“Investors are investing in you, the team”

That’s what companies who seek venture funding are advised, as they were once again, many times, at a boot camp for startups where I was a mentor recently.

“We’re investing in the team” is easy to say.

It’s not always easy to understand.

That’s especially the case if you haven’t had a lot of team experiences, and more specifically, if you haven’t had a lot of business team experiences and roles.

To really understand “We’re investing in the team,” you have to understand teamwork in a visceral sense.

And sometimes, frankly, it helps to have been on, and to have led very successful and less successful teams, as well.

“We’re investing in the team” is far easier to grasp if you understand the risks, opportunities and tools of teamwork and leadership.

And often some of the best learning occurs when you’ve had excellent but also less praiseworthy experiences on, and at the helm of a team. You learn a lot, like it or not, from having to scramble to create success from impending failure.

Fundamentally, what “We’re investing in the team” means is that investors – whoever they are – are looking to see if you and your leadership team can:

1. Turn a great idea into a company and then a growing flow of profits
2. Work well together
3. Turn your strengths as a team into something far greater than your strengths, as a group of separate individuals
4. Connect well with your prospects and convert them into customers
5. Organize people and resources to meet the opportunities and challenges you face, some of which you know, and many of which you don’t…yet
6. Attract a great team
7. Engage the team in your vision and keep them engaged through the ups and downs of startup life
8. Lead without squashing the strengths and enthusiasm of individual members of the company
9. Adapt well, as a team, as conditions change – because they will
10. Admit when you, as a leader or leadership team, need help
11. Listen and learn from customers, advisors, employees, and other members of your team
12. Make good decisions
13. Lead effective implementation of decisions
14. Grow and change, as individuals and as a leadership team, as the need for your leadership evolves
15. Let go of the reins, as appropriate, and delegate well
16. Show courage without foolishness
17. Get over, around and through the barriers that are presented to you without, in the process, causing other problems downstream
18. Be an alchemist, sometimes making progress in lieu of funding, sometimes stretching cash, and always turning the resources you have into more and better results than one initially might expect
19. See the path to success, and keep seeing it, and keep leading your team to it as it changes occur, obstacles emerge, and distractions happen
20. Handle success well

There are other things that investors are looking for, too, when they say they’re “investing in the team.”

You can rest assured, however, that if you do the 20 things on this list well, and if you do them better than your competitors, you’re well on your way to success, however your company is funded, whoever is at the helm.

Think about what would give you confidence that a startup company and leadership team were likely to succeed, if you were an investor, trying to guess which company was most likely to succeed from among the many on which you could place your bets, and your money.

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“Leave me alone! I don’t want to change!”

“Just let me get through this pile in front of me. The future will come – however it does – without my help today.”

You’ve probably felt this way – most of us have – at some point in our work or life about taking the time and making the effort to build a better future when faced by the problems of today.

Future-building brings many possibilities, but it also brings with it problems. And a major barrier to progress is always finding the time and energy to even try to think far beyond the pressures of the present day.

Thinking strategically takes a different kind of attention and energy than does getting products out the door and on their way to customers. It also takes very different perspectives and skills than does solving problems caused by decisions made and actions taken in the past, which may have caused problems which are just showing up, and must be solved at the moment.

Here are just five of possible barriers to building a better future through effective strategic planning, whatever organization you’re working with, or within.

See if any of these issues seem familiar to you.

1. You can’t see the future from here.

If this is a barrier for you, you’re filled to the brim, and beyond, with a sense that you can’t see what’s ahead, much less think about it strategically.

And you certainly don’t have the capacity at the moment to consider criteria for a successful outcome, envision alternate scenarios and chose priorities, or plan an optimal course of action, complete with accountabilities and due dates.

2. There are too many choices.

You may be feeling this if:

a) criteria for creating a desired future circumstance are not clearly defined yet

b) priorities are not apparent, at the moment

c) there’s not yet enough information about what’s going on, and what may happen in the future with the primary forces of change likely to affect your company’s fortunes in the future.

