The official Olympic website www.olympic.org contains a section entitled “Olympic Personal Trainer” in which athletes give advice about achieving goals. Common threads in the responses include the need for a clear focus, support from others, preparation, goal setting and above all – passion. The athletes stress the importance of breaking long term goals into incremental goals. No magic bullet here, just simply hard work, dedication and focus.
One of the athletes – Charmaine Crooks – reminds viewers of the importance of developing a clear plan and sticking to that plan. Other strategies include the use of visualization and taking a creative approach to overcome obstacles. When not training physically, the athletes rely upon supportive like-minded individuals. For many, the goal of winning and being the best has been their passion since childhood. In the business world, a company can only benefit by building upon each employees unique inner drive.
These goal setting principles are relevant to the world of business. In an interview with Rosa Park of the Globe and Mail, Cameron Herold – owner of the Back Pocket COO – talks about the best way to grow a company. In Herold’s opinion, a clear vision and the right people make a winning company and he suggests that a dedicated focus on the company vision precludes the need to worry about competition. To achieve the intense level of focus required, companies must build upon a clearly articulated strategy and dedicate themselves to flawless execution. Herold discusses how 1-800-GOT-JUNK created a great workplace culture, contributing to the growth of the company.
Similarly, this advice supports the findings of a May Aberdeen survey with 900 organizations in which “best in class” companies were identified as excelling at involving “employees in the goals definition process, ”establishing “standardized employee performance ratings,” and strengthening employees understanding of how their efforts contribute to strategic business goal achievement. These elements all rely on sound performance management and regular two-way communication. Another piece of the puzzle is performance measurement. For example, a May 2008 Institute for Corporate Productivity survey with 305 participants found that “productive organizations were not only more likely to use most productivity measures of all types, they tended to place nearly the same emphasis on output per person as they did on output per work group.”
Shevelenko and Berggren recommend that organizations “facilitate clear communication of goals and line-of-sight, provide real-time accountability and visibility into project status and take action if individuals fall behind on goals” and they list a number of crucial questions in their paper that help organizations determine their level of alignment.
What methods do you recommend that organizations put in place to clearly communicate company vision and create a single-minded focus on strategy and execution?
References:
Aberdeen Group Inc. Managing Employee Performance. Aberdeen Group Inc., May 2008.
Bubka, Sergey et al. Olympic Personal Trainer. International Olympic Committee [www.olympic.org], 2008.
Park, Rosa. “Ignore Your Rivals.” Report on Business.com [www.globeandmail.com]. August 5, 2008.
Institute for Corporate Productivity. “TrendWatcher: Productivity Is a Higher Priority, But Which Initiatives Really Work” [www.i4cp.com]. June 27, 2008.
Shevelenko, Alex and Erik Berggren. “Winning Through Talent in Uncertain Times: 45 Strategies to Get Ahead.” SuccessFactors Inc., 2008.
