Welcome to the January 2016 edition of A New Leaf!  The end of 2015 marked the five year anniversary of See Change Management working closely with business owners and their teams. 2015’s robust portfolio of engagements continued to reinforce the founding principles of our launch in 2011; that nothing has a more profound impact on the success of an organization than its LEADERSHIP, CULTURE and PLANNING.

The beginning of each year provides LEADERS with the opportunity to reflect on how well they have performed in these three critical areas.  As a means of assisting in this self-assessment, this issue of A New Leaf offers thought provoking questions for LEADERS to consider in concluding “Was I the Best Leader I Could Have Been in 2015?”

The scope and breadth of the 2015 engagements minimized my ability to reach out and maintain critical  intermediary contacts. If I missed connecting with you in 2015, it was not because you fell off my list! A personal 2016 goal is to reconnect with those resources that share a commitment to playing an impactful role to entrepreneurial business engagements such as below that See Change Management led in 2015:

*Spearheaded a comprehensive organizational restructuring of three profitable but underperforming related businesses, each with multiple but different owners lacking any exit strategy. This process resulted in a  holding company structure with a single owner, near term plans for or actual exits of all other owners, a streamlined management structure including newly hired general managers and a financial and operational plan focused on making 2016 a break out year

*Engaged in ongoing, periodic executive coaching with ten business leaders facilitating both their personal and professional self-development and improvement in leadership capabilities

*Worked closely in three separate engagements with business owners on valuation issues and exit strategies related to their desire to divest/consolidate their ownership interests from their current, dysfunctional multiple owner structure 

*Spearheaded a monthly CEO Forum webinar series with business owners throughout the country focused on relevant readings and dialogue addressing key aspects of Leadership, Culture and Planning

*Facilitated annual strategic/operational planning in multiple engagements resulting in 2016 organizational goal setting and metric formulation to monitor performance

*Assisted senior management in multiple settings with detailed financial modeling as a means of formalizing their organizational cost drivers and 2016 annual financial plans

The common aspect of the above engagements was LEADERSHIP dedicated to personal and organizational transformation. Thanks to each of them, to you and all others who have been supportive of See Change Management over the last five years. Best of luck in making 2016 the best year ever!

MIKE

2015 SELF REFLECTION LEADERSHIP QUESTIONS:

The following questions are designed to assist all LEADERS in their annual self assessment as to whether they are performing at the highest level possible.  These questions are not intended to be all inclusive. In addition, this review requires a high degree of self awareness and realism on the part of the LEADER, two areas that often reflect personal leadership blindspots. LEADERS are encouraged to seek 360 degree feedback to ensure their own blindspots are not clouding this important exercise.

LEADERSHIP:

*How successful was I in assuming the LEADERSHIP role for my organization, establishing a SENSE OF URGENCY and REALISM for my team every day, and in living the FIVE PRACTICES OF EXEMPLARY LEADERSHIP?

*How much did I appreciate the impact of differences in EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (EQ) vs. IQ in all interactions with my team? How successful was I in improving my personal EQ during the year?

*How much progress did I make in 2015 in addressing my personal BLINDSPOTS impacting my LEADERSHIP capabilities? How effective was I in assessing and addressing the single most important BEHAVIORAL CHANGE that I needed to make as a LEADER? How many DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS did I have this year with my team…and with myself?

CULTURE:

*How effective have I been in driving ACCOUNTABILITY within my organization and in addressing THE FIVE DYSFUNCTIONS of all teams? 

*How successful was I in establishing, communicating and modeling a set of organizational VALUES that sets the company up for enduring success?

*How much progress did I make in creating a team of A PLAYERS dedicated to a CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE?  Is my team of such a caliber that I have the flexibility to focus on what only I can, and need to, do?

PLANNING:

*How clearly does our organization understand how we compare to the COMPETITION? How effective have we been in defining our COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE and STRATEGY as a means of differentiating us in the marketplace? How has our STRATEGY clarified when we will say NO?

*Do we have the INTERNAL CAPABILITIES to execute on our STRATEGY? If not, what are we doing to develop them?

*How successful was our team in meeting our 2015 organizational GOALS, operating METRICS and financial PLAN? What are we committed to CHANGE in 2016 to improve our actual vs. plan performance?

An honest assessment of the above and other company specific questions should provide a sound framework for concluding whether YOU WERE THE BEST LEADER YOU COULD HAVE BEEN in 2015. Just as important is for you to commit TODAY to a plan to ensure you can respond affirmatively to this critical self assessment in January 2017.