Whatever the case, having many options feels more like a burden than an opportunity in this situation.

And believe it or not, in this circumstance you may need more information, or you need to have the information presented in a way that makes it far more useful for planning and action-taking purposes.

3. Strategy is a dirty word.

Some people love setting strategy.

Others are far less enthralled with the “opportunity” that strategy-setting can present.

If you’re charged with getting things done and out the door, on their way to customers on a daily basis, you may feel that the full-time strategists in your company are never around to see how their plans actually work out, once implemented.

And you may wonder what your role is in this exercise of future-building. More than that, perhaps you’ve never really been involved in it, and you’re not confident of your abilities to do strategic planning effectively…but you don’t want to admit it.

4. Tomorrow has very little to do with today.

If this is the main problem you see with long-term planning, at least right now, this may be how you really feel:

“Help me see how the work of today relates to the work of tomorrow.”

“Make the strategy-setting and action-planning process tangible, achievable (and bonus-able), and help me feel a sense of achievement as we do the actual strategic planning work.”

“Make me feel a sense of accomplishment in the process, and the planning outcomes.”

“Make this part of my job – and teach me how to do it well – far more than you have today.”

5. There’s no guarantee about the future. We’re just guessing, and there’s a pretty good chance we’ll guess wrong.

The frustration here may be that the future doesn’t seem tangible, and the planning scenarios don’t seem realistic.

Perhaps prior strategic planning efforts have not been well-planned, well-managed, or effective.

In that case, the ease and eagerness with which people proceed is surely going to be mixed, at best.

And this, ultimately, is what you’re probably thinking if you’re not enthusiastic about being involved in what can be a significant future-building opportunity:

“Take the barriers out of my way if you want me to help you prepare for the future, today.”

January.

It’s the month when, full of the possibilities of a fresh new year, we assert, “This year things are going to be DIFFERENT.”

And by February 1, many of us are back to our old habits again.

Why IS that?

What prevents us – well, many of us and many companies, as well – from making substantial, meaningful, sustainable change?

It’s because the pull of the old stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves or our organizations, is astonishingly strong.

We need to break free of the power of their orbit.

Unwittingly, unconsciously, many of these stories box us in, tie us up, hold us back.

They make us blind to many possibilities, and much of our potential and our power.

The old stories limit:

- Who we are

- What we’re capable of, based on a variety of stereotypes we may be telling ourselves, about ourselves

- Our chances for success, for in many ways we fall prey to what they “predict” is likely to happen next

Think of it this way: if someone were looking at a movie of your life, or the life of your company, would they be watching a:

- Comedy?
- Drama?
- Action/adventure tale?
- Or (hopefully not) a horror story?
- Documentary, perhaps?

And then, consider:

- What’s the plot?

- Who are the main players?

- What’s your role in the plot?

- What’s likely to happen next, if you continue to play out this story and this role?

Now, of course, the audience for any movie wants surprise and high drama in the plot…that’s what keeps them in their seats.

But if you’re the person living that drama-filled life…well, you get the point…you want to take the drama out, wherever you can.

It will bring you far greater results which is much more fun, in the end, than the highs and lows of a drama-filled ride can ever be.

For example, if you viewed your life as a comedy, your secret wish might be to entertain those around you.

The primary “scenes” in that case might focus on pratfalls, near-misses and other assorted things that go wrong…except for the entertainment value they provide your friends.

However, if you view your life as an “overcoming all odds” story, then the plot line may focus attention on the odds stacked against you, followed by the many ways you did not fall victim to being beaten down by life, discouraged, depleted or otherwise kept from doing the most you could with the resources and talents you have.

To change, we have to see our stories in order to be able to move to a more positive path.

It is not easy to do.

But it’s definitely worth the effort it takes.

Make your story a good one, and one you want to live…not just the one you inherited, or were “assigned” by someone in your past.

