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by Dave Ferguson

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How to Close the Gap Between Strategy and Vision

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How to Close the Gap Between Strategy and Vision

Often, when someone asks me what I do for a living, I tell them, “I help leaders close the gap between the reality of where they are now and where they ideally want to be.”

I help them build the bridge between their current reality and a new ideal, and it is my passion to do so.

I hear from leaders every day who are in this gap. These leaders have great ideas that don’t come to fruition. They have powerful vision that never becomes their new reality. They have big goals but few results.

I believe the biggest gap most leaders have (in their personal and professional lives) is between what they plan to do and what actually gets done. Simply stated, it is the gap between planning and executing.

How do you know you’re standing in the gap? You will…

  • Sense a frustration with how things are but have little to no hope ­­­­they will ever change. You can’t go back, but you won’t move forward.
  • Notice apathy – a lack of motivation. You have found enough motivation to push you forward from status quo, but you are missing – or resisting – the pull to go higher.
  • Be envious of those who are successful in the area to which you aspire. Think about it. Why are you envious? It is likely because they have found a way to get to where you really want to be.

Why don’t your strategic plans get you to where you want to be?

The fact is, it may not be the plan.

Some of the best strategies developed in businesses today are dead on arrival, not because of the plan, but because of the inability to execute.

This is very much like many of us who fail each year in accomplishing our new year’s resolutions. We have big ideas and big goals, but rarely do we make a targeted plan and (here’s the key) give it the priority needed to accomplish the goals.

We make them “shoulds” not “musts”.

If you want to execute your plan, make it a “must!”

To cross the great divide between planning and vision, you need three things:

  • Determined Perspective
  • Dedicated People
  • Defined Process

Determined Perspective

  • Execution requires a reality check.

Proper execution exposes reality and then acts on it. This means you must stop presenting and start asking your employees questions. You need open and honest dialogue that will raise the true realities of your business. Then you can create processes to facilitate the execution. If you start at process, you’re missing the point of execution.

  • Execution requires active leadership.

CEOs and other leaders can’t stand on the sideline and watch the rest of the team execute. The leadership team has to be engaged and personally involved. Like a coach, a leader needs to set the tone for the business and get on the field with the rest of the team!

  • Execution has to be a “way of life” in your business.

Executing can’t be the “flavor of the month”. It has to be embedded in the way your company operates. Just like a sports team practices every day of the week for the big game, so must your team practice the disciplines required to execute.

Dedicated People

  • You need people who energize people.

These people focus on short-term accomplishments that drive the larger results. They are unique people with their own personal style of leadership.

  • You need people who can make tough decisions.

They are decisive and do not dance around making decisions. They do not show signs of procrastinating or avoiding the reality of a situation. And they accept the responsibility that is theirs.

  • You need people who truly know how to delegate.

These people get things done through others, which is a fundamental leadership skill. They possess a temperament that builds relationships…they work well with others.

  • You need people who make sure the team is doing what they committed to do.

These people are experts at follow-up. They are your accountability arm in the execution process.

Defined Process

This is the point where many goals falter. You may have determination and a great team, but if your strategic plan is not defined to the level of a doable process, you and your team could be spinning your wheels in the gap.

This is a dirty little secret from the small business level to the corporate board room. Many businesses have no defined roadmap. It’s not enough to know where you want to go and have a dedicated team – you also need a roadmap to ensure you get to the place to which you are determined to go.

How do you bridge the gap?

  • Vision – Set the vision first. This will pull you forward.
  • Strategy – This will push you forward.
  • Execution – This will carry you through the gap.

And the key to execution is Determined Perspective, Dedicated People, and a Defined Process.

Dave Ferguson is “The Leaders’ Coach”, an internationally recognized executive leadership coach, speaker, facilitator, and author. Are you interested in talking to Dave about coaching or having Dave speak to inspire and motivate your team? “ASK COACH DAVE” at 704-907-0171 or at Dave@AskCoachDave.com.

3 Main Roadblocks to Success

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3 Main Roadblocks to Success

“Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” ~ Calvin Coolidge

Perseverance is a key component of leadership, and while I believe it isn’t something you can teach, it is a characteristic you can learn. And it is essential to success.

That said, the desire to persevere isn’t enough. Perseverance also requires application, dedication, and a heavy dose of tenacity.

What is Perseverance?

It is persistent progress in a course of action despite difficulties, roadblocks, or discouragement. As a leader, you cannot give in when met with unexpected difficulty. If you do, there will be collateral damage. You know this.

And yet…you are human. You will face these times and, truthfully, want to give up.

The fact is, the road to success requires the vehicle of perseverance. And you will face roadblocks along the way that will try to stop your vehicle.

What are these roadblocks? And, more importantly, how do you navigate beyond each one?

Roadblock #1: The Propensity to Give Up

The easiest way out of a difficult situation, at least in the short term, is to simply give up – to retreat to our comfort zone. As humans, we are predisposed to avoid pain. Unfortunately, in avoiding the pain of growing, we also avoid the pleasure of success. The number one reason leaders are not successful is simply because they give up too soon.

