Our next Leadership program kicks off Wednesday, January 9, in Fort Lauderdale. For registration, simply reply to this email or visit www.workingleadership.com.
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Lauren, sitting at her table, moved all her papers, notebooks and other junk to the side. From a folder, she drew a single sheet of blank paper, selected her favorite pen. “Where do I start?” she asked.

“What is today?” I replied.

“January 4?”

“No, in your imagination, it is December 31, 2008. Close your eyes and think. Think about your different customer segments, your product lines and product mix, your services and service mix. What position do you hold in the market? What is your market share? Who are your key personnel? What are your core competencies? What breakthroughs have you achieved during this past year? What processes have changed? What does your physical plant, your facilities look like? Economically, what were your revenues? What were your gross margins and net to the bottom? Remember, it is December 31, 2008.”

Lauren was furiously writing the questions. “This is going to take some time,” she finally spoke.

“Yes, and it’s likely to take more than your brilliant brain to create this vision. Why don’t you gather your best and brightest minds together to help you?” -TF
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If you would like to download our 2008 Planning Template, it’s free on our website, www.managementblog.org.

Welcome back to work. The holidays are behind and a new year begins whether we are prepared or not.

Our next Leadership class in Fort Lauderdale kicks off January 9. We still have a small number of openings for the class. If you have a manager that you would like to place in the program, please reply to this email or visit www.workingleadership.com to register.
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“What’s going to be different about this year?” I asked. “What’s changed? What has happened in the past 12 months that will have an impact on the next 12 months?”

Lauren looked pensive. “It’s been a tough year,” she replied. “Much of our business was connected to the housing industry and that’s been in the tank. We launched some new projects in response, but it wasn’t fast enough. We lost a few good people.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“I have some ideas, but I don’t know if they are going to fly. We have to be very careful with our expenses and make sure we don’t squander away what opportunities we have.”

“How are you going to make sure that happens?” I continued to push.

“I know, you are going to ask me about our planning for this year. I don’t know, it’s just difficult to imagine what this year will bring.” Lauren stopped. She was waiting for me to agree with her, but I stood my ground and let the silence do the heavy lifting.

Finally she picked it up. “Okay, so it’s difficult to imagine the next 12 months, but, it is still important.”

“It is important. Not the plan itself. The important part is the process of imagining what your future will be like.” -TF
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Our planning template is available on our website as a free download. Here’s the link. www.managementblog.org.

From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

A couple of weeks ago, in Execute Like a Dictator, you make a quick reference, (BTW, you cannot be the dictator). What did you mean by that?

Response:

In his book Driving Force, Peter Schutz, the former CEO of Porshe uses an analogy to contrast the difference between planning (democracy) and implementation (dictatorship).

Implementation as dictatorship is captured by his story of Raceday. In the pits, there is no discussion of 401-k plans, or office holidays or the quality of food in the company cafeteria. On Raceday, there is only pure focus on replacing the worn tires, refueling the tank and getting that car back out on the track. As the CEO of Porshe, Peter had the pleasure (and the pit pass) to be close to the action.

On one occasion, there was a bit of confusion and the pit leader screamed at him, “Hey, you, go get (something that Peter described as heavy and dirty).” There was no discussion, this was a dictatorship. Peter scurried away and fetched the dirty, heavy object back to the side of the race car.

This system of implementation on Raceday (as a dictatorship) is required. It is the only way to be competitive. There can be no time for discussion, generating alternatives, being sensitive to feelings. It is Raceday and to win the race, their execution had to be flawless.

But notice that the CEO was NOT the dictator. Yes, there was someone barking direct orders, but it was the crew leader who was the dictator. During the planning stages, in preparation for Raceday, the crew duly selected someone to be their leader for the day. In their planning, they agreed that person would coordinate their efforts and they would, without question, comply with their full efforts.

So, as the manager in your organization, you may find implementation, to be competitive, must be like a dictatorship. You may also find yourself fetching something heavy and dirty. -TF

Sylvia was stumped. I knew she was working on her 2007 Business Plan. On her desk was a lonely legal pad of paper. There was not a single thing written.

“How’s it going?” I asked.

I got one of those lizard eye looks.

“Stuck?” I followed up.

“You know we are all working on our Business Plans for next year. I know what I want to say, but I don’t know where to start.”

“Would you like a planning template that can help you organize your thoughts and goals?”

Her head shook affirmative.
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If you would like a copy of my 2007 Business Plan template, just follow this link to the website. On the right side, under my picture is a menu choice called Planning Template. From there you can download it. The file is written in Microsoft Word, so you can enter your own narrative. The third page is for goals, both business and personal. This page works not only to describe the goal, but acts as a tracking tool throughout the year.

If you have any questions, just ask. I have been using this planning tool for the past eleven years with companies of all sizes. The template works just as well for departmental planning.