Click here to listen to and download the full audio recording of this month’s Wise Talk with Columbia Business School Professor Rita McGrath (@rgmcgrath) and Mariposa CEO @suebethanis! You’ll come away from the conversation with new insights, tools, and approaches that could help you re-think your strategy, or at least shake out some new ideas and questions to explore.
MOREWISE TALK June 2013: Our 100th show with Rita Gunther McGrath, Professor at Columbia Business School. Listen as Rita and Sue discuss how the notion of a sustainable competitive advantage is irrelevant in today’s market and explore insights for building a successful dynamic strategy. You’ll come away from the conversation with new insights, tools, and approaches that could help you re-think your strategy, or at least shake out some new ideas and questions to explore.
MOREJamie asks: I’ve been northwest regional sales director of a national grocery store chain for the last ten years. I just found out that there will be an opening for a new vice president of sales, and I want to apply. Because I’ve been a director for so long, I don’t think I’m being considered the position. What can I do to be considered as the best candidate?
Simma Lieberman, Executive Leadership Coach and Mariposa Strategic Partner responds:
You need to stop being seen as the “perennial director,’ and be seen as a vice –president.
Now is the time to speak up and stand out from the crowd to make your presence known and garner the respect that you deserve.
Let your desired career path be known by the appropriate people. Tell your boss you have aspirations to continue climbing the corporate ladder.
Volunteer for projects on a national level where you can play a visible role and take leadership, where you can interact with people who are at your desired level and above. Meet with those people, tell them your ideas for the project, and get their feedback. CC them on all emails that document your progress.
Change your self-image form director to vice president.
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Janelle asks: I’m experiencing communication barriers with my direct reports. On two projects, I’ve asked them to take the lead on things but they’ve dropped the ball. What tips can you offer to help with my communication?
Tawny Lees, COO responds:
How frustrating! When making requests, many communication barriers can occur. When you reflect on these requests, were they posed in a direct manner, i.e.: “Will you?”, or indirect, such as “Can you please…?” Indirect requests are not straightforward enough to solicit an immediate yes/no response. Also make sure any request is very specific – you’d be amazed at how often they aren’t! Include:
Then, make sure to listen for a true response, which should indicate a yes, no, an alternative proposal or a commitment to do it at a later time.
One final tip: direct requests might sound strange at first, so we recommend practicing them. Successful use comes from mastering your tone of voice, which should be firm and clear to prevent communication barriers.
For more information, we suggest:
Talin asks: Since my promotion to a Sr. Director level, one of my former colleagues has refused to acknowledge that I am now her manager. This power struggle has been going on for two years. I am so frustrated that I have a hard time controlling my temper. At the same time, I’m acutely aware that my inability to work with this person has cast me in an unfavorable light with management. How do I solve this problem?
Sue Bethanis, CEO responds:
Hi Talin,
Tough and very common challenge! The root cause of difficulty in stepping up to manage peers can certainly vary, but is often related to a team member feeling slighted that the peer was promoted instead of him or her, feeling that he or she can’t really “learn anything significant” from this peer, or feeling that the peer is not effective or qualified for the new bigger role. It sounds like you’ve been trying to improve this situation for some time. Here are some questions to think about:
Here are some suggestions for actions to take:
Good luck!
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We share this article by Brian Millar because we really like the concepts of pivoting and repurposing – they make innovation more accessible to anyone – not just start-ups and creative geniuses.
Considering the failure rate of new products (about 70%), innovation makes or breaks companies, big and small. Drawing on Twitter, Groupon and Paypal’s road to success, the Fast Company article 5 Ways Big Companies Can Pivot Like Lean Startups offers pivoting as a concept for stimulating innovation in big companies.
Pivoting means repurposing ideas, prototypes, products or technology to meet an unmet need. And, to be successful at it, five concepts are introduced:
Think about it – what’s tripping up your organization? Stage gates? Too much of the wrong research? Not enough playing, prototyping, looking wide?
Comment below! Or pose a questions via Ask Mariposa.
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We share this article by Razor Suleman because a disengaged workforce is detrimental to business success. Recognition is a timeless, cost-effective leadership tactic, which leads to employee success therefore engagement, and yet organizations face hurdles when implementing a recognition program. The article featured on TalentCulture, Clearing Hurdles to Employee Engagement, identifies six common hurdles:
Tips for clearing these hurdles can be found in the article’s Infographic towards the bottom of the article.
Consider this: How does your organization recognize employees? What challenges do you face in clearing the hurdles in your organization?
Comment below! Or send us your questions via Ask Mariposa.
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The End of Competitive Advantage: How to Keep Your Strategy Moving as Fast as Your Business
By Rita Gunther McGrath
Head: (5 out of 5)
Heart: (3 out of 5)
Leadership Applicability: (5 out of 5)
The gap between traditional approaches to strategy and the real world has grown. The markets in which companies compete today are dynamic, which have made traditional models for strategy outdated. Those models reflect a different era in business with a single strategy goal: to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. However, the author contends high-growth business opportunities are transient now, making competitive advantage transient as well. New tools and strategies for seizing these waves of opportunities quickly and decisively are needed.
Rita McGrath, a professor at Columbia Business School in New York and a globally recognized expert on strategy in uncertain and volatile environments, has written the new playbook for strategy, based on the notion of establishing a transient competitive advantage. Her approach is fresh, offering tools and practical advice based on extensive research to help companies compete and win in an uncertain business environment. Rich with company examples culled through extensive research, readers will understand the organizational shifts necessary to successfully seize transient business opportunities and thrive:
Leaders who want a new perspective on strategy to quickly exploit and move in and out of advantages for a competitive edge will want to add this book to their reading list. Buy the book
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