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Chapter 1

Planning For Change

Right now, take out a clean sheet of paper and either write or revise your Mission, Vision, and Value statements. As you see, they don’t have to be long, and you don’t have to be William Shakespeare or John Grisham to craft them. Just a few sentences on each topic; you can expand upon each area later. As Crosby, Stills, and Nash sang, “You… who are on the road… must have a code that you can live by.” That’s what you’re drafting here. A code to live by on the road to success and significance.

By the time you finish your work on Day 1, you will end up with a mission to live for, a vision to work for and values to fight for. In short, you will end up with what matters most for you and your business.

Redefine Yourself and Realign Your Company

Now it’s time to get active. It’s time to actually take steps that will lead right into the turnaround process.

The first thing you need to do - and you need to do it right now - is articulate your Mission. It may be that you want to draw up a brand new Mission Statement. On the other hand, you may be inspired by and committed to your existing Mission Statement. Still, you may also want to refine your existing Mission Statement to take into account new factors or conditions that exist today that were not present when you started or thought deeply about the plan for your business.

Bear in mind that what you decide upon here is actually the beginning of your new business plan, so give it careful thought. These first few exercises will affect the rest of your business plan and with it the structure of your turnaround process and the results you achieve.

At this point, it’s important to emphasize the importance of writing down your thoughts and filling in each section of this book as you move along. It is not good enough to simply think about it and form the statements in your mind. By taking the time to physically write down the required information in each section of this book you will vastly improve your chances of achieving what you plan. By having a visual written record of this information you will be able to revisit it regularly, further increasing your chances of achieving exactly what you set out to accomplish and more.

Write your Mission Statement in the block below:

Mission Statement.

Describe the purpose of the business and its reason for existence; focus on the primary beneficiaries and the value created for all.

Does your Mission Statement reflect the reason(s) you started the business or the reason why you are in business? Does it take into account the market and the people you intend to serve? Is your Mission Statement consistent with who you are and your personal purpose? Does your Mission Statement reflect who and what you aspire to be? What you desire to contribute to the world around you? Does living, breathing, supporting and advancing this mission for your business create the value you want others to receive? Can you embrace this mission over time and use it as a guiding principle and document for your business, yourself, and your organization? Does pursuing this mission get you up and out of bed in the morning with a burning desire to see it through? If not, keep working on your Mission Statement until it reflects not only what you want to do, but what you want your business to “be”.

When you’re working to turn around your business, the most “actionable” concept we will be working with is your vision for your business.

Vision is the ability to articulate and clearly see what’s possible. It’s a critical component of leadership, and will help you avoid the “drift effect”, which is the temptation to veer from course and head off in another direction. If you know where you want to go and what you want, any time you get off course you’ll have a focal point to temper you back on track.

Your vision is the key to creating effective change. Basic change is easy, and anyone can do it. Effective change is the cornerstone of lasting success. You must have something to focus on, measure your change against, and guide the direction of your business activities and results — that’s your vision.

When it comes time to make a major decision about your business, your organization, or your strategy, you must ask yourself this question: “If we do this, does it get us closer or lead us further away from our vision and where we aspire to go and grow?”

In both your mission statement and your vision statement, you must target your mindset on creating greater value, benefit and contribution. That value is not just about creating merit in your marketplace. It must benefit everyone that you come in contact with or network with - everyone in the world that you deal with. The more value you create, the more valued and valuable your business, products, and services will become. The more value you can create and deliver, the more secure your future will be.

How do you do that? First, understand that your obligation for contribution extends to your clients, prospects and marketplace. But your contribution and value should also extend to your employees, partners, stakeholders, shareholders, vendors and other people who are vital to your business success.

Consider what your value proposition means for each of those people that you deal with. If you can take what you’re trying to do with your mission and vision and create greater value and benefit for everyone you serve and depend on, it elevates your performance, intent, effect and results to a much higher level. Having a higher meaning creates greater value, greater profitability, and greater meaning.

With that philosophy and perspective, you will distinguish yourself and your business from your competition. You will have “partners” in your business dealings because your success brings value and success to them as well. Your mission and vision will come to life and be carried by many.

