To view the presentation slide show, click here
The Culture and Core Competencies workshop opens with an interactive exercise and discussion about what is most important for company growth. This discussion is fun and engaging. Considering culture, structure, leadership, and the business model, we look at research and conclude that, more than any other company feature, organizational competencies correlate directly with company growth. These competencies are defined as the collective knowledge, resources, and skills (and their contributions to distinctiveness and competitive advantage) that we hold in our organizations.
After establishing the relationship between core competencies and company growth, we explore how to develop a meaningful portfolio of competencies. To understand the establishment of core competencies, we explore the role of culture. We dive into a company growth journey map that posits culture as the seedbed for core competencies. Company growth and efficiency are optimized when the growth journey positions culture ahead of competencies and competencies ahead of market and product growth. Most companies get this wrong. They try to grow markets ahead of competencies or try to grow competencies ahead of culture. The market leaders get it right. We look at several examples from multiple industries.
We acknowledge that emergent technologies and iterative environments change the dynamic between competencies and market development. But they don’t change the priority.
In the workshop, we make the case that the relationship between culture and competencies is the epicenter of company growth – and that mastering this relationship is the source of competitive advantage. This perspective on culture establishes its primary role as an enabler of competencies. The happiest and most engaged employees do little to contribute to growth unless this engagement contributes to the portfolio of competencies within the organization. This is the connection (often overlooked) we make in the workshop.
Having established the importance of the relationship between culture and competencies, we move the workshop toward developing an understanding of effective culture. At this point, I introduce the concept of culture 3-2-1: three pillars, two anchors, and one objective. The ‘three’ pillars are ‘individual leadership,’ ‘organizational facilitation,’ and ‘marketplace accountability.’ The ‘two’ anchors are ‘core purpose’ and ‘core values.’ The ‘one’ objective is ‘shared intentionality.’
We explore each of the pillars in depth. The exploration includes the latest research on leadership and how it has changed in a social media-driven post-COVID world. We journey through organization facilitation with clearly stated objectives and clearly understood facilitation models. And we look at an accountability model that includes an overview of KPI development and a framework for compensation.
We establish that while each of the pillars is essential, the integration of the pillars with each other is most important. The benefit of each pillar, non-integrated, relative to the others is cumulative. Integrated, the benefit is exponential. This portion of the workshop is anecdotal and (at the same time) supported by research. The research is credible, robust, and carefully cited. In this section, we see a second journey – the journey from the three ‘culture pillars’ to the ‘culture objective’ of shared intentionality. All three pillars, two anchors, and the one objective are carefully defined. Clarity and practical application of the concepts are priorities throughout the event.
As we move into the final minutes of the workshop, and with a clear understanding of the 3-2-1 culture ecosystem, we can establish culture as the seedbed for competencies. We can directly connect the integration of leadership, facilitation, and accountability to a prolific and effective portfolio of competencies. Moving beyond the concept level into practical application, we look at the specific contributors to the ‘competencies portfolio’ and tie these directly to their culture source – with clarity and workplace applicability as priorities.
The Culture and Competencies Workshop aims to help entrepreneurs and professional business managers understand how companies optimize sustainable growth and become market leaders. A PowerPoint slideshow using graphics, charts, and animations, supports the workshop. There are many opportunities for attendees to take away growth opportunities – from a change of perspective about company growth and market leadership to specific strategies for leadership, facilitation, accountability, and the power of ecosystem integration. Attendees will have the tools and understanding to improve their company’s competencies – the seedbed for company growth.
This workshop is for CEOs and entrepreneurs. The length is 2:45, plus 15 minutes of break time – for a total time requirement of 3 hours.
