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How T.J., Our Pragmatic Strategist, Avoids Failure

August 10, 2020 by mindprep Leave a Comment

Last week we mentioned seven strategic behaviors we see in our friend T.J. Here are four more more. The final behavior is the one that keeps her from failure.

The Pragmatic Strategist

T.J., like all Pragmatic Strategists, exhibits most of the behaviors we have already mentioned. However, her success in the “eleventh behavior” is the one that prevent failure. She ……

  • Can list and is willing to vet the assumptions she’s working under. >>> If not, she is likely to be unpleasantly surprised.
  • Is willing to make decisions within her sphere of control and influences others to provide changes needed for her to succeed. >>> If not, her “strategic thinking” is merely a mental exercise and nothing will improve.
  • Evaluates alternative options for needed changes and knows how to sell her ideas to her stakeholders. >>> If not, she will be frustrated in her efforts.
  • Can write and implement a plan that aligns her unit with the vision, values, and goals of the organization in the evolving ecosystem. This plan identifies the specific, needed changes and the timeline, milestones and resources required to implement the changes. >>> If not, she will fail.

The eleventh behavior, the ability to plan and implement projects, is fundamental to the success of any strategy. Unfortunately, this skill set is underdeveloped in most managers and their organizations. (Why do I say this? Because I’ve been involved with projects for over fifty years and have NEVER come across an organization that brags their projects are always on-time, within budget, and deliver full scope outcomes. Never. What about your organization?)

Behaviors and the Upcoming Course Pilot

If you want a summary checklist of the eleven behaviors and some commentary, please click HERE . I’ll send you a summary. I will also send you information about the upcoming Pragmatic Strategist pilot. Don’t worry, you’re not committing to anything and I’m not going to sell your email address. I’m just going to send you some information.

Filed Under: Leadership, Middle management, pragmaticstrategist Tagged With: middlemanagement, pragmaticstrategist, strategy

The Pragmatic Strategist – Think Bigger. T.J. Does

August 7, 2020 by Bill Welter Leave a Comment

T.J. demonstrates many of the behaviors we see in managers who are realistic about their role in their company’s strategy and how they build a supporting strategy for their unit. Yesterday we mentioned two behaviors we see in T.J. Here are three more. The final behaviors will be described on Monday, including the one behavior that keeps her from failure.

The Pragmatic Strategist

T.J., like all Pragmatic Strategists, knows she has to think about context and “think bigger.” She ……

  • Uses the organization’s vision, values, and goals to vet needed changes to her unit. >>> If not, her unit will not be aligned with the larger organization.
  • Can define the changes needed in other units if her plan is to succeed and then influences other managers and individuals to bring about these changes. >>> If not, she will be dealing with fluff. (Or alternatively, will find future barriers and stumbling blocks to her unit’s execution of plans.)
  • Evaluates problems and opportunities and their potential resolutions from multiple points of view. >>> If not, she will have a strategy based on hope alone.

There are four more behaviors we see in T.J.’s planning and action. I’ll send them along on Monday. We hope you enjoy your weekend.

Upcoming Course Pilot

Want to learn more about The Pragmatic Strategist and the upcoming pilot? Click HERE to learn more. I’m facilitating the pilot with a maximum of fifteen participants. Don’t worry, you’re not committing to anything and I’m not going to sell your email. I’m just going to send you some information.

Filed Under: Leadership, Middle management, pragmaticstrategist Tagged With: middlemanagement, pragmaticstrategist, strategy

The Pragmatic Strategist: Be Like T.J. – 2

August 6, 2020 by mindprep Leave a Comment

T.J. demonstrates many of the behaviors we see in managers who are realistic about their role in their company’s strategy and how they build a supporting strategy for their unit. Yesterday we mentioned two behaviors we see in T.J. Here are two more.

The Pragmatic Strategist

T.J., like all Pragmatic Strategists, does not just think about today’s challenges. She ……

  • Dedicates time to identify events and emerging trends that will affect the organization and/or her unit. >>> If not, she and they will be surprised.
  • Anticipates needed changes to her unit’s role in the business. >>> If not, she and they will become irrelevant.

Upcoming Course Pilot

Want to learn more about The Pragmatic Strategist and the upcoming pilot? Click HERE to learn more. I’m facilitating the pilot with a maximum of fifteen participants. Don’t worry, you’re not committing to anything and I’m not going to sell your email. I’m just going to send you some information.

Filed Under: Leadership, Middle management, pragmaticstrategist Tagged With: middlemanagement, pragmaticstrategist, strategy

The Pragmatic Strategist: Be Like T.J.

August 5, 2020 by Bill Welter Leave a Comment

T.J. demonstrates many of the behaviors we see in managers who are realistic about their role in their company’s strategy and how they build a supporting strategy for their unit. Here are two behaviors we see in T.J. More will follow in the coming days.

The Pragmatic Strategist

T.J., like all Pragmatic Strategists, has good business acumen. She certainly knows how to run her department. And, she also knows how her department fits into the bigger picture. She ……

  • Understands the organization’s strategy well enough to explain its intent to her team, in terms they understand. >>> If not, they are just “flying blind.”
  • Can describe the organization’s basic business model (i.e., how it makes and uses money). >>> If not, she can’t plan for the proper use of scarce resources. 

Upcoming Course Pilot

Want to learn more about The Pragmatic Strategist and the upcoming pilot? Click HERE to learn more. I’m facilitating the pilot (Wow, that’s a big deal!) with a maximum of fifteen participants. Don’t worry, you’re not committing to anything and I’m not going to sell your email. I’m just going to send you some information.

