Leadership Network and INC. Magazine

There were two interesting articles in INC. Magazine this month that related to Leadership Network's Leadership Communities. The first was an article entitled Ready, Set, Strategize, a story of how one consultant, Keith McFarland, is trying to revolutionize strategic planning by making it a 48-hour process rather than a six month long process. His assumptions are that "nobody has the patience to follow up on old-fashioned strategic planning." He helps enterprises draft strategic plans in just 48 hours by...

1. Assign Homework--Ask participants to outline key opportunites and challenges before the strategyh sessions begin
2. Stay Focused--Ban cell phones and BlackBerrys and keep breaks to a minimum.
3. Watch the clock--Set time limits for goal-setting exercises--but refuse to adjourn meetings until a consensus is reached.
4. Lighten up--McFarland conducts sessions barefoot, and livens proceedings by showing clips from films like Caddyshack.
5. Keep at it--the first 48 hours are only the beginning. Strategic goasl should be revisited every 90 days.

To anyone who has been part of a Leadership Community, these certainly look familiar don't they?

The second connection between LN and INC. was a brief article on getting feedback from clients and customers via an online surveys. "You may not always like what they have to say, but at least you'll be informed." Leadership Network has found online surveys (we use Zoomerang) to get feedback from meetings and events. We may not always like what we hear but we certainly are informed to make improvements and iterations.