that can help us in dealing with others. This is the paradox of leadership that our failures become successes, our weaknesses become strengths, and our own pain can teach us how to heal others.

Really Appreciating Others

Humility will teach us to appreciate others, to be more accountable, to keep a just perspective on efforts and results. It teaches us never to judge others without first judging ourselves. Humility reminds us not to belittle others, or criticize them, or to fail to give others our undivided attention. It insists we should not be pre-occupied with ourselves, to play favorites with others, to make distinctions based on status, or to embarrass people around us.

Above all humility teaches us to trust others, to practice integrity, to be open to improvement, and to be sincere in everything we do.

From the very start of one’s leadership of others one must be ready to live with an honest vulnerability.  The leader recognizes that leadership is a gift and is always aware of his or her own weak and lonely experience of self. He or she knows there is strength in discipline but also in honest vulnerability.

Not About Power

Leadership is not a way to power over others but a call to nurture the gifts of others. It means letting go of the desire to be always right, or to always have the answers. Successful leaders who admit their mistakes clearly earn more respect from their followers than do those who unsuccessfully try to hide them.

Some mistakes cause pain to others, but a good leader can acknowledge wrongdoing and genuinely apologize.

However, the leader also experiences the pain of failure without becoming insecure, and he or she can bounce back from suffering with an appreciation of how other people feel in times of hardship. Each one must ask if he or she is comfortable or afraid to let others see his or her leadership weaknesses. Of course, if a leader cannot accept his or her own limitations, he or she will probably have more difficulty accepting the limitations of others.

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Dr. Leonard Doohand

Dr. Leonard Doohan  is an author and workshop presenter
He focuses on issues of spiritual leadership
Email | LinkedIn | Web | Blog

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Edward Snowden: Courageous Leader, or Lack of Morals and Accountability?

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Lee Ellis

Edward Snowden

As a former POW in the camps of North Vietnam, I think my comrades and I saw the purest example of leadership possible. Our senior leaders put their country and their teammates above their own well-being to fulfill their obligations under the law and their sacred trust of being a leader.

In the camps, life and death were at stake, but all leaders hold sway over the destiny of others.

It seems as though we’re seeing the opposite example of pure leaders (poor leadership) highlighted in the media right now, and most of it relates to the government sector.

On Leadership and Accountability

The disclosures of Edward Snowden raise so many issues of leadership and accountability that it’s hard to know where to start.

First and foremost, leadership requires wisdom and honor—wisdom to know what’s right and then the courage to do the right and honorable thing.

At first glance, it would appear that there was a lack of wisdom and accountability on all sides.

Snowden clearly did not figure out a good way to handle what may have been a legitimate concern. A wise and courageous mentor could have helped him figure out a legal and proper way to address his concerns. Now, he will most likely be found to have broken the law and some accountability must come, less “every man will begin to do what is right in his own eyes.”

Governmental Oversteps

On the other hand, it appears that our government has found yet another way to overstep its legal and ethical bounds—the means justifying someone’s desired personal end for gaining more power.

When this begins to happen toward our external enemies, it’s just a matter of time until it gets out of control internally and someone takes advantage of their power to try to wipe out their internal political opponents.

Witness the ongoing IRS scandal. It doesn’t take an honest political scientist long to project what kind of country we will soon be if the party that comes to power decides to use government to minimize their political opponents. Corrupt uses of power most likely will very quickly turn our “fruited plain” into a “banana republic.” ClickToTweetThis

“We need honorable leaders, committed to doing their sworn duty of upholding the constitution, including not just the letter of the law, but the intent of the law.”

Honorable Leadership: ONLY

We need honorable leaders, committed to doing their sworn duty of upholding the constitution, including not just the letter of the law, but the intent of the law.

We need civil servants and political leaders who are committed to serving their country first, above their personal politics and personal ambitions. We need business and community leaders who will do the same in their spheres of work and influence.

Who will stand up and be counted? I’m standing, and hope that in the days ahead you will stand with me.

It begins by being accountable ourselves. It’s not easy or even possible without the help of others who can help us see wisdom. Do you have a team to help you clarify and then do the right thing to fulfill your responsibilities and duties in your job and as a citizen? Will you help me promote the message that we must do the “right” thing and that begins with obeying the laws of the land and putting our country first, and others before selfish goals and ambitions?

