ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Organizations – The Great Human Endeavor

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Every organization needs to take care of its customers, watch its competitors, understand its industries dynamics and have a firm understanding of its capabilities. These needs all require people. This implies that an organization by its very nature is a human endeavor.

When you tie mission, vision, strategy, organizational values, focus on sustainability, growth and talent, innovation, the ability of the organization to change, training and development and leadership coaching into one dynamic package, the results – and that’s what it’s all about – will be outstanding! With all that is said and implied about the cold and calculated impact of technology in today’s workplace, leadership also remains a very human endeavor.

Leadership is all about people. Coaching leaders so they can better orchestrate the social capital – the collective value of people within an organization – is what I believe to be a special investment in the development of human potential. Executive or leadership coaching is not a fad. Leadership development through coaching is becoming to organizations what a coach is to sports. Coaching is one of the requirements for winning.

Within the leadership development coaching process, it is important to know and understand what the stated and actual organizational values are, so both the coach and the colleague can better understand how people fit or align themselves within the organization. As a coach, you need to be sensitive to how things are actually done within the organization in which you are going to be coaching leaders and other key individuals.

This understanding will help you be more effective in asking the right questions or challenging individuals to follow the right assumptions. This will also provide you with insight as to what will be the important values that your colleague needs to be in alignment with or possibly what values need to be changed to allow greater individual and organizational success. With both the coach and the colleague being clear on the organizational values, the coach can better advise (coach) the colleague on how to most effectively use his or her strengths, talents and competencies to attain the greatest impact.

Much has been written about mission and vision statements. Some organizations can’t stand them, others swear by them. Some organizations are successful without them, while others believe they are, in part, the reason for their success. Strategy is another aspect of organizational life that has received a fair amount of both good and bad attention.

Used incorrectly, all (mission, vision and strategy) simply become words without meaning or statements of the obvious. Used correctly, a good mission statement, a well-conceived vision, and the strategies put in place to make it all come alive, can make the difference between an organization that merely does well and one that is truly great. For best results, the leadership coach and the organization should be clear about its mission, vision and strategies.

A well-written mission statement can promote unity, provide clarity and focus, move the organization from ideas to action, align and allocate scarce resources, and help define and establish the culture of the organization. Because of these factors, the mission statement can be a powerful force in clearly defining the organizations purpose for existence.

Where there is no vision, people get confused, lose heart and do not perform at their best. A vision defines a “desired future.” It clearly describes the organization’s future desired state. The vision fulfills the stated mission and helps all who accept the vision to more fully understand it. The vision must also be explicit, bought into, short, and in writing, so all stakeholders operate on fact rather than assumption. A vision generates a unity of purpose by capturing the hearts and minds of an organization..

Just as you would develop a vision to support a mission, so too, it is necessary to generate a strategy for accomplishing the mission and the implementation of a vision. Strategy is the unique formula or nucleus around which plans can be formed which leads to organizational success. Developing strategy is not that complicated; yet it is an underused activity in many organizations. Figuring out strategy can be basic. Where is the organization today? Where does it want to be in the future? Where is our competition today? What is our cost position to beat them in the future? Strategy simply defines the logic and tactics that ensure the mission and vision will be achieved.

The statement can be made that “values are important” and “culture counts.” Culture is the mortar that holds the organization together – it’s about people. Culture is often described as the “soft” side of the business and is therefore thought to be easy to define, mold and change. You should challenge that assumption. The “soft” side of the business or organizational environment is most often very difficult to orchestrate. Culture within an organization is deep, extensive and complex. Culture is a very powerful and often unconscious set of forces that determines individual as well as collective behaviors, beliefs, values and ways of perceiving situations and doing things.

In order to secure their continual success, leaders and their organizations must do three things. First, they must ensure Sustainability – which involves maintaining and securing the present day-to-day discipline of running the organization and applying sound business principles. Second, they must ensure Growth – which involves having innovation, drive, determination and focusing on the future. Growth is vital to our collective prosperity. Growth is the great elixir. Every person, department, company and economy must grow if prosperity is going to be realized. This is the major polarity we face – disciplined sustainability and innovative growth. It is not a matter of stopping the train and taking the time to redesign the tracks ahead. It is keeping the train going, while anticipating when and where the next switch will be thrown, that will keep the organization going along the best right-of-way.

Talent is closely related to the challenge of sustainability and growth. Effective leadership requires the fostering of creativity, innovation and implementation. In a survey conducted by the American Management Association, the top answer to the question “What must be done to survive in the 21st Century?” was “Practice creativity and innovation.” The word implementation has been added because of the important role it plays in most organizational strategies. The three words together – creativity, innovation and implementation – can be viewed as a process or the practice of entrepreneurship. All are important; however, innovation should be considered the centerpiece when thinking of future growth.

As you can see, Organizational life is truly a great human endeavor.


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About Ingbretsen Consulting LLC:
Coach and author Roger Ingbretsen is a certified executive coach and organizational developer, providing organizational and career guidance to professionals, managers, supervisors and all individuals looking for "real world" career development and business information. His entrepreneurial approach will help you learn how to plan, lead and succeed in your career. Roger is the creator of the “Leadership Development Coaching Experience©” and author of the personal development reference eBooks, “Plan Your Career Now: The Survival Guide for the American Workplace” and “Master Your Career: Proven Strategies for Career Success©.” To know more and claim dozens of Rogers free articles go to www.ingbretsen.com or call 509 999 7008.

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