In future posts I’ll give you steps you can follow to see your story more clearly. I’ll also share ideas you can use to create a better story, leading to a more satisfying path and far better results along the way.

If you found this article valuable, please share it with friends and colleagues who may find it useful, too. You’ll also like the free weekly newsletter I publish every Tuesday. You can sign up for the newsletter here.

Here are a few recent good reads focusing on leadership growth, and customer involvement in brand management and R&D

Business Week:
Google’s Management Style Grows Up

Forbes
Why Introverts Can Make the Best Leaders

Fortune:
How to build great leaders

Harvard Business Review Blogs:
The Illusion of Brand Control

Inc.:
The Start of a Beautiful Friendship: Partnering with Your Customers on R&D

Looking ahead and planning a change at some distant date?

Say, for example, you’re creating your 2010 business plan.

And so, you’re considering what that first future step should be.

Why wait?

There are small, engaging ways you can start today to prepare for, and begin to make those changes so they can be made in an easy, effective, sustainable way.

Even, well, especially in small, non-threatening ways.

Let’s step back for a second.

We’ve all been through attempts to make significant change which didn’t work out well.

And we each probably have experiences of failed change that occurred in both our professional and our private lives.

Here are two of the biggest problems with change that doesn’t work:

1. A vision that falls flat

Perhaps there’s an organization you worked for that had a well-articulated vision, but it didn’t work.

The vision was probably polished, presentable, perfectly wordsmithed.

What’s more, it was probably beautifully framed and prominently mounted on the wall, so that you could walk by it every day.

And you were required to work toward that vision.

But…and this is where the problem is…if the vision didn’t work, it was probably because it was…perfectly uninspiring.

It didn’t bubble up from the passions and deeply held shared purpose in the organization (you have some shared purpose, whether you realize it or not. It may not have been clearly or explicitly articulated, but it’s there. It’s what drew you to the organization, and it’s what keeps you all there).

2. A past that has an iron grip on you

When the past has too strong a grasp on us and our organizations, it can choke  or chain us to stories, histories, dreams, and expectations from which we cannot break.

And this can extend far beyond the time when all the signs are  telling us that it’s foolish…that there is change that absolutely, positively must be made.

For example, some groups bound by history seem to say, “Who are we, and what binds us if we do not have the shared struggle to define us?”

Sometimes the only way to change is in extreme, dramatic or elaborate ways.

At other times, a far better way is to work on creating small and positive experiences of the future, bit by bit, step by step.

This can gradually and quite naturally create a very strong base for sustainable change.

Knowing, then, that a vision that falls flat, and a past that won’t let you out of its thorny grasp are two major problems with change, what are some actions you can take starting – even – today?

Three ways to begin creating a vision that inspires you

For now, just brainstorm answers to the following questions, on your own, or as part of a group.

Keep the exercise light, not “heavy.” Your answers will be more honest, heartfelt, and true to you and your organization.

1. What are you excited about in the future?

2. What must your vision include for it to inspire you?

3. What do you hope to keep as you move into, and help create, a different and, hopefully, better future?

Three ways to start letting go of the past

Think about the identity that defines your organization.

Brainstorm answers to the following questions. Again, keep it a light, not a “heavy” exercise:

1. How is your current identity positive, enlivening, energizing?

2. How is your current identity restrictive, prohibitive or confining?

3. What is an identity that’s far more positive and inspiring than the one you now have?

Write down, and set aside your answers for a few days. Then check in to see what other ideas these exercises have provided.

You may find that the experience of beginning to create the future…step by step…even as a positive expectation, pulls you forward more than would ever have guessed.

And if the process of making changes and improvements requires fresh eyes and an objective outside perspective, give me a call.

We’ll create a plan and get you well underway to creating a future that’s far better than what you have.

I’ve known how powerful visioning practices are for individuals and groups, since long before I became a consultant.

I first used an exercise like this when I was preparing to find my first post-college job, uncertain about life out on my own.

In my consulting practice I frequently use large-scale group graphics and facilitation practices with teams.

