Erica Hodgson - Stop looking in the rear-view mirror

On the motorway of business, are you looking out the front windscreen, or do you spend all your time looking in the rear view mirror?

Being in leadership roles, or on the board of directors, can sometimes mean that we are stuck in what’s already been. We can spend all our time looking backwards to review compliance, track sales and identify trends that have already happened. Reports are written on performance over the last month, the last quarter (or the second to last quarter if we’re really slow) with dashboards and trends finishing at the very most to the end of the financial year. How often do we prioritise predicting what is coming towards us, beyond this? This is sometimes called ‘looking over the mountain’ – we may not be able to see what lies beyond, so who can we call on that may already be there or has heard from others what it’s like.

Good practice for medium sized businesses to keep your view strategic rather than stuck in the weeds:

  • Include regular environmental scans of your practice context – what are your competitors up to, what do futurists see coming your way, what opinion does the current government hold on your industry, what are key stakeholders doing in your wider community?
  • Build these scans into the annual workplan for your meeting structure, whether for internal governance or for the board.
  • Invite guests into your meetings or attend industry groups to get a wider perspective.
  • Link papers and decisions in senior leadership or board meetings to your strategic plan – if it can’t link to the plan, should you be discussing it and can it be delegated?
  • Have a strategic plan which has been operationalised well, with clear and regular reporting allocated to the right roles, so you can trust and step back.
  • Keep your nose in and fingers out – it’s ok to do a sniff test of what’s going on, but if your fingers get itchy, remember it’s not your job to do all the doing!
  • Make sure KPIs are allocated to the right metrics – so they don’t inadvertently skew performance (and therefore your strategic direction) such as high sales to the wrong customer market.

And if you’re a sole trader or can’t delegate the doing to someone else:

  • How can you ensure that you still take the time to look forwards?
  • Build strategic planning and review time ahead in your calendar and don’t let anything else book in over the top of it!
  • Do this review somewhere different to your day job, to refresh how you see your business.
  • Find an accountability friend/coach/networking group who ask how you’re going in relation to your strategy (not how the last month has been…)

Compliance and assurance are important, but as owners and directors you can delegate this to your team. How can you ensure that your gaze is firmly out the front windscreen this year?