Flying Blind?

You are having fun. Your business is serving a greater cause. You are delivering on your mission. You and your people are working hard. But…you are going broke. How did this happen?! Leadership experts said if I focused on my mission, everything would work out.

Modern aircraft are amazing pieces of machinery. The North American X-15 is currently the fastest plane in the world, with a top speed of 4520mph! Imagine what it would be like to try and fly one without any feedback—all that power and thrust with no way to know if you are moving in the right direction. Your Core Values, Mission, and Vision provide energy to your organization, but they don’t provide the on-going and regular feedback needed to maintain a successful course. 

Many of the businesses I work with have a similar problem. They reach out to me because they are running out of money. They are passionately serving their mission and doing good, but their operations are not sustainable. They have entered a death spiral that will ultimately end in their demise.

If you offer real value, then you have a moral obligation to make a profit. If you don’t make a profit, you will not be able to continue to help people in the future because you will be out of business. That doesn’t help you, your employees, or your clients who are all counting on you to help them both now and in the future.

So how do you turn an organization like this around? You clearly define what winning looks like both organizationally and individually and then create a visual scoreboard that lets your people know on a timely basis if they are winning.

Here’s how to create a successful scoreboard:

• Focus on areas that need to improve
• Choose 3-5 key measurables (less is more)
• Track progress in a place that is highly visible
• Talk about the progress regularly
• Collaborate with your team on how to improve scores

Still not getting results? Don’t fly blind. Send me an email and let me know if your current plan has you off course. The staff at DRYVE Leadership Group has made this trip before. We’ve coached hundreds of clients and organizations on how to give relevant, real-time feedback, and we can help you too.