Developing customer focus is an absolute necessity for many successful organizations, whether they are Fortune 500 companies, state or municipal governments, or one of the many federal departments or agencies. The voice of the customer drives their operations and charts the course for their future. Senior leadership is personally involved in all aspects of strategic planning. Effective leadership demands clear, consistent, and visible commitment by leaders throughout the organization. Top leaders walk the talk.
Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.
Top leaders must clearly convey the organization's mission, strategic direction, and vision to employees and external customers. A clear, concise statement that communicates what the organization is and is not increases the likelihood for buy-in from both employees and external customers. Organizations need to operate with a sense of urgency. It has been said that there are two types of companies - the quick and the dead. Both brought a very real sense of urgency to the organization.