Joel Trammell, Khorus
AUSTIN, Texas—CEOs all have strategies to guide the credit union through the year, but many fall into the trap of the “master strategist” and end up with less than stellar results.
That’s what Khorus has learned in working with business leaders over the years to help them run their institutions more effectively. Now the software company is sharing some advice on how to avoid the master strategist trap.
“Although coming up with a winning strategy is a core responsibility of the CEO, it isn’t the only one,” said Khorus CEO Joel Trammell. “But some less-than-effective leaders do stop there. I call them ‘master strategists.’ They reveal a grand plan, often vague, and think they can then just sit back and watch. They don’t get involved in the day-to-day flow of the organization, leaving it up to their employees to execute the brilliant strategy.”
That approach is the reason execution fails, insisted Trammell.
“A CEO might say with great conviction, ‘Our strategy is to raise awareness of credit unions with Millennials,’ but then abdicate her responsibility to help the various departments tailor their goals to that strategy—or stay abreast of how execution is progressing,” said Trammell.
Simple Practices
Trammel outlined four “simple practices” that can help the CU avoid the master strategist trap:
- Communicate regularly with the organization about the strategy. “If you want top-level strategy to impact employees’ daily actions, the first step is to make sure everyone understands the sharp outline of the strategy,” said Trammell. “Don’t just tell your board and executive team—frame any communication you have with the entire company in terms of strategy. Once employees internalize your intent, they can make great decisions without you being there.”
- Set credit union goals on a quarterly basis. “I’ve found it highly effective to break long-term strategy into a set of five to seven specific goals for the organization each quarter and assign a single, objective metric to each goal,” said Trammell. “If I do that, I’ve gone deeper than just telling the team ‘Go win!’ Instead, I’ve said, ‘I want us to win—here’s our next step.’ Of course, these goals need to be visible and accessible, so they stay top of mind and drive daily execution.”
- Cascade alignment. “Take clarity to the next level by then having teams and individuals set their own goals based on those for the overall credit union. Have each person ask, ‘How can I support these priorities this quarter?’” explained Trammell. “This exercise ensures that a great deal of your employees’ work reflects the broader aims of the business.”
- Keep a lookout for execution roadblocks. Every plan faces obstacles, and it’s the CEO’s duty to actively look out for and remove them, emphasized Trammell. “Solicit weekly feedback from your leadership team on how goals are going, asking what help they need to keep them on track. The master-strategist CEO is always the last to know about a major problem that’s cropped up—keep the lines of communication open so that doesn’t happen to you.”
Dated Approach
Trammell emphasized that the master strategist is a dated approach to leadership.
“The old strategy-execution approach that’s formulated by the CEO, then mindlessly carried out by the team—doesn’t hold up today,” he said. “Use these practices to drive execution from the top and help employees, even on the frontlines, think strategically.”