I help them create visions, clarify their values and the most essential parts of the company which they want to retain in the midst of planned or necessary change.

We turn those visions into strategic plans, and action plans and clear follow-up practices.

Variations of visioning, whether used individually or as part of a team visioning and planning process, can be surprisingly clarifying and powerful.

Visions can be lots of fun to create, too, providing much insight and energy to help you move forward when you haven’t, for some reason, been able to do so before.

If you’re in the market or in the mood for a new vision of success, here are two small exercises you can try to kick-start the process.

Both are adapted from “Visioning, Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams,” by Lucia Capacchione

1. Create a focus phrase.

Find a few words that clearly express what you most want in your business, or some part of your life.

As Lucia Capacchione, author of “Visioning” notes, “When your mind starts chasing all over the place, the focus phrase is the still point you return to. You let extraneous, distracting, and disruptive thoughts go their own way. Instead of allowing your mind to roam about and take control, you take charge of it. You decide where you want your thoughts to go and where to put your energy.”

If you’re unsure of what to use, you could start with a question:

- What’s in the year ahead?
- What kind of business do I really want?
- Who is my ideal customer?
- Who is the reader for my first book?

Or if you know, you could use something more definite, such as:

- My ideal 2010
- My ideal business
- My ideal customer
- The reader of my book

And you can use it for other phases of your life:

- My next trip
- My ideal home (or office)
- My perfect relationship
- The new me

Capture the focus phrase in some way, such as by writing it on a 3×5 card you can carry with you and look at frequently. It can help you make decisions and discriminate about how to spend precious and limited resources, such as time, attention, energy, money.

For visioning purposes, use the phrase to help you select images that support your focus area, such as in the next exercise. It can be very clarifying because you will find that images quickly support the focus phrase and goal for you, or they don’t.

2. Research: Grab images and words that grab you

- Collect images from magazines, direct mail, the newspaper, or other sources that express a specific dream, wish or desire from which you can later create a collage, if desired, using simple art-making tools such as poster board (whatever size you wish), glue sticks, colored markers.

- Using your focus phrase, start paging through your collection of photos and phrases. Cut out images and words that clearly express your focus phrase or theme.

- When you are ready to start assembling a college – if you choose to do so – select the pictures and words that “leap off the page at you,” or express most strongly what you seek and hope to create and experience.

- Don’t think much about your choices or analyze them. Just focus on your theme and go with your intuition and feelings.

- If the image or phrase grabs you, grab it. Don’t edit at this point. Keep your mind open, keep your imagination free. If thoughts of obstacles start trying to creep and take over, let go of them for now. You can do the editing and winnowing process later, if you find the process valuable so far, and want to do more with it.

Choosing the right strategy and implementing it successfully is one of the top leadership skills.

If need be, how can you strengthen your strategic skills?

And how can you coach people who work with or report to you so they can strengthen their strategic contributions to your mutual success?

Here are a few approaches you can use:

1. Use scenario planning

First, identify the variables that create the highest risk and opportunity for your company. These could be vulnerable to signficant change in the months or years ahead – making you vulnerable, as well.

Next, imagine the extremes things – both positive and negative – that could happen for each of these success-critical variables.

Now push your imagination further. Envision MUCH more positive and MUCH more negative circumstances for each variable than originally came to mind when you envisioned what could happen in the future.

Then, having stretched by envisioning extreme alternatives, choose a few scenarios that you think are most likely to happen, having considered many possibilities by now.

Next, choose the most likely scenario. You may find it valuable to gather data that will help you hone and verify your instincts.

Finally, consider what actions you would take if some of the other also-likely scenarios happened, rather than the one on which you’re placing your bet, and investing all your resources.

2. Design for the solution after this one

The strategy you choose now, and the actions you take, as a result, will affect the future. That could prevent or solve future problems, and it could also initiate other problems.

To minimize the negative impacts of the strategy you choose, imagine when your company may need to set the next strategic direction, whether that happens in 5, 10 or more years.

