ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Strategy - It’s About Making The Hard Choices

Printable version

As an executive coach I have more often than not witnessed the lack of effective strategy initiatives in both for profit and non-profit organizations. Typically I am called upon to perform executive, leadership or management coaching for either an individual or several individuals at the senior level. As part of the many personal assessments and dialogue sessions the clients undertake, conflict management and organizational change comes to the forefront as important issues facing both the individual and the organization. These discussions virtually always lead to the discovery that “clarity, focus and execution of organizational strategies are virtually non-existent.”

More than at any other time in history, organizations need to be clear about where they are going and how they will get there. Organizational leaders must be able to develop clear and meaningful strategies if they hope to energize and engage the organizations most important resource…its people. In uncertain times, all individuals, no matter what position they occupy or what role they play are seeking meaning in what they do. A clear business strategy, understood by all, coupled with the organizations ability to adapt, is the best sustainable advantage for an organization to develop to survive and thrive in today’s unpredictable environment.

So why is “strategy” about making the hard choices? First of all, to initiate a new strategy, status quo thinking must go. Whenever people or organizations challenge the status quo there will be change and “change always causes conflict.” Mobilizing their organization behind a new idea (strategy) is one of the biggest challenges facing executives. Additionally most leaders and organizations have difficulty dealing with conflict. When a new strategic initiative is launched it is most often done without communicating the reasoning behind the need to change, and a clear explanation of how the organization will be better moving forward. People will resist even small changes until their WIIFM (what’s in it for me) is addressed. They want to see how the new strategy will benefit both them and the organization.

Secondly, most organizations and their leaders are risk adverse. There is a lot of discussion as to what should be done, but very little is done, because most everyone lists all of their “concerns” as to why “it” (the new strategy) will probably fail or be to disruptive to the daily challenges faced by the organization. As an executive coach, I can’t believe how many times I have heard “leaders” say “We simply can’t do more with less.” The long term success of any organization (which is a leader’s primary role) is to do two things at once, insure continuous incremental change and insure “breakthrough strategic” change. In today’s nerve-racking economic environment, only those organizations that continuously take well thought-out strategic risks will survive.

Bottom line…The organization must learn how to deal with status quo thinking, conflict resolution and become take smart risks through well thought-out adaptive strategies. Your organizations strategies must be defined as to how you will win and outline how all of your organizations resources can have the maximum impact on how you will beat the competition. A good strategy is all about making the tough choices…and seizing the future.


Copyright Information:

You MAY reprint the information contained in this article as long as no portion of the contents are modified and it used “exclusively” within your organization and credit is given to Ingbretsen Consulting. Please contact for republication.

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.

Back