By Stephen Tweed
It was September of 1987. I was standing in the galley of a 142 foot schooner at anchor in Penobscot Bay off the coast of Maine, with my arms up to my elbows in dishwater. Standing next to me with a dishtowel in his hand was Wally Barnes, the Chairman of the Board and CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation called The Barnes Group.
We were on board the schooner Rose Way for the company’s annual “Executive Strategy Retreat.” We had just finished breakfast, and the kitchen crew insisted that the guests wash the dishes and clean up the dining area before beginning our work for the day. It was the first time I had shared dish washing and drying with a FORTUNE 500 CEO.
From that conversation and the strategic thinking process and executive retreats, I was inspired to write by first commercially published book, Strategic Focus: A Gameplan for Developing Competitive Advantage. This conversation and others with leaders in client organizations led to publishing that first book.
This article is the pre-cursor to re-engineering Strategic Focus with new twists and turns to take into account all that I have learned in the past 28 years from working with over 500 different organizations. While our work has covered a broad range of companies from manufacturing and banking to retail and hospitals, the last 25 years have been devoted almost exclusively to home health care.
Today, our consulting, speaking, and coaching business is focused entirely on home health care, hospice, and private duty home care companies internationally.
The Biggest Barrier to Growth …
The biggest single challenge facing most companies today is … Lack of Focus! Leaders and their teams are distracted and diluted by a variety of forces inside and outside the organization. If companies are going to be successful in the 21st century, focus is the foundation.
If you look up the noun FOCUS in the dictionary, you will find that it refers to a point at which rays of light, heat, or other radiation meet after being refracted. This simple definition is often accompanied by a diagram of a lens. A second definition is “a central point of attraction, attention, or activity.”
The verb, to focus, means to bring to a focal point; to concentrate.
Strategic Focus
Since I wrote the book on Strategic Focus, I get to define it. I’ve revised the definition to fit what is relevant in today’s world of health care and business.
Strategic Focus is:
“Having a clear vision for the future, a clear strategy to get there, and the talent to execute with excellence.” Stephen Tweed
So strategic focus is pretty simple;
- Vision,
- Strategy,
- Talent
What is your vision for the future of your home care company?
What is your strategy to get there?
Do you have the best talent in place to execute your strategy with excellence?
To discuss how we can help you create Strategic Focus for your home care company, call us at 502-339-0653.