Article Source: Edward Snowden: the Whistleblower Behind the NSA Surveillance Revelation​s

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Lee Ellis

Lee Ellis is Founder & President of Leadership Freedom LLC & FreedomStar Media.
He is a leadership consultant and expert in teambuilding, executive development & assessments
Email | LinkedIn | Web | Blog | Book | Facebook | Twitter

His latest book is called Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton.

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Leading in HR: The Power of a Professional Conduct Policy

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Monica Wofford

Professional Code of Conduct

There’s not much in the way of employee behavior that would surprise an experienced Human Resource Manager.

What is far more surprising is the amount of time a leader will put up with behavior that makes them need HR in the first place.

At times, it’s the policies in place that prevent any other viable option. However, there is one policy that will keep you more out of HR than in it.

Addressing Workplace Issues

In most companies a policy exists for everything from punctuality to the use of profanity. The Federal Government even dictates break times to maternity leave. With all clear policies, measurement of performance and termination is made easy and they usually started as merely good guidelines.

When guidelines are not made into policies and clear guidelines don’t exist, managing performance is a real problem.

Managing the attitude about the problem is even worse.

In fact, the number one problem new leaders seem to face is how to address those subtle challenges such as:

  • Attitude
  • “Milking the system”
  • Doing just enough to stay employed
  • Gossiping
  • Backstabbing
  • “Stirring the pot”
  • Or even “quitting,” but forgetting to tell anyone…

Professionalism, Defined.

Address those subtle or not-so-subtle issues with what is called a Professional Conduct Policy. Enumerate how one would successfully conduct themselves on the team you lead or in the office you manage.

Perhaps it will not be the policy that, when broken, is a key firing factor, but it sure beats assuming they know how to behave based on the guidelines you live by that usually remain in your head.

Creating a Professional Conduct Policy

Here is what the mere creation of a Professional Conduct Policy can do for you and the team and their performance.

Allows for Low-Level Intervention

This is a term used in training classes that refers to participants managing each other. For example when two people are talking while the instructor talks and another student “shushes” them, you’ve just seen Low-Level Intervention.

The instructor didn’t have to say a word.

The same will happen on the team you lead when you invite all to participate in the creation of the Professional Conduct Policies. Spend a staff meeting coming up with these “rules” or “housekeeping guidelines” or “Rules that Guide our Behavior with Each Other and our Customers.”

What you call it is not as important as the discussion that will occur when you are creating the list. Magical dynamics are when colleagues all mutually agree on the “rules.” As none of us argue with our own data, so to speak, allowing each team member to have input will help them to own the rules.

The rules they own will be ones they agree to and want to abide by and will thus, defend, when others break the rules. You may create situations in which fellow employees begin to manage each other to some extent and thus, take some of that burden off of the leader.

This doesn’t mean you get to now be “hands off”, but it will be a nice benefit of having spent the time to make the list of behaviors.

Provides a Metric for Behavior

When given the choices of attitude, behavior, or performance problems, participants in our leadership training courses repeatedly rank attitude problems as the most challenging to resolve and address. These are followed closely by behavior issues that are not tied to some quota or performance review objective.

The reason for both being more difficult than performance is that neither is readily measurable by the average company.

Most managers assume far too much of the way others will behave. Then the managers are  surprised when someone acts unethically or has lesser initiative or has no issue at all with showing up to the meetings but doing nothing in the way of making progress on a team project.

These are each behaviors that can be part of the Professional Conduct Policy. For example, look at these:

  • Always do your best
  • Follow up within 24 hours
  • Make ten minutes early your “on time” mark
  • Maintain confidentiality of anything that could be considered gossip

Once they’re written down, they become measurable.

Provides Clarity in Coaching

If a leader wants to address a behavior not listed on that team member’s performance review, and there are no consequences for the behavior, other than talking with the boss, little change occurs.

With a Professional Conduct Policy, created by their peers, coaching to the policy can now include the consequence of letting down their peers. It also gives you a reference point in history when they agreed to abide by the behaviors listed.

Not only are you able to be clear about which policy has been “broken”, but you now have precedent, previous conversations, and a frame of reference from which to coach for improvement.

Asking questions like:

“Was this not something you really agreed with when we came up with these in our meeting?”

“Is there something that has caused you to change your mind on the importance of this behavior to our work?”

will help you get to the heart of the matter.

Any of this kind of detail is more effective in a coaching scenario than the leader saying “Would you just cut it out?”, which is what happens when one doesn’t have much to go on.

