Five Questions That Separate Leaders from Managers

Every day you go to work, you’re focused on doing the very best that you can and continue to build a business that thrives. I don’t think anyone will argue with that. So, what separates those who are truly accomplishing their goals from those who appear to be busy, but aren’t gaining the traction that they really need to move forward? After years of working with various leaders in the printing industry, I’ve identified five questions or issues that typically separate the companies that are building real value from those who are not. These may not be perfect, but they’re practical issues that I see every day and they typically go hand-in-hand in identifying those that are truly leading or just managing the business.

Are we truly focused on our stated priorities and goals?

This is the most common leadership gap I see. You have great intentions, you set the course, you get the team aligned, and then six weeks later you’re chasing something completely different. Now I know that opportunities arise, and there are many times when you may need to focus on something that’s come across the desk that could be a good opportunity. That’s not what I’m referencing here.

Having a laser focus isn’t about working harder, it’s about having the discipline to stay the course. It’s making those hard decisions to say no to what may appear to be a good opportunity but doesn’t align with where you’re headed. Your team watches what you do, not what you say. When you lack the discipline around the stated priorities, so will they.

You may want to ask yourself if you’re making the tough calls necessary to maintain focus, or are you allowing distractions to dilute the direction you’ve set forth. Because it’s really hard to be an inch deep in a mile wide and truly be effective at leading the business.

Can your business thrive without you?

I recently reread Built to Sell, by John Warrillow, which forces an uncomfortable question onto business owners: if you disappeared tomorrow, would the business keep running? When companies first start out, you wear several hats, no doubt. But as you grow in scale and develop into a management lead organization, some leaders have had a difficult time extracting themselves from the core of decision-making and their own personal involvement in the business. That’s great if you’re trying to create a job for yourself, but probably not so great if you’re trying to create a business that delivers sustainable value.

This question isn’t just for owners who are planning an exit or looking to retire. It’s really about building sustainable systems and a management structure that allows the company to grow without you micromanaging every decision. It allows your leadership team to grow into their roles as well and to feel engaged and that they’re making the right decisions. Begin by documenting your processes, develop your people, and create the systems that work together whether you’re there or not.

Are you aggressively driving out cost and eliminating non-value-added touches?

Most folks in the industry continue to expand into offering new services to grow the share of wallet from their customers and prospects. That said, most are in competitive markets where everybody’s fighting for the same work. The winners I see, are driving out cost and increasing speed to market for their clients through the use of advanced technology and developing a playbook that is more relevant to today than it was yesterday.

They’re eliminating touches, reducing mistakes, and compressing the production timelines. If you’re interested in taking this a step further, the book The Goal, by Eliyahu Goldratt and Jeff Cox, is a great one to start with. This isn’t just about buying the latest equipment; it’s changing the mindset that systematically drives waste out of your operation. Ask yourself this question, are you fully leveraging automation in a way to protect and grow your margins?

Is color management part of your value proposition, or is it just a credential on the wall?

In crowded markets, everybody claims quality and everyone says they’re different. Is that really the case? To me, good color management means reliable, predictable, consistent execution across all the printing devices you have in the shop. Ok so now are you different?

There are industry standards available, and whether you are certified, or compliant, they are good paths to take. A word of caution though: avoid just going through the motions with this. Treat it as a true competitive advantage versus something you have to do, just to renew the certification on the wall. In your client talk track, make sure to explain what it really means in practical terms: fewer reprints and spoilage, faster approvals, more predictable results. You wrote the check, make it count.

Does your workflow connect with the client experience?

Face it, client expectations continue to rise. They want reliability and consistency, lower cost, and faster turnaround all at once, and while paying less than they paid yesterday. Having a dynamic workflow can help drive out touches, time, mistakes, and cost. More importantly though, it shows up in the client experience. It can be that one thing that helps make the difference between satisfied clients and loyal clients.

Ask yourself honestly, does our workflow enable us to exceed client expectations? Are we using that as a competitive advantage, as exceeding expectations help to drive client satisfaction and loyalty. And without that, long-term growth becomes problematic. Having a workflow that is adequate and just barely keeping up with client demands won’t do it in competitive markets today.

The bottom line

These five questions aren’t comfortable, and they’re not perfect either. They are meant to challenge how you’re running the business and leading your team. Start by picking one of the questions and get disciplined about finding out the honest answer. Then act on it. You show up every day not only to build a company that survives but thrives. Hopefully these can help in your efforts.

Mike Philie helps owners and CEOs in the Graphic Communications Industry validate what’s working, identify what needs to change, and create a practical path forward.

PhilieGroup | mphilie@philiegroup.com | LinkedIn

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with Printing Impressions. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Printing Impressions. Artificial Intelligence may have been used in part to create or edit this content.