With a clear vision and tangible contribution, you’ll create enough value for enough people in enough ways that you’ll be elevated to a status and stature that virtually eliminates your traditionally-minded competition.

Most businesses are internally-focused and often ego-driven. When your business is externally-focused and contribution-driven not only does it propel you and your business forward, it also compels people to embrace the same vision for their benefit.

Now it’s time to get clear on your Vision Statement. Once again, you may keep your existing vision if it is still relevant, but it requires revisiting, and chances are it will need significant reworking based on where you are today versus where you started your business when you first created your initial vision. If your current vision statement doesn’t reflect where you want to go or describe at least the direction you want to go, it needs revamping.

In creating your Vision Statement, it’s important to remember you should be motivated by your long-term vision but directed by your immediate priorities to make it a reality today.

Know this - the future creates the present by motivating people today for what they can have, be, and do in the future as it is envisioned. So construct your vision carefully and wisely. It’s not what “is” that motivates people or a business to change or improve, it’s “what can be”. Your Vision Statement must be exciting, filled with the hope of reward for you and everyone you lead or hope to influence.

As you pursue your vision to make it a reality, you will be leveraging the talent, time and energy of other people by engaging them in your vision. Your vision must be compelling to them. People can and will embrace your vision but they will only do so for their own reasons — the hope of fulfilling their personal vision through yours.

Write your Vision Statement in the block below:

Vision.

Describe the business you want to build and in what time frame (in a few well-constructed sentences).

Once again, it is absolutely vital to keep this in mind - a great vision is both compelling and propelling, meaning that it both pulls people from where they are and pushes them toward something greater. Does your vision inspire you? Will it motivate and excite others to embrace your vision of the future? As the present moves into the future, will others clearly see, feel and experience the value of your vision coming to pass?

Does your vision create value as it unfolds — short-term and long-term — for you and for others? How? When? Where? For whom? Does your vision allow others to see their hopes, dreams, and desires coming to pass by aligning their efforts, actions, and decisions with yours?

Now it’s time to think about writing down your Values Statement. These are the non-negotiable values you deem absolutely essential for your business as you know it to exist. They are the values that anyone working in the business must understand, align with, and embrace. Once again, give this careful thought because it is going to help determine the culture of your new company once it has been turned around. Your Values Statement will be the guiding principles about how you do business, whom you hire and do business with, and how you guide, lead and manage. This document will be the foundation from which you grow and operate.

Think about what’s important to you in life, in business, and in creating an organization. What skills, behaviors, and attitudes do you respect or expect others to have? What principles or philosophies do you admire or embrace? What boundaries or unbendable rules do you have about how you do business or expect others to adhere to? What levels of commitment, performance, or activities do you expect from others in doing business with you or for you? What things are you willing to sacrifice or protect at all costs?

Values Statement.

Make a list of the most important values your business stands by, embrace and hope to embody.

Gut check time. Look back over what you have just written. Does the ideal reality that you envisioned in your Mission, Vision, and Values reflect your current situation?

Hmmmm…

Maybe, but then again, probably not, but that’s why we’re starting here!

Let go of the past, focus on the present, and create your future!

In the turnaround situation, it is important to understand that the past is the past. Let it remain there. You see, whatever happened back there is history now; it is water under the bridge. It doesn’t mean you have to ignore the lessons learned or the underlying causes that created a previous problem, we simply mean move forward from here.

As you affect a turnaround in your business or in anyone else’s, it is no use worrying about the past or what happened in the past. You cannot reformulate the past, but you can reorganize for the future. Your attention has to be fixed on the present. Through following the actions outlined in this book, you will be able to mend your problems by developing a plan and taking effective action. If it can’t be fixed, then no amount of worrying will help. You’ll work around it, minimize it or eliminate the impact by implementing a new model of action. Either way, you’ll have the lessons of the past to help you forge a new and more productive future.

Forget the past and get focused on the here and now. We’re moving on to the next phase of your turnaround.

DAY 1: Action Checklist

Simply reading through this book will not be enough, You will need to take action and implement the tasks presented for you. At the end of each day, go through the checklist to make sure you’ve completed the tasks required before beginning the next day.

Consider the checklists your homework and the steps on your path to pregress in your “turnaround”.