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20 Interesting Behaviors of Strategy Tourist

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Let me start by reassuring you: the chances that you are a strategy tourist are close to zero.

But I’m sure you do know a strategy tourist.

Most likely you know plenty of them, since strategy tourists – those individuals who lack the motivation, skills and knowledge to turn a strategy into performance – can be found in abundance in most organizations. They are easily recognizable by the following characteristics:

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About the Author

Jeroen De Flander helps you to improve your strategy execution skills in his new book, The Execution Shortcut. He is one of the world’s most influential thinkers on strategy execution and a highly regarded keynote speaker. He has shared the stage with prominent strategists like Michael Porter and reached out to 21,000+ leaders in 30+ countries. His first book Strategy Execution Heroes reached the Amazon bestseller list in 5 countries and was nominated for Management Book of the Year 2012 in the Netherlands.

Agile Balance – What it is… What it does… How to get it, part 2 of 2

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As in nature, Agile Balance requires an organic inside out commitment to stay on course. That’s why I always suggest planting my The Four Commitment QuestionsTM deeply to keep every Jack and Jill on plan, on target and in engaged collaboration. The Four Commitment QuestionsTM (What Can I Do More of, Less of, Start and Stop?) become part of the bedrock to insure commitment to the organization’s vision remains consistent and strong.

Once rooted into an organization’s culture, The Four Commitment QuestionsTM transform the workplace. Based on more than 20 years of research from The Leadership Practices InventoryTM (LPI) created by colleagues Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, these simple, yet effective questions take common sense and turn it into common practice allowing Agile Balance to flourish.

With Agile Balance, the individual and organizational benefits are plentiful:

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About the Author

Robert Thompson is the author of The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable. To learn more about Agile BalanceTM, contact Robert at [email protected], follow him on Twitter @RobertHThompson or subscribe to his Leadership Path newsletter at www.leaderinsideout.com.

Want to learn more about Robert Thompson and The Offsite? Listen to the StrategyDriven Podcast interview during which Robert shares with us his insights on the unique leadership challenges associated with today’s business environment.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:01 — 42.6MB)

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Agile Balance – What it is… What it does… How to get it, part 1 of 2

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Once upon a time, Jack led Jill up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Subsequently, they found the slope a bit slippery. There was a bit of a spill. After that crown-breaking calamity, Jack vowed to become so nimble that he could easily jump over any candlestick, lit or unlit.

Okay, so that’s not quite how the children’s storybook tells it. But, hopefully, like any good leader, Jack, learned from experience. Bouncing back from the fall, he was exposed to “Agile BalanceTM.” (Jill was quick to follow).

What is Agile Balance? Agile is defined as nimble or mentally quick. Balance is defined as steady, maintaining equilibrium or poise. So, Agile Balance might be defined as someone or something that is nimble, quick, steady and self-assured.

But that’s just the start.

When we peer into nature, perhaps viewing the plants and trees on the hill that Jack and Jill fell from, we won’t see a perfect moment of balance. We see Agile Balance. There is no stasis in nature. Change is constant and everywhere. Plants and animals are growing, waning or dying.

That’s the rhythm to life. And that’s the rhythm to great success, both organizationally and personally. That’s Agile Balance. There is no stasis in individuals or organizations. Whether growing, waning or dying, we change each day. And it’s our choice whether the struggle from that process makes us stronger, or nudges us along as we slip slide down the slope.

As they meet on the garden path in my book The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable, guru/gardener Sam Arthur responds that he is “perfect” when Gwen Kelly asks the polite question, “How are you”. I’ve found that every reader defines Sam’s comment about “perfect” differently. Is it possible that Sam is talking about Agile Balance?

When thinking of Agile Balance, a few of the words that spring to mind are: strength, flexibility, speed, endurance and grace. These are just a few of the qualities everyone should seek and embrace as they reach for the results they desire around performance, productivity and profits.

Let’s take a deeper look at these qualities.

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About the Author

Robert Thompson is the author of The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable. To learn more about Agile BalanceTM, contact Robert at [email protected], follow him on Twitter @RobertHThompson or subscribe to his Leadership Path newsletter at www.leaderinsideout.com.

Want to learn more about Robert Thompson and The Offsite? Listen to the StrategyDriven Podcast interview during which Robert shares with us his insights on the unique leadership challenges associated with today’s business environment.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:01 — 42.6MB)

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StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 41 – An Interview with Susan Bagyura, author of The Visionary Leader

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StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.

Special Edition 41 – An Interview with Susan Bagyura, author of The Visionary Leader explores how to lead one’s employees to have a success-focused mindset and then translate that mindset into the actions that will not only move the organization forward but also help it achieve greater levels of success. During our discussion, Susan Bagyura, author of The Visionary Leader: How To Inspire Success From The Top Down shares with us her insights and illustrative examples regarding:

  • what is a Visionary Leader
  • observable benefits Visionary Leaders realize
  • characteristics and personality traits of Visionary Leaders, including their observable behaviors
  • how Visionary Leaders link the organization’s goals with those of individual employees and then maintain accountability for their achievement
  • key actions individuals should take to become Visionary Leaders
  • challenges Visionary Leaders may encounter when working with individuals who are positionally senior or more experienced and how to overcome these obstacles

Additional Information

In addition to the invaluable insights Susan shares in The Visionary Leader and this special edition podcast are the resources accessible from her websites, www.TheVisionaryLeader.com and www.SusanBagyura.com.   Susan’s book, The Visionary Leader, can be purchased by clicking here.

About the Author

Susan Bagyura is author of The Visionary Leader. With over twenty-five years of sales, marketing, and entrepreneurial experience, Susan works with clients to attract, motivate and develop their employees, starting with the leadership team and then going throughout the organization. Her coaching and consulting practice is centered on helping small businesses grow by increasing sales and profits, improving communications, and reducing staff attrition. To read Susan’s complete biography, click here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:25 — 44.6MB)

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Leadership Inspirations – Credit Where Credit is Due

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“Great discoveries and improvement invariably involve the cooperation of many minds. I may be given credit for having blazed the trail, but when I look at the subsequent developments I feel the credit is due to others rather than to myself.”

Alexander Graham Bell (1847 – 1922)
Scientist, inventor, engineer, and innovator; credited with inventing the telephone