How to Break Through Roadblock #1:

  • Motivate Yourself – Watch someone accomplish something impossible
  • Push Yourself – Get up to work out—push yourself physically
  • Inspire Yourself – Listen to music that inspires, motivates, and pumps you up
  • Challenge Yourself – Go do something hard, like climb a mountain
  • Encourage Yourself – Find a friend, mentor, or coach who will both encourage you and call you out where accountability is needed
  • Support Yourself – Stay strong by re-energizing your mind, body, and spirit; and keep your head up

Roadblock #2: The Belief that Success Comes Easily

Another major roadblock is entitlement; the belief that you are deserving of the good life without having to work for it. My friend, Larry Winget pays his respects to this idea in many of his books. He has a point.

As with everything in life, there is a spectrum for entitlement. You may not expect to have success handed to you on a silver platter, but you might be thinking it shouldn’t be this hard, either. Either way, it is entitlement.

The fact is, success doesn’t land on our doorsteps. It is earned through perseverance and good old-fashioned hard work.

How to Break Through Roadblock #2:

Dig in and use struggles as a reason to recommit to your goals. Commitment will drive you through the roadblock of entitlement and on to the good life you have worked to achieve.

Roadblock #3: A Lack of Vision

When it comes to goals, individuals who persevere always keep the big picture in mind. They see it, and know what to do or create to keep working towards it.

What is your vision?

Is it to earn money?

This may seem to be the vision. But in reality, money is not the vision, but its predicator.

The real question is, “What is the WHY beyond the money?” That is the vision.

How to Break Through Roadblock #3:

Get to your “why”.

  • WHY do you want to succeed in your business and career?
  • WHY do you want to lose weight?
  • WHY do you want to reach your goals

Pushing through these roadblocks engages and strengthens perseverance. And perseverance, as we’ve noted, is the vehicle to success.

Click here for free chapter on perseverance.

Are you driving the vehicle of perseverance through the roadblocks to your success?

Are you helping and encouraging your team to learn perseverance as well?

Dave Ferguson is “The Leaders’ Coach”, an internationally recognized executive leadership coach, speaker, facilitator, and author. Are you interested in having Dave speak to inspire and motivate your team? “ASK COACH DAVE” at 704-907-0171 or at Dave@AskCoachDave.com.

11 Essential Needs of Employees

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11 Essential Needs of Employees

When we look at leadership and its history, some leaders emerge with charisma, strategy, and vision as hallmarks of their style.

These are absolute leadership traits, but a newer trait, called “emotional intelligence,” has found its way into the workplace.

People today have a great sense of independence and a need for empowerment. This means leaders must act in a way that promotes authority and management, while also encouraging participation and empowerment.

An emotionally intelligent leader knows when to exercise authority, when to encourage participation, and when to keep his or her own ideas, feelings, and emotions private.

Emotional intelligence is being in tune with the employee when it comes to their needs and expectations in the workplace.

How do you know what your employees really need?

An easy way to figure out what your employees need is to first look at the dark side and ask, “What drives people away from their jobs?”

Employees leave jobs for five main reasons:

  1. Boredom
  2. Inadequate salary and benefits
  3. Limited opportunities for advancement
  4. Lack of recognition
  5. Unhappy with management and the way they manage

In my experience as a corporate leader and as an executive coach, I have also identified a pattern of employee needs.

These are the 11 Essential Needs of Employees.

  1. Reward – Compensation for the work
  2. Vision – Security in knowing where the company is headed long-term
  3. Resources – Having the right tools and training
  4. Loyalty – Leadership that “has your back” as they expect you to have theirs
  5. Connection – Competent leaders who genuinely care and are supportive of employee success
  6. Teamwork – Having a culture that supports and encourages teamwork
  7. Value – Sincere appreciation and recognition of each employee as an individual
  8. Growth – Programs and paths for growth and career advancement
  9. Self-Development – Opportunities to be coached, challenged and inspired
  10. Strengths – Mapping roles and responsibilities to strengths for ultimate fulfillment of potential
  11. Purpose – Creating opportunities for meaningful contribution to the big-picture goals

In the spirit of emotional intelligence, let’s also take a moment to look at an American psychologist and leading proponent of human psychology, Abraham Maslow. During the period of 1943-1954, Abraham Maslow developed his Hierarchy of Needs motivation theory. It is arguably the most popular and most read motivation theory. His theory suggests that within each person, there is a hierarchy of needs that the individual must satisfy before they move onto the next.

There are five levels in the Hierarchy of Needs.

  1. Physiological – The need for food, shelter, and other elements for basic survival.
  2. Safety – The need to feel safe within your environment. This also refers to emotional and physical safety.
  3. Social – The need for love, friendship, and a sense of belonging.
  4. Esteem – The need for self-respect, status, and recognition from others.
  5. Self-actualization – The need to reach one’s full potential.

