This week’s focus: This is the 100^th edition of Friday Focus. Each edition takes about 30 minutes for me to think about, develop and write. The key, for me, has been to set aside the time each week so that I can reflect and think.

All great businesses and all great products and services start with an idea. And, as with my Friday Focus, the creativity that is necessary for business development work is based on finding the regular time and space so that you can let the ideas flow. Creativity doesn’t respond well to immediate time pressures, but it does respond well to discipline, persistence and effective time management. That’s when you start the process that leads to unexpected ‘aha’ moments and new ideas.

How well are you organising your diary so that you can reflect, be creative and develop the ideas that will be critical to the future success of your business?

Off The Record: Simple Twist Of Fate by Bob Dylan

He awoke, she wasn’t there

He couldn’t find her anywhere

He told himself he didn’t care

Pushed the windows open wide

Felt the emptiness inside

A feeling to which he just could not relate

Brought on by a simple twist of fate

© Stuart Cross 2013. All rights reserved.

• On 1 January 2000, China had a GDP of $1.2 trillion, and was the world’s 7th largest economy; on 31 December 2012 it’s GDP had grown to $8.2 trillion and it had become the 2nd largest economy, second only to the US;
• The share of global GDP that was generated by fast-growing markets (China, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, Turkey and Indonesia) economies grew from 9% to 25% between 2000 and 2011. At the same time, the developed markets’ share fell from 78% of global GDP to 63%. Goldman Sachs project that the fast-growing markets’ share will climb to 46% by 2050, while the developed markets’ share will shrink to 31%;
• Foreign direct investment in the US grew from $1.3 trillion in 2000 to $2.3 trillion in 2012;
• The number of US patent applications grew from 315,000 in 2000 to 576,000 in 2012 (US Patent and Trademark Office);
• Average tenure periods for the CEOs of leading European companies fell from 9.8 years to 6.8 years in Western Europe between 2000 and 2012.

© Stuart Cross 2013. All rights reserved.

The business community, on the whole, is a supporter of the UK’s EU membership. The CBI, IOD and Chambers of Commerce can see the benefits of access to critical export markets and, in recent years, the availability of more flexible workers from Eastern Europe. These benefits have, on the whole, outweighed their frustrations with the EU’s perceived red tape and bureaucracy.

But what if things change? What if the British public decided to leave the EU and go it alone? How would such a momentous decision affect your business, its growth prospects and its profitability?

You may not yet have all the answers to these questions, but I believe that it’s critical that you consider them and develop your responses. As you do so my hunch is that you will come up with one or more of the following actions:

• Increase your export and international strategy on non-European countries, particularly the US, the BRIC countries and the rest of Asia;
• Develop and embed operations within EU countries, possibly in the lower cost nations of Eastern Europe or Ireland, or, for more added value activities, in the stronger economies, particularly Germany;
• Accelerate your level of innovation and improve your product/service quality so that your offer is less affected by any tariff-driven price increases in the EU; and/or
• Take the next step in improving your operational efficiency and effectiveness so that any extra costs of doing business in the EU are minimised.

Of course, some or even all of these actions could accelerate growth for your business whether or not the UK actually leaves the EU. So, what have you got to lose? What are your company’s plans for life outside the EU?

© Stuart Cross 2013. All rights reserved.

This week’s focus: I’ve been working in Amsterdam this week, where the Dutch were welcoming their new king, Willem-Alexander, following the abdication of Queen Beatrice. Monarchical succession planning is relatively straightforward, at least in terms of who is next in line for the job. Here in the UK, for example, once the new royal baby is born this summer we will have three generations patiently waiting for their turn to be the country’s future monarch.

In business organisations the process is not so simple. But the strength of any executive team is directly dependent on the leader’s ability and willingness to seek out, attract and develop potential successors.

How strong is your succession pipeline, where are the gaps, and what are your plans to develop a team that can succeed without you?

Off The Record: Smithers Jones by The Jam (Foxton)

Good morning Smithers Jones

The boss wants to see you alone

I hope it’s the promotion you’ve been looking for!

I hope it’s the promotion you’ve been looking for!

© Stuart Cross 2013. All rights reserved.

In my book, The CEO’s Strategy Handbook, I included interviews with some leading CEO’s about how they lead strategy. One of these interviews was with Dennis Sadlowski, the former CEO of the US Energy and Automation business of Siemens, the German-based engineering giant. Dennis shared five key insights about how he managed to integrate strategy with delivery. Here’s what he told me:

Having a clear strategy is paramount to the success of any business. Critically, however, strategy and execution are intrinsically linked. There can be no good strategy that is executed badly. All successful strategies take account of the resources and capabilities that are available to the organisation, so that you move forward with confidence rather than merely in hope.

Linking strategy and execution at the very start of the process makes it real for everyone and enables the CEO to engage key executives and managers immediately. I have five lessons for CEOs to take away from my three-year tenure as the CEO of Siemens, USA:

1. Engagement of the leadership team is critical. Engagement starts with involvement, and I ensured that the executive team and key managers at the next level in the organisation were intimately involved in the development of our growth strategy. We didn’t rely on external consultants to tell us the way forward; we led the work ourselves, doing our own blocking and tackling to make sure we understood the detail.
2. The strategy must be developed outside-in. As an executive team, our total focus was on our customers, how we were going to be their #1 supplier and how we would lead our markets. The internal aspects of our strategy, and how we would achieve our objectives, were secondary. We started with getting to really know our customers.
3. Strategy is as much about behaviours as it is about programs. Our customer focus meant that I spent significant time with our customers, finding out what was important to them and what they thought of us. I expected the same behaviours from my executive colleagues and our top 200 leaders. These changes in behaviours embedded our strategic priorities far better than any documents, plans or KPIs.
4. Pay attention to who’s not coming on board and address it. This is important at all levels, but for the CEO it starts with the executive team and the next generation of leaders.
5. Don’t mention the word ‘change’. Instead, focus your communication on what the company will achieve in the future, how it will work and what factors will ensure its success. People respond negatively to the word ‘change’, but are positive about changing if they can see where they’re headed.

