From the Leaders Notebook – The Importance of Clear Goals and Expectations
Establishing a unified vision is no different than a coach’s speech in the locker room ahead of the big game. Your staff, just like the players, all need to be on the same page. This goes a long way to helping all employees align toward a common objective and provides a clear roadmap for growth and market positioning. With so many ‘game-time’ decisions that are made by your staff daily, this cohesive vision helps your team to make the best decisions possible.
Speaking of better decision-making, a blurred vision causes much second-guessing and doubtful execution. That’s not good for your team, your customers or your business. Clarity helps managers prioritize initiatives that contribute to the strategic goals of the business. A clear line of sight also reduces wasted resources on unaligned projects or inefficiencies.
Time and time again when leaders complain about accountability and performance issues, one of the underlying culprits was a lack of focus on the main thing. You remember that line – make sure to keep the main thing, the main thing? That’s clarity, or lack thereof. Leaders that work to enhance accountability and performance, try hard to set clear benchmarks for success at every level of the organization. An added benefit to this is that it encourages proactive problem-solving among managers and staff.
Having clear goals and expectations helps to strengthen your competitive positioning in the marketplace. So many teams struggle to clearly articulate their true competitive advantage to their prospects and customers – they want to hear “how do you stand out from the rest?” Client centric firms use clarity of goals to help their team to identify market trends and adjust accordingly. These businesses tend to have a vision that focuses efforts on customer needs, innovation, and differentiation.
Last, but certainly not least, articulating a clear vision helps to increase profitability and market share. Their focus and unified efforts are directed at high-value customers and services. They know what they are looking for, and they are clear on what business opportunities to walk away from. This helps drives efficiency, cost management, and effective, efficient sales strategies.
While I continue to say that this is a tough business, a printing company leader who provides clear goals and expectations creates alignment, improves decision-making, enhances accountability, and strengthens the company’s competitive advantage — ultimately leading to sustained growth and profitability. That’s not a bad thing.
Mike Philie can help validate what’s working and what may need to change in your business. Changing the trajectory of a business is difficult to do while simultaneously operating the core competencies. Mike provides strategy and insight to owners and CEOs in the Graphic Communications Industry by providing direct and realistic advice, not being afraid to voice the unpopular opinion and helping leaders navigate change through a common sense and practical approach. Learn more at www.philiegroup.com, LinkedIn or email at mphilie@philiegroup.com.
The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with Printing Impressions. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Printing Impressions.
Mike Philie leverages his 28 years of direct industry experience in sales, sales management and executive leadership to share what’s working for companies today and how to safely transform your business. Since 2007, he has been providing consulting services to privately held printing and mailing companies across North America.
Mike provides strategy and insight to owners and CEOs in the graphic communications industry by providing direct and realistic assessments, not being afraid to voice the unpopular opinion, and helping leaders navigate change through a common sense and practical approach.