Moving Beyond Policy

Once you create it, consider hanging your Professional Conduct Policy next to the Mission Statement and Values Declaration. Just remember that much like those other documents, the work that it took to create them is far more valuable than the space they take up on the wall.

And if all you want is for people to look at the list, the last thing on your list needs to say “buy frame.” If you want them to actually abide by these guidelines, “buy frame” gets delegated and your first two “to-dos” are coach them when they don’t and reward them when they do.

So, do you have clear, concise, and open access to a professional code of conduct policy booklet? Or is your just informal and not well documented? When issues arrive, is your policy guidelines booklet referenced properly and professionally, or does your management team need training in this arena? I would love to hear your thoughts!

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Monica Wofford
Monica Wofford, CSP, is CEO of Contagious Companies, Inc.
She serves her clients by getting business results and ROI for training functions
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On Leaders and Accountability (Part 5): 6 Tips to Celebrating the Big Payoff

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Lee Ellis

Celebrating a Win

Think about this scenario: A momentous payoff has just occurred in your team as you’ve applied the guidance in this ongoing series of articles on accountability.

Your direct report has successfully accomplished their goal(s)! Things have gone well. As their leader, your expectations have been met and possibly exceeded.

  • So what do you do now?
  • How do you celebrate?
  • How do you affirm success?

So What’s Next?

This is the time for you to come through by being accountable in your role as the chief motivator and affirmer in the organization. Although you may not innately be a motivator and affirmer, you know that it’s a critical element of team success.

6 Tips to Celebrating the Big Payoff 

Here are some tips to help you succeed in this area.

1) Be Specific in Your Praise

Your goal is to be very specific in your affirmation; so before speaking, take time to reflect on what went well and what steps in the process made the work successful. Remember you want to recognize and “call out” what worked well so that you can reinforce the mindsets, behaviors, and attributes that you know will yield success again in the future.

“It’s been said that communications are 20% verbal and 80% non-verbal, so your energy, tone and body language are all going to play a big role in communicating genuine satisfaction.”

2) Be Enthusiastic in Your Demeanor

It’s been said that communications are 20% verbal and 80% non-verbal, so your energy, tone and body language are all going to play a big role in communicating genuine satisfaction. It’s true—some people are naturally more expressive than others; so if being low-key is part of your personality, then you’ll need to stretch your energy and emotions a bit.

This may be your courage challenge and one you don’t want to fail. Regardless of where your natural level of enthusiasm falls, you will need to punch it up a notch to show your pleasure at the way things have turned out. A big smile, high fives, and good words of affirmation communicate positive emotions that inspire others with energy for the next challenge.

3) Debrief the Mission

Set aside a few minutes to discuss what went right, what was learned, and what lessons can be used in the next challenging assignment. This is also a good time for you to ask for feedback on how helpful you were and what you might do in the future to better lead and manage your people and processes.

Finally, be sure to listen for insights into the challenges your people are facing. You’ll want to reflect on those and see if there are organizational barriers or trends that you and your manager need to know about.

“Always keep in mind that one of your important leadership responsibilities is to develop your people.”

4) Consider the Next Challenge

Successful people are generally looking for their next challenge so be ready with a challenging assignment for the next step. Always keep in mind that one of your important leadership responsibilities is to develop your people.

Be thinking about their next steps in their careers and how you can be preparing them for higher levels of responsibility.

5) Be Fair and Consistent in Your Affirmation

We humans have very sensitive egos and people notice what you are doing for others. They expect you to be at least as excited about their success as those of others. The way to nip office politics in the bud is to take care of the needs of each person individually as you work with them.

Almost everyone is searching for validation at a very deep level to confirm that “My work has meaning; I’m valued; and I’m worth something.”

Great leaders help people become successful and that means recognizing individual differences, helping people become successful and providing affirmation of their unique contribution.

“…some folks don’t want to celebrate because they are afraid—yes, afraid that if they celebrate people will quit working hard and lower the standards. I say don’t let your fear take you out.”

6) Evaluate Your Situation

Celebration is in a sad and pitiful state in many organizations. Many leaders are so busy they just knock down one goal and head on to the next one without taking time to celebrate.

That’s an energy drain for the leader and the team.

Also, some folks don’t want to celebrate because they are afraid—yes, afraid that if they celebrate people will quit working hard and lower the standards. I say don’t let your fear take you out.

Have the courage (and wisdom) to celebrate and see what happens. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised and that’s a nice thought, isn’t it?

