Here’s a thought!

“Dave, come on, it’s obvious, everyone knows what the business result is, why you asking me that?”

What is your business result – make more profit, increase utilisation, produce more for less, win work, sort a claim, procure a major supplier, reduce overheads, complete a project, transform customer satisfaction, survive, all the above, other?

How well defined is your business result?

Typically, it’s something like – ‘complete the project on time and to budget with everyone happy’. As a coach I would ask:

1. What do you mean by ‘complete the project’?
2. When is ‘on time’? Give me a date.
3. What is ‘to budget’? Give me a £number.
4. Specifically, what do you mean by ‘everyone happy’ and who is everyone?

What would it be like if every member of your team was clear on the business result and you were all working together towards it? What can you do to make that happen?

Having defined your result, where are you now – location – and what is the gap?

What is your strategy for closing the gap i.e., getting from location to result?

Will you get there by a series of incremental improvements or does something need to shift?

Examples:

Shift from working in silos to effective team working

From broken relationships to pulling for each other

From losing money to delivering what the client really needs and being paid well

From talking about innovation to implementation

A coach and The Results Leader work together to firstly get clear on the business result then to identify and make the necessary shift, strengthening the team in the process. “On their own few leaders work simultaneously on the result, themselves and their team – the three key factors”[1]. More frequently a lone leader gets drawn into detail, deals with complaints, fights fires or worse gives up and responds to e-mails all day.

If you relate to any of this or would like to sharpen up your results and are curious about working with a coach then give me a call on 07904 186 855 and I will happily explore options with you.

[1] Executive Coaching with Backbone and Heart: A Systems Approach to Engaging Leaders with Their Challenges. Mary Beth ONeill