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THE CZAR ON BEST PRACTICES IN SMALL BUSINESS

The Czar approach to small business consulting is rooted in my experience as a hands-on leader, but is also based on a core, research-supported conviction that effective enterprises of any size must achieve a careful balance and blend of several key drivers of success: strategy, organizational design, and a workplace culture inspired by effective leaders at all levels of the organization.

From this premise, I work with small business owners and managers to provide a broad array of support to help them with the following critical tasks: 1) define the correct strategy, 2) structure a complimentary organization and to 3) facilitate cohesive and winning cultures that are formed and nourished by outstanding leaders who concentrate on leading the staff, rather than simply driving the processes.

I am happy to work with business owners and managers in any way that will help move the organization towards the objective of achieving peak performance. I have been engaged by many different companies in a diverse array of capacities, ranging from seminar leader to coach to strategy consultant to organizational analysis. I am comfortable with all of these approaches, however, I do prefer an integrated methodology. A typical assignment structure for one of my small business consulting projects might look like this:

1. Preliminary Investigation - Develop a working understanding of the:
1. Mission , Vision, Goals
2. Current Business Model
3. Business Strategy and Competitive Environment
4. Key Factors for Success
5. Key Metrics - financial and non-financial
6. Current Organizational Structure
7. Key Leadership Team


2. Organizational Diagnosis - Perform a Strategic Performance Assessment using a proprietary tool designed to focus on the three key factors: Strategy, Design and Culture. This tool would engage the entire organization in completing a user-friendly on-line survey that provides the CEO and the key leadership team with a better understanding of what the leaders and associates in the firm believe to be the "state of the enterprise."



3. Report Results - Report, explain and discuss the results of the diagnostic tool with the CEO and key leadership, with a focus on those areas where there are opportunities for improvement.



4. Action Planning Session - Conduct a planning session where I facilitate discussion with the key leadership to focus on action plans that target the potential areas for change or improvement.



5. Development Program - Where appropriate, conduct leadership training and development programs for each key level in the organization. I typically would work with the most senior personnel first, and then move toward that level we refer to as the Work Leaders in the organization. It is my conviction that this is the level that most influences the daily activities of the organization and when its behaviors are consistent with our perspectives on quality leadership, then the organization can have an order of magnitude change in the performance of the organization. Through the resources of an affiliate organization which I Chair, I have access to a broad range of consultants and trainers who can provide added depth and breadth to the learning experiences.



6. Coaching Leaders - This process suggests that by supporting the training activities with personalized coaching for all levels of organizational leaders, we create a development process rather than a simple event. Coaching has become a useful and often-used support system at the top of many organizations.



7. Best Practices - In partnership with an affiliate, The InPractice Group, I would work with the CEO and key leadership to evaluate the core processes in the organization; benchmark them against industry best practices; and design new processes which fit the organizations strategy, design and culture. This process entails the use of Strategy Execution Templates which are a proprietary tool designed to facilitate visibility and accountability for each leader. Based upon industry best practices, these templates integrate the latest benchmarking data with policy and regulatory information into a cohesive workflow environment that easily fuses with legacy systems.



8. Follow up - Our ongoing efforts would be only as required, but I do commit to return at a specified time to determine if the organizational change that we have facilitated has actually been reinforced and has persisted.