Episode 95

Rockefeller Taught Me About Strategic Planning | LAYC 95

Isabel Alexander continues the mini-series on strategic planning, spotlighting fundamental elements crucial for SMEs and solopreneurs.

1. Foundational Core Values:

- Your business's cornerstone lies in its core values.

- Aligning decisions with personal values ensures ease and confidence.

- Imperative for fostering loyalty in teams, attracting clients, and selecting dedicated suppliers.


2. Significance of Purpose and Mission:

- Crafting a purposeful mission and vision is paramount.

- Values are the driving force behind the 'Why' and 'Who' of your business.

- Ignite inspiration in teams, partners, customers, and suppliers by aligning actions with values.


3. BHAGs Unveiled (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals):

- BHAGs are audacious, visionary goals deeply rooted in core values.

- Long-term aspirations that both challenge and inspire.

- Vital for constructing a strategic plan encompassing short-term, mid-term, and long-range goals.


4. Actionable Reflections:

- Reflect on core values and their pervasive impact on the organization.

- Develop a purposeful mission and vision intricately aligned with values.

- Embrace BHAGs to set in motion visionary and exhilarating long-term goals.


About the Host:

 

Isabel Alexander

Your Next Business Strategist and Transformation Catalyst

 Isabel Alexander's journey from modest beginnings to global recognition epitomizes entrepreneurial resilience and innovation. With over five decades of experience spanning diverse industries, she has become a driving force in shaping economic landscapes worldwide. Noteworthy accomplishments include founding a multimillion-dollar global chemical wholesale business and earning accolades such as Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women.

As a mentor and advocate, Isabel empowers women entrepreneurs through initiatives like the Lift As You Climb Movement and podcasts, guiding them from startup to maturity. Serving as Chief Encore Officer of The Encore Catalyst, she dedicates herself to coaching and educating emerging entrepreneurs. Her involvement in organizations like RenegadesReinventing.com and Femme on Fire underscores her commitment to leadership and business development.

Additionally, Isabel's advisory roles with government bodies and trade associations, such as Chair of the Canadian Association of Importers & Exporters, highlight her influence in shaping trade policies and fostering international relations.

Driven by her mantra, "Lift As You Climb," Isabel embodies the ethos of mutual growth and empowerment. With dual citizenship in Canada and the United States, she values her extensive family and embraces global connections through travel and professional engagements. Isabel Alexander's narrative serves as a beacon of inspiration, illustrating how visionary leadership and strategic advising can drive global entrepreneurship and economic independence forward.


Founder:

The Encore Catalyst Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/TheEncoreCatalyst )

and

Chief Encore Officer, The Encore Catalyst (www.theencorecatalyst.com) – an accelerator for feminine wisdom, influence, and impact.

also

Author & Speaker ‘Who Am I Now? – Feminine Wisdom Unmasked Uncensored’ https://whoaminowbook.com/


LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabelannalexander/

 

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Transcript
Isabel:

Hello, and welcome back.

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I'm Isabel Alexander, and as I promised, I am here to continue this mini

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series about strategic planning and why it's vital to SMEs, small, medium

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sized businesses, and solopreneurs.

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In fact, it's vital to every organization that wants to be sustainable.

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that wants to grow and continue to have value to its clients, its stakeholders.

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The Encore Catalyst makes it possible to share this podcast with you

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and hopefully share some value to help you get more of everything

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that you want from your business.

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So the first episode on this theme of strategic planning, I

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shared my feelings around why it is so vital for small businesses.

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entrepreneurs to have a strategic plan.

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So, if you didn't get that, circle back.

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It's just not too far back in the history here.

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Shortly afterwards, I shared that I'd heard from my audience, my clients,

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said, "You were pretty passionate about that, that we should have a strategic

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plan, but you didn't really tell us how."

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which brought me to saying, I promise that I will, and the why I know this is

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important was my journey, my discovery of reaching a point in my own company

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where I had reached the level of my own experience, capability, confidence,

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hiring an expensive business consultant.

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The most important thing I learned from him was about a book called

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Mastering the Rockefeller Habits that was written by Verne Harnish and it's

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still a top selling business book.

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I recommend that you buy the book and you keep it as a treasured

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resource on your bookshelf.

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But if you're not ready to add reading yet another business book to your list,

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then I'm going to give you a little deeper dive than Cole's notes, but I'm

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going to give you the highlights of why that book and the process that I learned

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using that book was so valuable to me and also explain some of my own personal

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circumstances that evolved from that.

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So today.

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In the third of the series on strategic planning, I want to talk to you, briefly

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about core values, which is a foundational piece in creating a strategic plan,

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which is surprising, I know, because it sounds like it's kind of woo woo,

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soft, touchy, pinky, furry stuff, but it's not, I promise you, it's Fucking

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important ironclad stuff that you need to know about, need to think about.

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I'm going to talk to you about the next step that we go through in that process,

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and that's really getting clarity around your purpose and your mission.