Filed Under: Leadership, Middle management, pragmaticstrategist Tagged With: middlemanagement, pragmaticstrategist, strategy

The Pragmatic Strategist – some things to consider.

July 29, 2020 by Bill Welter Leave a Comment

Here are some things to consider as you develop and execute strategy for your unit.

  • Control what you can and influence what and whom you must.
  • Keep up with the pace of change or risk becoming irrelevant.
  • Most business strategy is people dependent – know and respect your stakeholders.
  • Unless you’re selling a commodity, trying to be “the best” may be a waste of energy. Unless your offering is unique and valuable to customers, you’ll compete on price.
  • Strategic thinking is necessary but insufficient. If you can’t make decisions and execute them, it’s just wishful thinking.
  • Assumptions will make or break your strategy.
  • Be careful of the “do more with less” mantra – sometimes you get less with less.
  • Strategy may be about efficiency; but it’s always about effectiveness.

What would you add to our list?

We will be launching a five week pilot course focused on building Pragmatic Strategist skills. Watch for the announcement in August.

Filed Under: Middle management, pragmaticstrategist

A Middle Managers Guide to Finance

May 2, 2020 by Ken Vermilion Leave a Comment

What is Financial Management?

Today’s post for A Middle Managers Guide to Finance provides middle managers a quick outline of financial management.  And, hopefully, in a manner that is relatively painless.  Feel free to comment at the end of the post!

I’m going to guess that as a middle manager, you probably await finance reports that signal to you and your manager how your part of the business is performing.  These reports may come from the accounting department and report current performance data compared to some sort of budget/plan and last year.  I’m also going to guess you probably dread the annual planning/budget exercise.  And when your CFO talks about the company’s performance, “What did the CFO just say?” is the question of the day. 

Just what is Financial Management and how much do I need to know about financial management to do my job?  Isn’t all that finance stuff the CFO’s problem?

Financial Management starts with Financial Managers and their high level Goals/Responsibilities.  In a general abbreviated format, financial managers have the following responsibilities:

  • Financial Planning and Analysis – These responsibilities refer to activities related to forecasting future business results, ensuring company goals can be achieved and putting pencil to paper to measure whether or not forecasted goals were actually achieved.  Financial management professionals also kick the tires on new endeavors; again ensuring the returns fit company expectations.  A great deal of accounting data supports these activities.
     
  • Asset Management – Here, Asset Productivity could be the description as well.  Financial management looks at the returns being generated on the investment in assets, e.g. cash, inventory, people, technology, equipment and buildings.
     
  • Overall Financial Structure – The financial structure refers to managing the amount of cash and debt the company uses to operate.  This activity also determines how new assets, e.g. buildings, will essentially be paid for or financed. And whether or not new equity (shareholders money) should be raised in lieu of borrowing additional cash. 

Your company’s financial reports are rooted in accounting data and reports subjected to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). These principles are generally accepted set of accounting principles. Standards and procedures issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). GAAP and FASB exist to bring reporting standards of financial data in such a way that enables comparisons to be made between company’s reports and to provide clarity and consistency. 

To be a successful middle manager, you must have a grasp of fundamental financial management concepts in order to “walk the talk” about financial performance levers under your control. Understanding the fundamentals of finance help you ask the right questions if performance is either too good, on target or slipping. Understanding the fundamentals also helps you make business adjustments where needed. 

Key pieces of this financial foundation include performance analysis and asset management.  Yes, mathematics is involved! Financial concepts involving the time value of money, ratio analysis, cost of capital, return on investment, profitability, valuation, price elasticity, etc. will be covered in future posts. 

So, what does this mean to middle managers? Breathe easy. You won’t be asked to develop spreadsheets to augment your decision-making tool kit or to develop the metrics for valuing the purchase of new equipment or additional inventory.  Financial professionals will perform these activities.  

But you need to possess a high-level understanding of financial management concepts, especially when preparing budgets or requesting additional resources.  Financial managers want to know resources are being applied efficiently in your business and are producing expected returns, all based on how they measure productivity and performance. And guess what, you want to know, too! My goal will be to provide you this understanding foundation as we move through other financial management posts.

If you can’t demonstrate an understanding of basic financial management concepts, you will be left in the dust. Another middle manager who can engage the finance department will make off with your resources while someone else reorganizes your operations. Enough said.

Reflect back on the post related to cash for a minute.  If you were able to follow through with the Career Momentum suggestion at the end, you better understand the connection between the people and activities under your supervision and their connection to cash sources and uses.  Plus, you now are on a first name basis with your new best friend, the financial manager attached to your business-operating unit. (Seriously, having the finance manager on your side is invaluable!)

A final word about reporting. Typically, there are internal financial reports, external financial reports and management performance reports.  Each serves a different audience and therefore contains different types of financial data. Most meaningful to you will be understanding the genesis and underlying financial concepts related to management performance reports used to evaluate your business’s performance.  

Career Momentum Builder 

Ask your supervisor to share with you their point of view regarding the keys to their management performance reports, usually produced by the accounting department monthly or quarterly.  What’s most important? How does your operating unit fit into these reports? Are there performance targets to be attained this period? How can you be more helpful in attaining these targets? Is there a role you can play during the next planning cycle?  

Filed Under: Finance, Middle management, Uncategorized Tagged With: GuideToFinance

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