What is a True Contributor (Part 5)
Contributors,
Last week, you learned about the Team Member portion of the Triad. This week, we’re going to examine the third and final area of the triad - that of ORGANIZATIONAL PLAYER.
THE COMPETENCY OF AN ORGANIZATIONAL PLAYER
The overarching competency of an organizational player is OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE, which we define as:
The ability to anticipate, understand, and act upon a problem in a way that will benefit all necessary stakeholders across the organization**
Achieving operational excellence requires three skills:
Micro to Macro thinking: understanding how your role, and your team's work, contribute to the larger whole.
The power to influence: the ability to not only use your voice effectively, but to get others on board with your ideas.
360° Accountability: the ability to hold yourself and others accountable.
To illustrate these points, meet Jane!
Jane, CEO, Your Company
Jane is the CEO of Your Company. She's a solid leader with a strong reputation for getting things done. Jane recognizes that the upcoming launch for Samantha's company has the potential to innovate Your Business. She is highly invested in the outcome and has requested full visibility to the launch.
That said, Jane’s communication with the Directors has not been clear. She has not communicated her expectations regarding ownership nor did she hold people accountable to the new tools needed for the external facing plan. Jane just assumed that “everyone would follow the stated plan” and that “all hands are on deck.”
As a result, the launch is disjointed. Specifically, The Directors and their respective teams relied on old ways of doing things (which had led to success in the past), despite the emphasis that was placed on the development of new tools for this product. The launch is a mess and Samantha’s company is deeply disappointed, as the execution of the plan failed miserably.
The launch failed to meet its most critical goals. At the end, everyone is left staring at a dropped baton and wondering where it all went wrong.
But what if instead…
Jane calls The Directors for a meeting to explain the importance of this launch. She is clear that this new service could innovate the company’s offerings and grow the business. Jane emphasizes that the company’s current tools and models (which have worked beautifully in the past) will not work for this product launch. For this reason, it is critical that new tools are formed and utilized to ensure the success of both goals of this launch, and Jane emphasized that The Directors would be held accountable to the necessary innovation.
Jane paints a picture of what this will look like – clearly indicating the goals, and therefore, the priorities, of the launch. She outlines her expectations and assigns one of The Directors as the owner of this new body of work. She asks to be briefed weekly on the progress with all The Directors present so that she can understand how the launch is unfolding and ensure that she can provide feedback, as well as ensure that the work is syncing up at every stage.
When Jane notices her leaders reverting to old ways of doing things, she holds them accountable and helps steer them back on track. As a result, the new tools for the launch, including a series of videos, emails, town halls, and trainings, are launched with success. While there are a few hiccups, they are identified and addressed quickly.
The launch meets its objectives, it stays within the anticipated timeline, and Samantha's company is thrilled. More importantly, your business has a proven track record of executing a new suite of services for your current and prospective clients, winning new business and christening your company as a trailblazer in its field.
What's the difference between the first and second scenario?
OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE.
The ability to anticipate, understand, and act upon a problem in a way that will benefit all necessary stakeholders across the organization**
Jane recognized the importance of the launch to the business and decided to take an active role. Rather than commandeering the project, and muscling her way through it, she recognized what needed to be done, company wide, to ensure that the organization met the objectives - and she held everyone accountable to getting it done. She identified how each part of the organization would contribute, she identified an owner, as well as the goals and priorities, and she steered people back when they were reverting to old and comfortable, yet ineffective, ways of working.
SUCCESS!!
With that, we've reached the end of our What is a True Contributor? series. We hope you learned about the founding principles of our company, the toolbox of True Contributors, and had the opportunity to evaluate your strengths and growth areas.
The bottom line: we all have potential - but we need a set of skills to be able to tap into it. It's not enough to want to grow - we need a specific set of tools to do so. At True Contributors, we've developed a program that gives professional teams and cohorts the skills to flourish in the modern workplace - to tap into their potential so that they can see what they're truly capable of.
We'd be honored to lead this training and coaching for your team through our True Contributors program. Are you ready to get started? Fill out an inquiry form here or email us at info@truecontributors.com.
Until next time,
Dr. Nahed A. Zehr
**This is our working definition.
