Pitch Perfect

This past week, the Jesuit Crusaders girls soccer team appeared on the pitch for their first match of the 2023 campaign. They are the returning champions with a perfect 19 win season record from 2022. They are currently ranked #7 in the nation, and they are the Oregon state coaching poll favorites to repeat in 2023.

My youngest daughter, Abby, is the senior captain. She and her teammates are motivated to have another great season.

From the outside, it may appear like another Jesuit team that is poised to win a championship. But the reality, every year, there are new challenges. There are graduating seniors and key positions that they'll need to replace. They have injuries to overcome. And every game, the competition brings their best to beat Jesuit. The new team will have to develop alignment and cohesion to assure they will be successful on the field.

What has been consistent, is their coaching staff, including head coach Steve Fennah, who has won 10 state high school championships.

Level 5 Leaders

In Jim Collins' research to write the classic Good to Great, Jim was very frustrated. He did not want this book to be another leadership book. But, his research team at the University of Colorado, continuously brought forth the concept that the 11 companies who were selected, had a consistent type of leader. Jim finally agreed, the research was clear. They called them Level 5 Leadership.

Here is the Level 5 Hierarchy:

Level 1, Highly Capable Individual

Level 2, Contributing Team Member

Level 3, Competent Manager

Level 4, Effective Leader

Level 5, Level 5 Executive

The key difference between Level 4 and Level 5, according to HBR, is not expected. Level 4 Leaders, as defined by committed to a vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulates the group to high performance standards. While Level 5 Executives, builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will.

The surprising truth, Level 5 executives, are naturally introverted, and more focused on the success of the team; rather than their own prestige. They have also been called Servant Based Leaders. Yet, this term can be confusing because they are incredibly strong in their will for their company or team to succeed; despite what the outside world says about them.

In my fourth year, as a parent of a player with the Jesuit soccer team, Head Coach Steve Fennah is one of these leaders. He is humble. He is consistent. Likewise, he prefers not to be in the headlines. But, he has a fierce resolve for the team to be successful. And he also the most successful women's high school coach in Oregon's history. Level 5 Leader, indeed.

Strategic Implications  

Every organization needs to have a leader, a CEO. Working with private equity firms, entrepreneurs, family businesses, not-for-profit organizations, universities, the leader ALWAYS matters.

In every strategic plan, we apply our seven principles, in terms, how does it apply with our People, Process, and Systems. People is first. The leader is first.

You can get away with bad processes. You can get by with bad systems. Rarely, can you get away with bad leaders.

The challenge for those making decisions as to WHOM should lead, It's not always the person who interviews the best. It's not always the person with the most awards or newspaper clippings. Good to Great teaches us, it's the Level 5 Leaders, who have performed the best in the long run.

Investigate their past success. Talk with people who worked with these leaders. You will find the greatest leaders, have a loyal, consistent following of other leaders and managers who will give them the upmost respect. They would leave their job and go through a brick wall for them.

Of note, the few leaders who reach Level 5, may find it difficult to stay there. Therefore, make sure these characteristics are still true today, as they were in the past. 

Using ChatGPT for Strategy

Curious how to use ChatGPT for leadership. Check out this article in Forbes, 5 ChatGPT Prompts to be a More Effective CEO.

If you are an executive leader who wants to learn more about ChatGPT, we are conducting a 15-minute research interview. Please email me at carljcox@40strategy.com or Tonya at admin@49strategy.com to schedule a time.

College Game Day

Speaking of Excellence. ESPN's "College GameDay" has been the college football pre-game show since 1993. Anchors Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, and David Pollack have developed a consistent winner. 

I had to delay this release to make sure my Alma mater, the University of Washington, took care of business against Boise St. Today, the 10th ranked Huskies won 56-19.

As there was no travel this week, there is your Lost at CEO showing. :) 

Lost at CEO | Amazon Review

Tired of Failed Strategic Plans? Read This!

"I have been a leader and participant of strategic plans for over 40 years, with the majority failing to be effective. If you need to actually implement a plan, this book provides the framework and roadmap to accomplish real results.” Tommy C

Please continue to send me your Lost at CEO pics and book quotes. Remember to post your review on Amazon.com.

This past week, the Jesuit Crusaders girls soccer team appeared on the pitch for their first match of the 2023 campaign. They are the returning champions with a perfect 19-0-0 record from 2022. They are currently rate #7 in the nation, and they are the coaching poll favorites to win the state in 2023.

My youngest daughter, Abby, is the senior captain. She and her teammates are motivated to have another great season

Head coach Fenna has had tremendous success over his high school and college of career, including ex number of state championships

 from the outside and my appear like another team that is poised to win a championship but the from the inside there have been many changes they had graduating seniors and key positions that they'll need to replace they have new they have people coming off injuries and they have to develop alignment and cohesion to assure they will be successful on the field

 this is one of the greatest challenges in business believing that the exact same strategy from the year before it was going to work in the year ahead there are three key challenges that any leadership team has to deal with after success number one how do we motivate the team number two carry produce similar high quality products and services and number three can we continue to beat the competition so that our sales will grow and our profits will increase

 the problem is that all these variables change every year your team your leadership team may not be on the same page anymore you might have certain leaders that are very content with how they did and don't feel they need to make any significant changes you might have others who are nearing retirement and not willing to put in the hours it takes to be successful in the upcoming year your products and services might be facing tremendous cost pressure that may force you to raise your prices to maintain the gross margin that you had in the past your competitors may be able to take advantage of that situation and keep their prices lower to win market share and beat you in business that you used to previously win