Talent Journey

Regardless of the size, industry, or product-mix of an organization, there are three equally important thinking perspectives to be mastered for an organization to reach its greatest potential for success. The three perspectives balanced within an organization will yield results that unbalanced companies could never attain.

The Three Thinking Dimensions are:

Strategic Integration Defining and communicating company visions, mission, values & strategy and integrating/aligning those across the organization

Operational Excellence Executing strategy by creating efficient infrastructures and implementing strategy through people

Relationship Ability Enable and Equip high performance and organizational success

A simple internet search will yield thousands of results for books, seminars, and the like – all going into depth on each one of these thinking dimensions. Business gurus tend to specialize in one these areas, although the one they focus on varies. It is clear, however, that ALL THREE thinking perspectives are essential for full organizational success. Talent Journey offers leaders insight into how to leverage and develop these critical thinking perspectives within a team or organization. We have found that most organizations (and almost all leaders) demonstrate strength in one or two of these dimensions and weakness in the third. A simple, clear definition of what each thinking dimension entails* will help to identify which are currently strengths in your organization:

1. Strategic Integration focuses on future possibilities and integration of the whole organizational structure. Leaders that are strong in strategic thinking are quick to evaluate market trends, technology changes, demographic shifts, etc. in terms of their future impact on the organization. They take a “helicopter approach” and see the big picture, including how the operational parts of the business fit together.

2. Operational Excellence focuses on the practical elements of the business. Leaders strong in operational thinking adeptly assess people and processes; they maximize resources for efficiency and results. Such leaders take a sky-scraper view of the organization, focusing on the day to day execution of strategy and goals.

3. Relationship Ability focuses on selecting, motivating, developing, and retaining high performance at individual, team, and organizational levels. Leaders that are strong in this thinking dimension earn people’s respect and followership. They take a tribal view of the organization. Understanding individual, team, and organizational needs, they motivate, encourage, equip and develop people and teams to contribute their best toward the organization’s strategy and mission.

A foundational knowledge of these three thinking perspectives provides the platform for practical application. Some good questions to ask in assessing your organization include:

1. Where are you strong/weak as a leader?
2. How can you utilize the strengths of teammates to compliment your strengths?
3. Where is your team strong/weak?
4. How can you leverage certain members of the team or bring in additional talent to supplement this weakness?
5. Where is your organization strong/weak?
6. How can the organization’s weakness be strengthened (e.g., leverage/develop those that demonstrate strength in your weak area or hire it in from outside)?

The first step is recognizing that although your organization may be experiencing success today – you could move to the next level of success by bolstering your weak area. Effective leaders are always searching for ways to improve their organization, internally and externally. The combination of these three perspectives provides that opportunity. Insights into which of these three perspectives are already mastered, and which may need more attention can easily be identified by doing the above self-assessment (or Talent Journey can conduct the assessment for you). The goal is to honestly answer the questions posed above and seek resolutions. In this new year, with ideals of economic revival, moving forward with a balanced thinking perspective will grow your opportunities for maximum success throughout the year.

Here are some competencies/talents that demonstrate strength for each thinking perspective:

Strategic/Systems Ability
• Strategic Planning
• Customer Acumen
• Product/Service Portfolio Decision-making
• Conceptual and Integrative Thinking
• Managing Change
• Establishing Organizational Culture
• Continuous Learning

Operational Excellence
• Accountability for Results
• Goal and Performance Performance Management
• Infrastructure Development
• Problem Solving
• Continuous Improvement
• Resilience
• Metrics and Reporting

Relational Intelligence
• Authenticity
• Building Trust
• Communication Skills
• Interpersonal Ability
• Influence
• Leading Others
• Developing Others
• Team Building
• Conflict Management