Renowned college football coach Nick Saban led his teams to seven national titles by following one simple motto: focus on the process, rather than the results. Having a clear strategy will take you from where you are to where you want to be. It’s something we have experienced first-hand at Rehmann with our own strategic plan and the plans we’ve developed with our clients.
Strategy is a living thing—it’s not something you create just to say you have one and then put it on the shelf. It is the method for achieving your mission and vision. It’s our playbook. A coherent strategy, clearly communicated to everyone from interns to senior leaders, ensures that every individual understands the role they play in helping the company reach its goals. When it comes to strategy, it’s how you do the small things every day, consistently that leads to the outcome.
For Rehmann, our strategic plan helps drive our biggest decisions and goals. It is aligned with our mission, vision, and values to ensure the plan keeps us heading in the right direction. Having that connection between the most fundamental parts of our organization also means we do not need to create a new strategy every few years. Simply making minor changes as the business environment and the needs of our clients and associates change is sufficient.
We recommend a similar approach to our clients. It’s easy to get distracted by the daily ups and downs and think drastic changes are necessary. When we collaborate with our clients to create a plan to achieve their goals, it is always done with the desired end result in mind. It is built to weather whatever storms may come.
Ultimately, all strategies succeed or fail based on how they are executed. To be successful, the entire organization must be focused on doing their part. This requires regular reinforcement of not just the strategies and goals, but how the work people are doing contributes to this effort. We regularly show associates how their work connects to the strategy and helps us achieve our goals. Making this connection is a key piece of strategy execution and also impacts overall associate engagement.
You can’t plan for the future if you don’t know where you’re trying to go. Creating a solid strategy is just the first step. A commitment to communicating and executing are just as important for your overall strategic success.
