Page 271 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

IMPLICATIONS FOR EXECUTIVES, HUMAN RESOURCES, AND INDIVIDUALS

• • Presenting problems generally show up as an organi-
zation’s inability to respond to external requirements.
Presenting problems might be:
• • Inability to meet customer needs—evidenced by
falling customer share, market share, or customer
service scores
• • Losing investor confidence—evidenced by lower
financial returns or lower stock values
• • Poor community reputation—evidenced by erosion
of brand confidence or inability to attract or retain
employees
• • Underlying causes of these presenting problems are
lagging organization capabilities. An organization capa-
bility is what the organization is good at and known for,
such as the ability to:
• • Change quickly
• • Innovate
• • Serve customers
• • Operate efficiently
• • Collaborate and build teams
• • Learn
• • Manage risk
• • An organization’s capabilities are a collection of the
competencies and commitment of individual employees.
Organizations do not think or act; people do. When
people think and act in a skilled, cohesive way, organi-
zation capabilities follow.
• • Individual competencies (ability to do the work) and
commitment (willingness to do the work) are sustained
and leveraged when employees see how their work
makes a genuine contribution to people and causes they
care about (finding meaning in the work).

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