Watching the board of the ACT Rugby Union stand down its CEO, Michael Jones, was only the second most interesting corporate controversy to happen yesterday.

Still, it was definitely the most intriguing shake-up in Canberra. Also, incidents like this provide plenty of food for thought for companies looking to change their strategic direction.

Without dissecting the Michael Jones experiment too forensically, there are plenty of lessons that can be applied to your business - no matter how large or small.

 

1. Be brave and take risks

Few businesses succeed by shying away from big ideas and bold moves.

If you feel like your organisation needs to make a big shift, then sit down with the relevant decision makers and thoroughly work to develop a plan that clearly defines the path to where you want the business to be.

There’s nothing wrong with taking risks. The high the gamble the better the pay-off. However, that means that your thinking must be very, very clear and your management team in total agreement.

 

2. Endorsement from the Board

It may not be a board – it might simply be the partners or the shareholders. Regardless, we’re talking about the people at the apex of your business structure.

It’s almost too obvious to mention, but it’s surprising how quickly ego and power struggles can drag upper-management away from a new strategy.

Clear communication is the most essential part of maintaining the endorsement of the board. Without it, the board will have little visibility of the CEO's activities. if the direction of the board and the CEO diverge too greatly, the end of the relationship is inevitable.

 

Cohesive Messaging

This is the both the outward-  and inward-facing aspect of shifting your business strategy. A clear comms strategy needs to be established at the outset, that describes all important aspects of your organisational change. It’s essential that external stakeholders are quickly informed of the overarching strategy so they can quickly realise where they fit in the mix, and determine opportunities for further engagement down the track. It’s also essential for your internal…

 

Change Management

That cohesive messaging is going to be important to your team who, in the end, are your most important stakeholders. If you can’t keep the large majority of your employees convinced of the benefits of change, then you’re going to have a very hard time shifting the company’s focus.

In any reorganisation, there will always be those who suffer ‘change inertia’. Sometimes the best strategy is to ask them if the company is still the place that’s right for them. If they’ve been resistant to the new change then chances are that it’s not.

Managing those people out of the organisation is as important as managing those within.

 

Stakeholder Management

Wrapping it up all into one, stakeholder management is going to be important for everyone in your business. Whether it’s a customer, a manager, the board, the delivery guy… they’re all stakeholders and, in turn, will have they’re own perspective of who they have to manage.

If you’ve developed cohesive messaging, and everyone can see the path forward, then you’ll be a long way down the track to achieving your stated outcomes.