So where are you now? Are you providing affirmation and enthusiastic positive feedback to your folks as they achieve their goals?  Are you willing to ask your folks to give objective feedback on how well you are doing in this area?  If you stop and reflect on this, what could you be doing to better affirm and value your people? 

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Lee Ellis

Lee Ellis is Founder & President of Leadership Freedom LLC & FreedomStar Media.
He is a leadership consultant and expert in teambuilding, executive development & assessments
Email | LinkedIn | Web | Blog | Book | Facebook | Twitter

His latest book is called Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton.

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Developing Employees – The Role of Personality

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Katrin Kaehler

Personalities at Work

One day when I was working as Learning & Development Manager in a German corporation, an executive approached me to talk about a manager on his team who was seen as difficult to deal with.

The man was not focused at work, he sometimes missing deadlines, and he was not a clear communicator.

However, he had been working for the company for many years, and his manager wanted to keep him on board. Many previous attempts to correct his behavior had not worked out. This manager was in his late 40′s and the executive asked me this question:

“Do you think we can still change his personality?”

Answering the Question

  • Do people change personality?
  • Can they change to “become someone else?”
  • Are people stuck with what they have become when we meet them?

Here is Another Scenario

My husband was working with a programmer who was being groomed for a career as a top-notch specialist. He was excellent at his job, yet his management did not consider him for a leadership position because they felt  “that’s just not who he is”.

These examples lead to an interesting question:

Is our personality carved in stone?

Can People Change?

I am a psychologist with a career in employee learning and development, so it is not surprising that I fundamentally believe that people can change.

But what does research say?

In the early days of personality research, psychologists came up with many different models to measure people’s personalities. Most of them had one thing in common:

  • They measured personality traits
  • Supposedly anchored in the brain structure
  • Have a stable starting in early adulthood

Nowadays, science is leaning more towards a fluid and contextual understanding of personality.  The situation in which a person displays a certain behavior has an influence on how the person reacts.

Personality Traits

In leadership training, models that assess personality traits (MBTI, DISC etc.) are widely used. Most of these models understand personality traits as relatively stable. I like using these models for example as a tool to get a quick assessment of your team’s personalities.

With the information provided in these assessments, leaders can quickly understand how to approach individual team members, adjust their leadership style and distribute tasks according to personal styles of employees.

The risk in extensively using these models is that they lead to assume that personality is carved in stone. I believe that focusing too much on personality traits takes responsibility away from yourself: As an individual, you’re not actively trying to be your best self.

As a leader, you might not give your employees your best effort to develop and coach them.

A Smart Approach

In reality, there is ample research evidence to support both approaches. And at this point in time, it is not possible to say which one is correct.

In the end, I believe that it doesn’t really matter for you as a leader.

Instead of musing about personality, focus on behavior instead. If an employee is not performing on the level you expect her to perform, ask yourself what the reason might be. Does the employee lack skills and knowledge to do the job, or is it maybe a question of self-confidence and motivation?

Adapting Your Leadership Style

Adapt your leadership style according to the needs of your employee. Agree on SMART goals with your employee in order to measure performance, and review progress regularly. Give your employee regular and timely feedback on her behavior. Be specific, e.g. by pointing out that she showed good leadership when facilitating a meeting.

In my experience, the most relevant factor to learning and changing behavior is the will to do so, open-mindedness, and a commitment to continuous improvement.

The programmer I mentioned before received continuous feedback and coaching from his manager. He was highly motivated to develop towards a leadership role and worked hard to improve his skills.

He is now considered a high-potential within the company and will be definitely be considered for a management position in the future.

So, how are you doing in understanding the best ways to use personality and personality profiles in leading your people? Have you been giving people “a pass” for poor performance because you simply “accept their personality?” Or have you been effective in coach/training beyond personality? I would love to hear your thoughts!

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Katrin Kaehler
Katrin Kaehler steers Organizational Learning and Development
Before moving to the US, she worked in International Roles in Europe
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Gian = Leadership: Timeless Advice on Competitive Advantage

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Rob Wolfe

The Art of War

In his book, The Art of War for Executives, author Donald G. Krause provides interpretations of author Sun Tzu’s writings from The Art of War to help business leaders use the material in everyday business situations.

His interpretations incorporate philosophies from modern business leaders such as Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis, as well as military strategists such as George Patton and J.F.C. Fuller.

Sun Tzu said: “We estimate using five principles and calculate our strategies. Then, we judge our course of action.”

