Talking Points: What makes great companies great

October 13, 2006 by Erica Olsen

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

While a strategic plan is the means, growth and high-performance are the end to those means.

You may also be interested in:

• Talking Points in Support of Strategy
• The Best of the Best Do It
• Talking Points: The Best of the Best Do Planning

Topics in this post: Creating a Strategic Plan, High-performance company, Strategic Business Planning |