The effect of all these variables is summarized in the Emotional Intelligence Matrix below.

It shows how addressing the 11 Essential Needs of Employees can fulfill Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in the workplace. Not only does this lower attrition rates; it also has a profound and positive impact on the bottom line.

Traditional leaders may be tempted to brush the idea of emotional intelligence under the proverbial rug, dismissing it as a passing fad. The fact is, emotional intelligence has always been part of the fabric of society. Ignoring it won’t make it go away – but ignoring it may be causing your employees to go away.

Though emotional intelligence may be a bit of an intangible factor for many leaders, the payoff for incorporating it shows up at all levels of the company – from the corner office to the bottom line.

Not only does it lower costs related to attrition, it also translates to bottom line income. An employee whose hierarchal needs are met is a happy employee. And happy employees create happy customers.

As a leader, the payoff for addressing emotional intelligence is exponential.

Dave FergusonDave Ferguson is “The Leaders’ Coach”, an internationally recognized executive leadership coach, speaker, facilitator, and author. Are you interested in talking to Dave about coaching or having Dave speak to inspire and motivate your team? “ASK COACH DAVE” at 704-907-0171 or at Dave@AskCoachDave.com.

The Two-Part Leadership Development Formula

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The Two-Part Leadership Development Formula

In any given company, few people are leaders; so it tends to reason that we are primarily a society of followers.

Why is this?

The simple answer is twofold: first, there is no such thing as a “natural born” leader, and secondly, leadership skills are rarely taught in our classrooms. Leadership, if offered, is an elective rather than a requirement.

As the leader of a company, you know your best path to success is not to create a team of followers. It is to create a team of leaders. And you also know that leaders don’t “just happen”.

This puts leadership development high on your list of priorities. But many corporate training programs address only half of the equation.

What is leadership, and why does it escape so many of us?

  • Leadership is the art of making possibilities a reality. This is accomplished via personal leadership, where you are leading in your field of expertise, and via team leadership, where you are tapping into the expanded expertise of each leader on your team. Leading a team of leaders compounds the results.
  • Leadership is also truth. You have to be true to the man or woman in the mirror before you can be true to your team.

The Two-Part Leadership Development Formula 

Your followers can become effective leaders with the right training and mindset.

  • Leadership Training

    The good news is, all the skills necessary to be a good leader are learnable. Initiative, vision, empowerment, attraction, modeling, and directing are skills that can be taught and applied systematically.

    But knowing how to lead is only half the battle.

  • Leadership Mindset

    Leadership development starts, not with training, but with mindset. You can offer your employees the best leadership training available. You can spend thousands of dollars sending them to seminars. And you could still end up with “followers” if you do not first address mindset.

    Even those who apply the training will hit a wall of ineffectiveness if mindset is not well established.

    The reality is, leadership is more of a mind game than a skill set.
    (Click to Tweet)

    As an executive coach, I see this every day at all levels of an organization – even amongst those at the top. Limiting beliefs are the traitorous betrayers of leadership.

The key is to know your own personal limiting beliefs and to develop tactics ahead of time to deal with them. Having a plan and an accountability partner will keep you on track when limiting beliefs attempt to derail you. And rest assured, they will.

To lead successfully, there are four critical elements of mindset that must be in place.

  • Character

    Character is what activates and empowers your leadership ability. There are no “gray areas” when it comes to character. Leaders cannot afford to cross the line between right and wrong. Many who do are overwhelmed by the stress of their success or actually on the brink of disaster. If this is you or someone on your team, don’t think unaddressed cracks in character will just go away. Get help!

  • Commitment

    Commitment inspires and attracts people to leaders because it shows they have conviction. While commitment means something different to each person, it almost always comes from the heart. And we all know that heart is what separates the good from the great. Unfortunately, most people set goals but quit when the going gets tough. To go from “dropout” to “all-out”, a business coach can help guide you.

  • Courage

    Courage is about taking risk, especially at challenging times. Courage is setting the ultimate example for your people. It means you’re willing to take a stand, or draw a line in the sand, and to encourage others to do the same. Courage comes down to one thing: principle, and whether you’re willing to stand up for it, or not. Do you stare fear down, or do you hide from it?

  • Passion

    Passion makes it possible for ordinary people to create extraordinary results. Passion is the fuel that increases willpower. You can never lead something you don’t feel passionate about. If you don’t have passion for what you’re doing, consider digging down deep and searching for what you’re truly passionate about, then bring that passion back into your work. Sometimes loss of passion is a symptom of burnout, in which case re-balancing the other areas of your life could result in renewed energy for your work.

Do you and your team have solid leadership skills? If so, you’re halfway there.

But don’t miss the second – and most important part – of the equation. Get the mindset right as well.

Dave Ferguson is “The Leaders’ Coach”, an internationally recognized executive leadership coach, speaker, facilitator, and author. For help in creating a solid leadership mindset plan for yourself or your team, “ASK COACH DAVE” at 704-907-0171 or at Dave@AskCoachDave.com.

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