eBusiness Weekly
We are continuing with the series that I started last week, on the Seven laws for Effective Businesses.
I made the point on the priority of laws. It is my hope that you read it. If you missed it you can find it online on Business Weekly website.
This week I want to go to the second Law which will make your organisation effective, business clarity.
Clarity takes work to achieve. It is not just going to happen, you have to work on making it happen.
The role of the business leader is to ensure that people are aligned and share a common understanding of the mission or task at hand.
The only way for the business to be effective and to succeed is for all team members, regardless of rank or position, to make sure that clarity comes first in all interactions.
The business leader’s duty is to nurture and foster clarity. Success inevitably requires team effort. If there is an area that is not clear, the environment must be one that encourages individual team members to speak up and try to fix the problem.
Everyone has a role in promoting clarity in the organisation. Clarity must be a culture, and a part of the organisation. Clarity helps you have fewer problems, better execution, and happier, more productive teams.
There is no success without clarity
Clarity precedes business success. Every person who became successful was very clear about what they wanted. If you want your organisation to be effective you need to have a clear direction of where you want it to go.
It has often been said if you do not know where you want to go, any road will lead you there. How so true this is. If you do not know where you want to go, you will never know if you have arrived.
When you wake up every day always be clear about the direction that you are going to take. Your team should be fully aware of the direction that you are taking as an organisation, and they need to have clarity on where, and how they fit in the equation.
Levels of Clarity
There are three levels of business clarity:
- Strategic clarity
- Clarity of communications
- Clarity of self
Without being mathematically minded, I will deliberately start with strategic clarity.
Strategic clarity
The inevitable question is, “What is strategic clarity in business?” Strategic clarity answers at least two important questions;
Where are we going and
How are we going to get there?
These questions are important because they help you determine the aims and objectives of the business.
Oil mogul and at one point in time the richest person in the world, Bunker Hunt once shared a thought which I think best illustrates the principle of clarity; “To be successful, you must decide exactly what you want to accomplish, then resolve to pay the price to get it.”
DO you know what you want to achieve as an organisation. Is everyone clear about it. Never work with assumptions if you are in a position of leadership.
Have a clear long-term plan and know your next steps. Build a change story of how you’ll get there, and back it up with data. Tell it on every occasion. When everyone knows the overall direction and their direct contribution, noise turns into focus.
The priority of strategic clarity
There are several advantages to strategic clarity. It helps you;
- Achieve the goal and strategy. This is possible because it is known and articulated.
- Avoids distraction — There are so many of these along the way. Clarity gives you focus. In fact, your work as a leader is to shield the organisation from distraction.
- Helps to clarify progress, against previous performance and competitors — If you can track your progress, it may be difficult to establish whether or not you making any progress. If you have clarity this is possible.
- Focuses resources, time, money, and energy — Once you know where you want to go and what needs to be done, you can easily commit resources. The goal is to commit your finest energy to your finest priorities.
- Gives opportunities to celebrate success,
- It also enables your process to be repeatable or reviewable
Clarity of purpose: Strong “Why”
What is your why? This is a question most business do not pay attention to when they are setting their strategic direction. Do not forget the “why”. Strategic clarity goes beyond goal setting and a procedure map. It covers the overarching impetus for the business.
The why speaks to the importance of the goal to yourself. The why in strategic clarity, is what keeps the business on track when times are tough.
You will even get to a level where you question everything including what you are doing. Your why is important. Simon Sinek, renowned author, optimist and thought leader, tells us to Start with Why.
Every business at least started with an idea that perhaps they could do something better, make a difference to an industry, or somehow impact others. The “Why” should be at the core of business clarity.
Thomas Edison is perhaps the finest of entrepreneurship. Edison arrived at a well-founded conviction that he should pursue a specific idea about the mechanism for distributing power.
Despite the numerous challenges that he encountered, he preserved because he understood the importance of “why”. You need to know and understand why you are doing what you are doing.
This conviction will help you to resist any opposition that you might face and to overcome any problems that may arise.
What is your why as a business? Remember Simon Sinek’s quote, People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. DO not miss this strategic clarity as a business.
Your Why is more than a mission or vision statement. It’s your story. It’s something bigger than you and your business.
Join me on Star FM on Wednesdays (09:40am-10:00am) for some moments of inspiration on the Breeze with V Candy.
Arthur Marara is a corporate law attorney, keynote speaker, corporate and personal branding speaker commanding the stage with his delightful humour, raw energy, and wealth of life experiences. He is a financial wellness expert and is passionate about addressing the issues of wellness, strategy and personal and professional development. Arthur is the author of “Toys for Adults” a thought provoking book on entrepreneurship, and “No one is Coming” a book that seeks to equip leaders to take charge. Send your feedback to [email protected] or Visit his website www.arthurmarara.com or contact him on WhatsApp: wa.me//263780055152 or call +263772467255.
