6 minute read
Your organization might have clarity, but everyone's looking in different directions.
Just like a compass: the direction needs to be "true" and the clarity is what needs to be understood. So what is True Clarity? It's a clear understanding and accurate direction to what is Really Most Important™.
People say "I understand you clearly" and true direction is like True North. True Clarity is the first step and the foundation in The TAP Model™. This model is the foundation for all of your cultural development and how that leads your organization into the future through your strategic planning. It is both sequential and simultaneous: there's a simple step-by-step process and you can't have one without the other.
Here's the simple breakdown of The TAP Model™.
We at TSG are committed to unleashing the total potential within your organization and people by providing you the solutions you need to solve your problems and expand your opportunities in order to fulfill your true purpose and vision. We know that this success within your marketplace and with your customers comes from empowering your people to live & lead through True Clarity™—where everyone knows what’s really going on and how it relates to the results they’re paid to achieve.
From there, the next critical step is Aligned Accountability™—where everyone has complete buy-in and trust, so that when your people walk in the front door, their first thought is not about what tasks they’ll be performing, but how they’ll generate the results your organization really needs. (The conversation needs to be more than just “What is my bonus?” and “When is my next vacation?”)
Only then can we set ourselves up for Purposeful Execution™—where everyone is efficiently and effectively achieving the results you need, influencing how your organization gets things done day-to-day, while fueling your strategic future and position in the marketplace.
So how do you foster Step #1, True Clarity™?
This begins with a one-page strategic plan that integrates your core purpose, vision, and mission (clear understanding) within your strategic priorities (accurate direction). From there, it's about how you think, plan, build, solve and communicate up and down and all across your organization, departments, and teams.
The True Clarity Process
1: Define & Frame It. This is about having the right focus. (RMI breakdown)
Define: This starts by understanding that as a department and as an organization we need a common intention/language that brings everyone together. Describe the specific nature, the full scope, and the core intention of what’s Really Most Important™ and how it impacts the company.
Frame It: Formulate (a concept, plan, or system) and view it from all perspectives and relationships using the Four Cornerstones of your business. Get your people curious to view it from their lens. This creates a desire to learn more about the experience.
2: See It. This is about ensuring we have clarity.
See It. Show your people the bigger picture and how all the parts of the puzzle fit together. Make sure the plan, project, or event is clear to you and those you communicate to. They must see the dream to get them curious, the vision to direct them, and the goals with measurable benchmarks to help them see that it’s possible. Move them from curiosity to interest by helping them see a brighter future whereby they actively seek to discover more.
3: Feel It. This is about uncovering the bigger purpose.
Feel It. Your people must see not only each part of the picture, but why it’s so important to them and the company. Get them emotionally involved and bought in. They must feel like a real part of it. Remember: people act sometimes because of logical reasoning and more so because of emotional responses and urges. Discuss the wounds and why we haven’t committed to this previously and what would happen if we don’t commit to it now. Create emotional urgency and inspire your people with undeniable purpose.
4: Connect To It. This is about integration & mobilization.
Connect To It. Once your team sees and feels the full scope of the vision or plan, they must know and believe that they fit into the experience as a whole so they feel that they can make a significant difference as a part of it. Beyond their involvement, everyone must get intellectually and emotionally engaged where they believe their identity and results are associated with the identity and results of the company. It’s about building a deep, lasting relationship between your people and what you’re aiming to accomplish. They’re actively and willingly facilitating their own role in the experience.
5: Commit To It. This is about ownership and action.
Commit To It. Beyond engagement is ownership. This is about true empowerment where your people are entrusted to make decisions and take action on their own to build and make the most of the role they play within the bigger picture. This is where we move from True Clarity™ to Aligned Accountability (and it’s the only proven way). It’s no longer a company plan, project, or event; it’s theirs. They see it, they feel it, they connect to it, and now they’re truly committed. The company goals are their goals and their goals are the company’s goals.
When this happens, you know your organization has True Clarity™.
Do you have True Clarity?
What’s working? What’s not working? What’s missing?
What one action do you and your executive team need to take in order to ensure True Clarity in your marketplace, for your customers, within your organization, and with your people?
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