Gian = Leadership

Of the five principles…the fourth is called Gian (or leadership).

This principle—Gian—is the basis for this article. I have sifted through Krause’s modern interpretation and compiled three focus areas with timeless points of wisdom that can and should be applied by leaders in every business to gain and sustain a competitive advantage.

These points are:

  • Information
  • Perceptions and Your Target Market
  • Competitive Strategy

On Information

“Foreknowledge cannot be gotten from ghosts and spirits, cannot be had by analogy, cannot be found out by calculation. It must be obtained from people, people who know the conditions of the enemy.” ~ Sun Tzu, The Art of War

  • Timely, accurate information is the lifeblood of successful competition.
  • Information means getting facts—timely, accurate facts—about the reality of conditions and circumstances in the competitive situation. Nothing in competition is more important than getting facts.
  • Facts clarify the situation. Alternatives are based on the facts. Appropriateness is based on evaluation of alternatives. And action is based on appropriateness.
  • Information also means giving out perceptions. Perceptions are facts and fiction that move your competitors and constituents where you want them.
  • When an executive fails in competitive operations, it is due to overdependence on internal knowledge or folk wisdom. Folk wisdom is that body of unchallenged assumptions which everyone thinks to be true. Folk wisdom exists in every organization. The value of information offered by people who do not know constituents personally is almost zero, particularly in times of rapid change. Decisions made far from the constituents impoverish the executive.
  • The wise executive harvests timely information from his constituents and his competitors. One new product idea generated from discussion with a real client is worth any number of ideas generated by consultants or [internal] staff.
  • Learn more about the people who use your products. Get better information. Create new products and services that fill previously unrecognized needs. Move quickly before your competitor finds out.

On Perception and Your Target Markets

“Whether in an advantageous position or a disadvantageous one, the opposite state should be always present to your mind.” ~ Sun Tzu, The Art of War

  • Keep your good name and your superior reputation before those who determine your future. Keep the quality and value of your products/[services] in the minds of your clients. Keep your clients’ needs uppermost in your mind.
  • In circumstances where your competitor is strong, develop innovative products and services. Look for indications of constituent dissatisfaction. Move quickly to meet needs. Where you competitor is weak, emphasize the advantages of your products. Look for better ways to serve.
  • Wear out your competition with unrelenting attention to the needs of your constituents.
  • If you have twice as many clients, make sure you understand why they are choosing your product and why they might choose your competitors’. Talk with your constituents. Talk with your competitors’ constituents. Redefine and differentiate yourself. How are you different? How are you superior?
  • Seek to divide the constituent group into smaller, more profitable niches which you can dominate. Further, seek new constituents for existing services. What additional services can you provide? Can you meet needs outside your currently defined constituency? Look at yourself through new eyes.

On Competitive Strategy

“Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.” ~ Sun Tzu, The Art of War

  • An executive must create plans for competitive actions which allow him/her to leverage his/her particular strengths within his/her organization in the marketplace. By competitive actions, I mean actions that bring an individual or an organization into conflict with other individuals or organizations. Leveraging your strengths gives you a competitive advantage.
  • All competitive advantage is based on effective execution of plans. Poor execution ruins superior plans. Superior execution saves mediocre plans. Further, superior execution can make more effective use of innovation and information. Surprise your competitors with your willingness and ability to adapt and change.
  • Constantly seek new approaches and methods, seek new market segments and different clients. Even with successful products look for new uses among old clients and new clients among those not considered before.
  • Confuse your competitors with constant innovation and superior service. Innovation is the one weapon which cannot be defended against.
  • The ideal strategy is to make competitors’ products or services obsolete through innovation.
  • Your aim is to take over a group of constituents intact by appearing superior in their minds. Thus your resources will be preserved and your profit will be greater. This is the art of effective competitive strategy.
  • The ability to triumph is a matter of positioning. Wait for the opportunity created by others. Execute effective strategies at the appropriate time.

Do you feel there are any important pieces of wisdom missing from the lists above as they relate to obtaining information, perceptions and target markets, or competitive strategy that are vital to business success? Do you disagree with any of the points above? I would like to hear your perspectives.

Note: I have changed Krause’s use of the word “customer” to “client” to stick with my viewpoint that all buyers should be considered “clients” with whom you want to build and maintain a relationship, rather than “customers” with a transactional focus.

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——————–
Rob Wolfe
Rob Wolfe is Consultant at Towers Watson
He help with engagement, solution selling, relationship management & social media
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