by Peter A. Arthur-Smith, Leadership Solutions, Inc.®

“Organizations cannot exist in isolation: They need to collaborate with outsiders, too.”  

Ten days later, SuperGuard’s Strategist team assembled once more with Harry – their Visionist – and Christine their outside advisor. Since everyone knew their firm needed every assist they could find, it remained for them to pinpoint every important one. Even so, they still took fifteen minutes for a round-robin update on Dan and Roger’s progress with their pods. Dan’s teams were well underway with In-Team Discovery to enhance their customer capabilities, while Roger’s Vanguard team was ready for expansion to other sites.

Nevertheless, before everyone felt they could expand further, it seemed sensible to clarify if SuperGuard was fully connecting with all other momentum building sources. A prompt sub-group discussion, where they broke off into two sets of three once more, enabled them to discuss who these other sources might be. Once they reassembled and compared notes, they fairly readily determined the importance of chambers of commerce, suppliers, community associations, colleges and pertinent industry associations – see above pictograph.  Have you done this exercise within your own venture?

Membership at chambers of commerce would put them in touch with potential customers, as well as rub shoulders with potential advisors and future recruits. Cultivating their suppliers would not only ensure they had good service; they would also help spread the word to potential new customers – knowing that they often deal with “decision makers.” Active membership in community associations would aid recruitment and spread the word, too. Involvement with local colleges would spark internships and recruitment of the best talent. Finally, they felt membership of security and building associations would also enable them rub shoulders with potential clients, as well as keep them abreast of marketplace, technical and specialist trends. Your venture cannot exist and prosper in a vacuum.

Further group discussion enabled them to reach a consensus on which of these five sources they deemed of greatest importance and value at this moment in time. You can identify the three they picked out. In fact, it was a crucial moment to assign colleagues who could really focus on them. Fairly readily, Mark, their Innovationist, agreed to foster positive relationships with suppliers, since he was always looking for new ideas to provide better security guard equipment as well as security systems – suppliers would help him stay informed on trends. Rachel, their Humanist, volunteered for her and her steadily growing team to connect with colleges. These would help SuperGuard gain early connections with talented graduates to fill expansion efforts.

Melissa, SuperGuard’s Promotionist, was naturally proposed to lead efforts with industry associations. She committed to pair-up both her sales team members as well as other appropriate company people to seek membership of all appropriate ones. This would invariably mean joining committees and attending regular lunches and events, where they would rub shoulders with building owners, college support groups, security executives and property managers. To what degree does your venture invest in such activities?

Another key move for this team was to objectively evaluate how SuperGuard was currently meeting the expectations of these five constituencies. You will note their smiley faces, where suppliers were pretty good; chambers, colleges and industry associations were straight faces; and community associations were a frowning face. And so it would appear they had some work to do; potentially having a really positive impact.

One important thing for these Strategists to realize was that their networking efforts would not produce increased business results overnight. Those involved would need to show a regular presence over time and be actively involved in events and attend committee meetings. Assuming that they portray themselves in a mature and favorable light, they will gradually be approached by other association members for advice and insights. Such moments would then provide openings to discuss business opportunities. Patience is key.

All the Strategists began to fully appreciate why Harry had called them to this additional meeting to identify and strategize how SuperGuard could fully collaborate and leverage worthy external constituents. This additional teamwork had identified the most appropriate players to cultivate these key resources. It became readily apparent how they could add value to their company’s momentum. So many organizations, with their “inside-out” rather than “outside-in” perspective miss the mark here. Where do you stand in this regard?

Before they concluded, the Strategists spent a little time chatting among themselves about some of the initiatives they could take with their highlighted sources. In fact, not to be left out, Roger, their Expansionist, and Maureen, their Provisionist, huddled to talk about how Superguard could keep Chambers of Commerce and Community Associations in their sights. They were all now ready for a well deserved light lunch where they would talk about their next meeting to focus on the company’s strategic streaming activities to sustain momentum. This would have them looking ahead, preparing for next moves, and ensuring effective execution.

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Author, Peter A. Arthur-Smith, Founding Principal with Leadership Solutions, Inc., is based in New York, and author of Smart Decisions: Goodbye Problems, Hello Options. He has drafted a potential new publication, Constructive Leadership Disruption: Embrace Five ‘New Organization World’ Opportunities! that offers a slew of fresh leadership concepts and practical models. Feel free to follow author at: Linkedin.com/in/peter-arthur-smith-2115722/

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