Brilliant Manager, 3rd Edition

CHAPTER 3

Visions,

strategies

and plans

M03_PEEL3231_03_SE_C03.indd 45 20/09/2010 14:45

M03_PEEL3231_03_SE_C03.indd 46 20/09/2010 14:45

I

n Chapter 2 I said that a brilliant leader should create a

credible vision of the future. This vision should encompass

both the future of the team and the future of the team’s

offerings. The four key elements of this vision should be:

1 the team’s strategy;

2 an action plan for implementing the team’s strategy;

3 business plans for developing new and existing offerings;

4 action plans for each offering.

You must provide the creative input to formulate this vision of

the future, but I can help by providing a structure that ensures

you consider many of the key questions that need answering.

However, a word of warning, every strategy and plan will be

unique, so be alert for issues that affect your team and its offer-

ings, which are not highlighted by my generic template.

Developing a team strategy

I divide a strategy into eight different sections.

brilliant

tip

Answer all the questions posed in these eight sections very quickly.

You are looking for the ‘aha!’ moments when the question has

M03_PEEL3231_03_SE_C03.indd 47 20/09/2010 14:45

48 brilliant manager

1 The current financial position

Using a maritime navigation analogy, your strategy can be con-

sidered as the way you plot the future course of your ship and

whether you reach your intended destination. Obviously you

cannot plot a course if you don’t know where your current loca-

tion is.

Do you understand what your current financial position really is?

If you have recently taken over a team then there is a high prob-

ability that you do not understand

the current position, and it is also

quite likely that the previous team

leader didn’t understand it either.

Even if you have been running your

team for a while it is possible that you do not have an adequate

understanding of your current situation.

You should consider, at the very least, the following issues.

 What are all the revenue streams that generate the team’s

income? What do you know about the properties of those

revenue streams: are they likely to continue into the future,

are they likely to grow or decline, how predictable are they,

what margin do they generate, etc.?

 What is your cost base? How is it structured? Which costs

are fixed and which are variable? What services do you pay

for from your parent organisation? Are there hidden costs

which your organisation pays for that are not attributed to

your team?

helped you spot something that needs to be added to your SWOT

(Stengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis, and

that may need to be part of your strategy and/or action plan.

do you understand what

your current financial

position really is?

M03_PEEL3231_03_SE_C03.indd 48 20/09/2010 14:45

Visions, strategies and plans 49



How much profit did your team make last year? How much

profit are you predicting for this year . . . and are you on

target to achieve this profit? Is cash flow a major issue, if so,

do you understand your cash flow?

 Do you know how much profit/loss each of your offerings

are making? Loss-making offerings will need urgent

attention.

 Who are your customers, what revenue do you expect to get

from them this year, and how does this compare to revenue

in past years?

Many of the remaining seven sections of the strategy will start

with additional elements of your team’s current position.

2 The external environment

Using a sailing navigation analogy again, you cannot navigate

without knowing about winds, currents and the roughness of the

sea. You will also be very interested in weather forecasts and tide

tables. Finally, you will also need good charts to spot sandbanks,

reefs, etc. Failure to understand the external environment is an

easy way to get shipwrecked . . . and the same is true for your

team’s journey into the future.

One of the easiest traps that a team can fall into is to become

inward looking. A simple way to remind yourself of this danger is

brilliant

tip

Do not be surprised if your organisation’s accounting system does

not provide you with much data that is helpful in establishing

your current financial position: it will have been set up to answer

different questions. Most managers/leaders have to keep their own

accounts.

M03_PEEL3231_03_SE_C03.indd 49 20/09/2010 14:45