AICC Boxscore 2013

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Unlocking Growth: Part III
continued from page 45
Priorities
It can be daunting trying to move
down from space to a view of earth
to standing on your roof. This is a
very common struggle with many
in the strategy process. “I can think
globally, but how do we translate
our vision to actionable priorities
we need to accomplish to succeed?”
The answer lies in a couple of areas:
one is to involve as many people
as you are comfortable with in the
strategy planning process in order
to get consensus on the big picture
and then a good debate on the
priorities that will make this vision
become reality. The second is to
make sure you focus on no more
than 5 priorities at a time. Many of
the experts agree that you need to
do a few things really well rather
than a lot of things poorly.
The most challenging task with
respect to priorities is getting your
leadership team to agree upon the
direction and focusing on what’s
important. Too many times the
distractions set in post-planning and
your key executives spend time on
projects, tasks and priorities that
the group did not define as key to
the success of the strategy. As the
leader, your primary job will be to
make sure that the non-critical tasks
are offloaded so that you can make
sure your star players are spending
their time trying to move big levers
instead of handling the distractions.
It’s “Go Time”
We now need to focus efforts on
getting things done. Coordinating
weekly meetings with the leadership
team will be key to success because
they will collectively recognize the
importance you place on the key
priorities in the business because
“what gets measured gets done.”
Ultimately the leader must remove
barriers for the team to keep them
focused on the big levers, and
gather resources to get priorities
accomplished.
A final addendum to this is make
sure as the team works through
many of the tactical issues around
the top priorities that the group
remains focused on solutions
instead of band aids. Developing
sound, repeatable processes will
help everyone win in the long run
and avoid kicking the can down the
road. 
Gene Marino has 13 years of
experience working with private
equity as a C level executive in an
operating capacity. He currently is
a partner with Evolution Capital
Partners in the Chicago office and
a Director for Turf Ventures, LLC,
a portfolio company of Evolution’s
first fund.
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