What makes a great company great? When it comes to strategic planning, becoming the best at something is often achieved by modeling the behaviors of winners and putting those behaviors into practice. Here are the characteristics of a high-performance company:
Has a purpose that focuses the energy of all its members (typically, that purpose is to be the best there is or ever was)
Simultaneously and continuously maximizes the self-interests of all its stakeholders
Outperforms all others (by any measure) not because of what propels it but in spite of any and all obstacles that impede it
Makes it possible for ordinary people to perform in an extraordinary fashion
Transforms its people into owners of the organization’s destiny
Is a healthy organization committed to being great, no matter what it takes
Knows that the execution is more important than the strategy
Whereas a strategic plan is the means, growth and high-performance are the ends to those means.
An example of a high-performance company is a mid-sized graphics and print shop in Georgia, which was recognized as one of the best in the industry. The owner attributes the company’s success to the employees’ dedication to the mission, which includes total focus on customer solutions.
According to the owner, the employees practice the mission, not just preach it. To support that action, the company enables all employees to be responsible and accountable for serving its customers. Not to mention that the employees are proud of their work and take rightful ownership of their accomplishments. To that point, they perform extraordinary work.