Three Steps Forward By Taking A Step Back

A strategist for the largest unit of a company we were working with came to one of the LIFT courses frustrated and ready to leave his company. This strategist felt that there was a lot of talk about needing new revenue streams but that the leadership behaviors and culture reinforced no risk taking and was doing things to kill growth. At one point he came up with an idea that he believed would create a new revenue stream for the company and introduced the idea to the CEO. The CEO said he didn't like it and didn't want this strategist spending any more time on the idea. Because he felt handcuffed and believed the company would be in trouble if they couldn't create new revenue streams he was ready to part ways with the company. After experiencing the course and being challenged around whether he was really willing to show forth the courage needed to be a leader for his company he decided he would pursue the idea the CEO told him to not spend time on. Because he believed his idea was the best thing for the company he was willing to potentially anger the CEO. The idea would require partnering with a large bank so he networked and began to put some flesh on what the partnership would look like, found a bank that was interested and put together a high level business plan. The strategist shared the idea again with the CEO who was now able to see more of the picture and realized it was a great idea. The CEO gave a green light on the idea which is now close to launching to the potential client base and the early projections show initially creating 100 million pounds of revenue for the company. Not long ago this strategist was promoted one level to sit on the senior team of the above mentioned CEO. Though there was risk involved, doing the right thing for the company often leads to positive results.

Questions to Consider:

Do you understand what the business needs to do to be successful?

What things does the business say it needs to accomplish while reinforcing the opposite kinds of behaviors and approaches?

What risks are you willing to take to make the company more successful?

Have you crossed an ethical line if you don't take the risk but are willing to take a pay check?