The strategic thinking and choices you make now affect the opportunities that will be open to your company at that future time. Envision your strategic choices now fitting into the choices that must be made then. See if that perpective helps you to make a better and more confident strategic choice now.

3. Learn and practice games of strategy

This idea doesn’t need a lot of explanation. Learn and practice chess.

4. Learn from the masters

Choose someone who was or is legendary in your field for their strategic skills. Learn about them, and how they demonstrated their strategic skills.

What can you learn about what they achieved, their thought process, and other aspects of how they achieved success?

How can you apply that to your work of selecting your strategy now?

5. Create the time and space to be strategic

A big part of strategic success is carving out the time and space so strategic skills that are present can be tapped.

If you never get away from the day-to-day, you’ll never be able to fully see the big picture – to anticipate issues well before they become major problems, and to see greatest opportunities open to you, and how to make the most of them.

Create the time and space regularly so that strategy can emerge, be implemented, and adapt, as need be, as you move your company ahead.

Strategy. Strategic.

Do those words make you feel excited or energized? Or does your heart start racing a bit in fear, at just the mention of strategy, and the responsibility it brings?

Leaders’ reactions to strategic opportunities run the full gamut.

Some people like the excitement of sizing up the future and placing their bets on a particular course of action and events which setting strategy really represents.

For others, the word “strategy” and “strategic” make them break into a fearful sweat. For this group, the risks of getting it wrong seem higher than the thrill of getting it right.

Strong strategic skills – strategic thinking, strategy setting, and strategic management – are among the top characteristics of great leaders.*

The essence of strategic ability is that, of the many paths of action open to an organization, great leaders can see and take the strategic course most likely to lead to success.

They can find their way, no matter what their companies face, to optimal customer satisfaction, process excellence and ease, and profitability.

When you set strategy, you’re placing your bets – and committing your resources – to what you believe will happen in the future, and what your best response is likely to be to the changes ahead.

What’s really involved in being a great strategist?

You must be able to envision the game playing out fully – not just magically and effortlessly arriving at a successful final outcome.

You must have alternative paths figured out in case the paths you envision are wrong, or eliminated.

You must have or be able to get the resources to turn the strategy into effective action.

You must have good information, and know how to use it for good decision-making, having considered decisions from many different points of view

You must have the confidence to choose the best course, and stay that course or adapt, as you see what’s happening as time unfolds and conditions continue to change.

You must keep your eyes on the ultimate prize, your vision of success, given the current circumstances at any point, and what may lie ahead.

If your comfort with strategy is not what you’d like it to be for greatest success, give me a call, and we’ll work on it.

Change in an organization can be sought, or resisted – or some combination of both.

Handling change well is a major part of strategic management. And that is, essentially, top leadership’s primary role.

Here are few thoughts about change. Ultimately, it is inevitable in so many ways:

Life feeds back truth to people in its own way and time.
Sara Paddison

Nothing is more desirable than to be released from an affliction, but nothing is more frightening than to be divested of a crutch.
James Arthur Baldwin

Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted.
Unknown

If you or your leadership team need a reminder about some of the primary things you should be able to communicate well, start with the following questions.

If you don’t have the answers to these questions yet, take the time to work them out – or give me a call and I’ll help you work through them as a team.

Clarity and consistency, as leaders, about these essential issues is more important than you know:

1. Who are we, as an organization? Why do we exist, as a company?

2. Who are our customers? Who do we serve with our primary products and services?

3. What do our customers want from us, specifically? What’s excellence, from their point of view?

4. How are we doing, compared to what our customers expect of us? How do we know?

5. What values guide us when we make decisions – particularly the toughest calls?

6. What’s our long-term vision?

7. What’s success to us this year?

8. What are our priorities right now?

9. What measures do we use to know how we’re doing at any given time, compared to our goals?

10. What’s important in our company culture? What terminology, behavior and communications are a “big deal” here? What are we casual about, as a company?