What CEOs Can Learn from the Global IBM Study
A recently released study, Leading Through Connections, from IBM of more
that 1,700 CEOs from over 64 countries provides some interesting insights into
emerging trends and issues impacting organizations worldwide.
Top Trends Identified
• Advancements in
social technologies to engage with customers, employees, partners, investors
and the world at large
50% of CEOs expect social channels to be a primary way of
engaging customers within 5 years
• Complexity of
increased levels of connectedness of organizations, markets, societies and
governments
• Overflow of data
and information
A Connected Organization Requires Planning
• Frustration
about their inability to capitalize on available information and translate
insights into action better than industry peers
25% of CEOs say their organizations operate below par in
driving value from data
• Need for CEO and
C-Suite to:
Recognize and lead change to open, constructive and flexible
organizational cultures
Create clear strategy, sense of purpose and corporate values
to support employees and guide decisions and actions
Improve internal communication and corporate collaboration
utilizing advances in technology
Build future proof employees who are equipped to adapt – who
are collaborative, communicative, creative and flexible
CEOs and organizational leaders
must be on top of changes and advancements in technology. They must
understand how these will affect both the external business environment and the
internal organization. “Simply put, technology is reinventing connections
with – and among – employees, customers and partners”.
Strategic Thinking = Success
To be a successful organization
of the future, the CEO and the Executive Team need to follow a true strategic
thinking process – one that enables them to develop a clear strategy and
distinctive positioning for their organization. This process needs to take
into account the anticipated changes in the future environment including the
rapid advancements in technology. The team needs to determine whom they
will serve and equally as importantly, whom they will not serve. They
must make decisions about products, services, and the scope of the
organization.
This strategic profile provides a
tangible, actionable and clear vision of the organization’s future, allowing
all members of the organization to filter or discriminate between
opportunities, to allocate resources strategically and to speak a common
language. It provides:
•
FOCUS:
A clear statement of strategy that is concrete and can provide guidance to
decision makers
•
CONGRUENCE:
A common way to tie together leadership, key players and staff directions; and
will
•
ENABLE
A STRATEGIC RESPONSE TO CHANGE: Plans need to enable the organization to
respond strategically to change yet allow for stability in the core
Once a true strategy is created,
the C-Suite must critically confront their cultural reality and assess its
readiness to execute the plan. Through this process the levers for
culture change can be identified (structure, systems, technologies, skills) and
actions taken to move to a more performance based culture.
As Michael
Porter states, strategy is the glue that holds together the many systems
and initiatives within any organization. Without it, consistency of
action, commitment to the organizational vision and an innovative and flexible
approach to a constantly changing external environment is not possible.
Is your executive team and your
organization ready for the shift?
Then he handed me a beautiful hand carved door knocker that he had made a long time ago with his father. He just gave it to me with a smile and said "Thank-you" and went on his way.
