"Winning strategies." That was the management team's focus for the next year. Although the company was very well known in its industry and had been in existence for decades, it was struggling to increase sales. Management held long and repeated strategy sessions to come up with a possible magic bullet for the next year. They changed product bundles, revised compensation packages, added incentives, and created new promotions.
And when the new fiscal year began, the new strategies were launched with much fanfare. Upper management made sure everyone was on board, and managers in the field worked hard to focus their sales reps.
To make certain the strategy would not fizzle, the CEO required frequent updates.
- What's happening in the field?
- Are there sales reps who are really working the strategy? Can we feature them in the monthly update?
- Do the quarterly budgets reflect the strategy's impact?
- Should we bring some of the sales managers back to the home office so we can get a better handle on what's really happening?
Focus, focus, focus. That was the battle cry. Everyone worked hard. They followed the rules and worked the plan. Performance appraisals were partially pegged to successful strategy implementation.
But when the year ended, the company hadn't really grown, even with the focused strategies and hard work and frequent measurement.
They didn't realize that they were so busy "doing" that they had forgotten to "be."
Their company had gained a much respected reputation in the past for its uniquely helpful product offerings, driven by a strong desire to surpass customer expectations. But somewhere along the way the company had forgotten the vision. They, in short, no longer tied the strategies to the vision, instead using hard work as the barometer of success.
We as Kingdom business people can get caught in the same trap if we're not careful. Business is so "doing" focused that CEOs and managers have difficulty "being." Who are we? What do we want to be? What would that look like? How should customers view us? What, after all, are we about?
To stay aligned with our Father's Kingdom vision for restoration, we stop often to "be" with Him. We know the vision and live it. We are empowered to carry it out. Only then do we develop business strategies to "do" the work so that it yields the anticipated harvest.