The focus on the future, the engagement of the top team and the importance I placed on certain behaviours created genuine alignment. People understood our objectives and priorities and were able to make the right decision on a day-to-day basis. And, in the end, it is these decisions that will determine whether your strategy succeeds or fails.

Which of these five insights and approaches can you adopt to help you better link your strategic ambitions with delivery on the ground?

© Stuart Cross 2013. All rights reserved.

This week’s focus: Your ability to get anything done is directly related to the quality of your relationships with your colleagues, partners and other stakeholders. Wherever I see an example of slow progress, a failure to deliver a project or an unresolved problem, I also tend to observe poor quality relationships between the different players. Even if you have hierarchical superiority and can effectively tell someone to do something, the solution will be sub-par if the relationship isn’t also strong.

What actions can you take today to strengthen your relationships with your colleagues and your team?

Off The Record: Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own by U2

Tough, you think you’ve got the stuff

You’re telling me – and anyone – you’re hard enough

You don’t have to put up a fight

You don’t have to always be right

Let me take some of the punches for you tonight

New! Small Steps, Giant Leaps: You can now download my new white paper, Small Steps, Giant Leaps. The paper sets out why transformation programs fail and how you can accelerate the delivery of your most important strategic objectives. Just click here and download your copy.

Business Rocks: You can now download the very best bits of the first 50 editions of Friday Focus in my new e-book, Business Rocks. Just click here and download your copy.

© Stuart Cross 2013. All rights reserved.

This week’s focus: You don’t start a car in fifth, and even Usain Bolt doesn’t really get into his stride until the last 40 metres of his 100 metre sprints. Yet, many business leaders are so anxious to generate growth that they try to implement their new growth initiatives without moving through the gears. It hardly ever ends well.

Tesco’s failed investment in its US chain, Fresh & Easy, for example, is to be sold, with write-offs of over £1 billion. Unlike the retailer’s focused development of its Express concept – which took five years to create a profitable model that could be rolled out at scale – managers quickly opened over 100 Fresh & Easy stores, even though the concept had not been tested.

Innovation pace isn’t about moving straight to launch; it’s about learning rapidly and applying those lessons faster than your competitors. Think big, but start small and act fast.

Where are you trying to start a new growth project in fifth, when you should be moving through the gears?

Off The Record: Fast Car by Tracy Chapman

You got a fast car

But is fast enough so you can fly away?

New! Small Steps, Giant Leaps: You can now download my new white paper, Small Steps, Giant Leaps. The paper sets out why transformation programs fail and how you can accelerate the delivery of your most important strategic objectives. Just click here and download your copy.

Business Rocks: You can now download the very best bits of the first 50 editions of Friday Focus in my new e-book, Business Rocks. Just click here and download your copy.

© Stuart Cross 2013. All rights reserved.

This week’s focus: Twice in recent weeks I’ve come across businesses that have confused their biggest customers with their best customers. It can be tempting to focus on your larger customers, as they’re more likely to provide you with the big top-line contracts and sales.

But just because they’re big, does not mean they’re profitable. In both of the businesses I reviewed, the companies were making virtually no profit from their biggest customers. Instead, their profits were being generated by a hidden group of smaller and mid-sized customers. The challenge for these businesses now is how to shift their focus from pursuing big contracts with big customers, to developing better relationships with more profitable customers.

Do you know who your most profitable customers are? And do you have a clear strategy for growing your share of business with them?

Off The Record: Ever Fallen In Love With Someone (You Shouldn’t’ve Fallen In Love With)? by The Buzzcocks

You spurn my natural emotions

You make me feel like dirt, and I’m hurt

But if I start a commotion I run the risk of losing you

And that’s worse

© Stuart Cross 2013. All rights reserved.

According to a recent study, over 60% of corporate transformation programs fail to achieve their goals. A new approach is required to overcome this huge waste of financial resources and human effort. Small Steps, Giant Leaps sets out five management principles for organizations to pursue and accelerate the delivery of their most important strategic goals.

There are three structural reasons why transformation programs don’t work. First they are process-led, not results-led; second they take too long; and third they cost too much. The five principles set out in the paper will help business leaders embed a new approach that is better, faster and cheaper than traditional top-down programs, and will help you fast-track the implementation of your most important objectives.

To download your copy of the paper, click here.

© Stuart Cross 2013. All rights reserved.

If I asked you to write down the important issues you’re currently facing, how many could you list? 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, more?

I’m sure that you could easily fill a page with your issues and challenges.

The truth, then, is you can’t possibly deal with all your important issues at once. That’s why so many managers are overwhelmed by their workload and fail to really achieve anything of note.

You need to choose. You need to focus on your top 2 or 3 challenges, and put your other issues to one side – not on a to-do list! Only then can you possibly be able to do anything about them.

But once you focus, and give your top few priorities the attention they deserve, you might just find that you can resolve them more quickly than you thought, allowing you to tackle the next most important issues on your list.

In the end you’ll achieve much more working on fewer things at any one time than you ever could by trying to tackle everything simultaneously.

© Stuart Cross 2013. All rights reserved.