Erosion, is it eating away your organization?
Was this once, one solid rock?
The World loses 1% of its topsoil per year thru erosion alone. Although there are some forms of renewal, the erosion is 10x’s faster than the natural replacement. Without proper attention, and a growing population, it is possible that there won’t be enough farmland in the future to feed the world.
Last week my Father had a nasty fall. He slipped on the top step, and fell backward down an entire flight of stairs. He lost his balance, and thankfully was not injured. While he was in the hospital he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. This is what ultimately caused him to lose his balance. The family was shocked. How could this have gone unnoticed?
What does dirt and Parkinson’s have to do with leadership?
Both of these examples show that without experts, one cannot see the slow gradual changes taking place that may have extremely detrimental ramifications. How do you, as a leader or manager, get a fresh and objective view of the situation? Have you assessed where you are eroding in talent, culture, skills, or competitive advantage?
What can be eroding at your company? Maybe your technical department is aging. You haven’t been hiring new technicians; after all, it is a very expensive proposition. The institutional knowledge that this aging team has, will take a long time to transfer. Have you considered the replacement timeline of key team members?
When you look at your operations, especially the soft skill areas, how are they performing? Are the team members as engaged as they were in the past? Do you see the same levels of excitement on projects? Are projects still challenging, and getting completed on time? It’s not all about the dollars and cents or P&L. Have you looked at the human factors? Are they still robust, are they frayed at the edges and wearing away?
How do you remedy this?
Step One:
Have a coach or consultant complete an overview and assessment of your current situation. Where are you at compared to 5 and 10 years ago? Develop a set of key metrics to measure on a continuing basis. A good leader understands that self-assessment and evaluation is key to growth. Where do you plan on putting your time and energy in the future? Consider reinforcing your shoreline to stop erosion.
Had we analyzed my fathers condition a little more closely, we may have avoided the fall! Let us help you avoid erosion in your organization.
The Kole Performance Group is an executive coaching and consulting company certified to assist you and your team in these areas. 85% of a leaders job are the things that aren’t taught in schools. Those things are; people skills, motivating a team, maintaining and increasing employee engagement. How are you doing in those categories? How do you measure them?
Contact us for a free consultation!