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And it's not going to be the same old Ya-Ya-Ya platitudes that you hear

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about your purpose or your mission.

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I promise, stay tuned.

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And the third thing that we will address just high level today is beehags.

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And I'll talk to you about why you need to have that, even if

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you don't think you want to.

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All right, so let's roll with this!

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First and foremost, before you can make any meaningful plan for your business,

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you must embrace the fact that your business was built on your core values.

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And if it isn't, if your actions aren't aligned with what you believe

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is right and wrong, the way the world should operate, the way people

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should treat each other, then you're always going to feel uncomfortable

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and yucky and you're going to have resistance going on within yourself.

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You're going to say, oh, fuck, I wish I hadn't done that because I can't sleep.

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I don't feel good.

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My stomach's burning or that bit me in the ass.

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And you're going to have an impossible time building a team that are loyal

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and committed and clear about what the organization's values are.

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And further, you're going to have a very hard time, you're going

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to make a lot of mistakes around choosing who are the clients that are

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loyal and will become Raving Fans.

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Trust me, I know this from personal experience and you're going to have

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a hard time choosing suppliers that are loyal and dedicated and aligned

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with the values that you have and therefore providing the services

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and the support to help you succeed.

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I cannot stress enough how incredibly vital it is being very clear about

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your values, current, updated, refreshed, bought into, locked in,

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and how they are imprinted throughout your organization when you're a

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small business or a solopreneur.

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Stop and think about that for a minute.

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If you are the person who created the business, or primarily, or a major

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influence in the business, your values are imprinted across the organization.

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And when the organization acts in a manner that is conflicting or abrasive to your

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values, you're going to have an impossible time leading and making decisions.

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Now, that's a lot to chew on, and I'm happy to talk to you about that

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more if you want to reach out and have an Encore session with me.

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In the show notes, you'll find out how to do that.

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But in the meantime, please just be thinking about that.

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Every single important decision that you will make for your company starts with

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what is deeply in your personal values.

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Okay, so that's number one, core values.

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Number two in the

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The Rockefeller Habits, the strategic plan format

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was purpose

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or mission.

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Guess what?

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You cannot properly articulate a purpose or a mission for your company that

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conflicts with, opposes your values.

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It's just not a sustainable behavior or approach.

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So that is why being clear about your core values.

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then crafting a very purposeful mission statement and vision

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for the future of your company.

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And we'll come back to vision a bit more in the next section.

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When you're clear on your values and that drives what you All of these work for you.

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do the Why You Do It and Who You Do It For Then you can inspire

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and motivate your team, partners, customers, suppliers, everybody.

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And that makes it so easy.

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You are swimming with the current.

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The third part about creating a strategic plan that is really result driven.

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viable, and will propel your organization forward is having B Hags.

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Now, if you don't know what that term means, it's big,

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hairy, audacious goals, B Hags.

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And that sounds like it might be some character from Toy Story, but

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a BHAG is a really ambitious, long term, out there, visionary goal.

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that is deeply rooted in your core values, that is overarching

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your purpose and your mission.

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And it's really important for you to have that, because you know if you

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don't shoot for the moon, you will not land upon the stars, and every major

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corporation, every successful entity and individual in the world had lofty

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goals that they were shooting for.

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That's an essential part of creating the strategic plan that's got the short term,

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smaller, mid term, longer range goals.

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And it's also pretty damn exciting when you allow yourself to go,

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what if I started to think about my company, my leadership in terms

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of achieving those BHAGs, how would I behave differently today?

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How would I start behaving today as a leader?

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What decisions would I make differently?

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What actions would I take differently?

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What things would I say no to?

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And that's why having a BHAG, or more than one, but at least

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one, is really important.

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Okay, so I understand.

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This is a lot to think about, to chew on and absorb, and I'm going to leave you

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with that so that you have some time, I hope, to be thinking about this as

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you prepare for your The New Year, and maybe as you've ordered the book and

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you're waiting for it to be delivered, but I promise you I'm going to be back

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to you in the very, very next episode of this mini series to talk to you about

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the next three steps to prepare, to create an absolutely powerful, perfect

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for you and the next stage of your life and your business strategic plan.

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Stick with me.

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Come on back soon.

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Bye.

About the Podcast

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About your host

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Isabel Alexander

Dynamic, self-made entrepreneur who overcame obstacles with an unrelenting positive nature, a farm girl work ethic and a conscious choice to thrive rather than survive, Isabel Alexander Banerjee cultivated an award winning, $10 million+ global chemical wholesale business and grew it from dining room table to international boardrooms.

Isabel’s strengths include the ability to initiate & nurture strategic relationships, a love of lifelong learning and talents for helping others maximize their potential. An inspiring speaker within both industry and community, she is a driving force behind those with the courage to follow her example of thriving against the odds.

With 50+ years of business experience across diverse industries, Isabel is respected as an advisor, a coach, a mentor and a role model. She believes in sharing collective wisdom and empowering others to economic independence.

Isabel Alexander
Your Next Business Strategist and Transformation Catalyst