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thiagi.com Services Workshops $6MM Game

$6MM Game

Most organizations struggle with how to develop mid-managers to leadership roles. Though leadership as a discipline is abstract, inconsistent and vague, expectations of leaders are clearer. We expect leaders to make decisions with an enterprise perspective—decisions that add value to the bottom line and inspire employees to achieve a congruent organizational vision.

The $6MM Game is a six-to-twelve month program in which a small group (12-16) of high potential managers work in teams to find value-add, large-scale projects. They must identify the opportunity, articulate an ROI for the initiative, present to the executive management team for approval, implement to fruition, and finally pass off the project (if appropriate) for continued execution at the end of the Game.

We use real business projects that integrate and align to the corporate strategy. We teach managers through practical application to:

• Be more innovative, have a big-picture view of the organization, and create a more motivating work environment.
• Take action, influence others, implement effectively, and get results.

Individuals receive just-in-time training, supervision, and coaching to develop leadership skills as they work through their significant “initiative”.

Approach

We don't use the terms “leadership” or “development”; we refer to the program as “running the business” or “managing your project”; and we approach it accordingly. We take an action-learning approach to teach leadership so that the program and learning integrates with a particpant's day-to-day work.

Application

Small teams are created and select a project that has tremendous potential value to the organization. Prior to the initial meeting, we work with senior executives to set a target. With some organizations, there is a capacity for projects to target several hundred thousand dollars in value. With others, we have set the target at $6MM. Hence the name. But the financial goal has to be realistic and not derail from other corporate initiatives. Participants will meet monthly as a group for a period ranging from six months to a year.

• Teams are supervised and coached as they build a business plan that they will present to the executive team.
• Their proposed project must add to revenue or decrease costs by an appropriate amount for the situation.
• Teams have an executive sponsor that meets with them on a regular basis as a mentor.
• Plans include an implementation strategy, ROI, and forecast of how the project fits into the broader organizational objectives and vision.
• We provide tools, content, ideas, coaching, feedback, and support. We also push, nudge, pull back, and protect teams as they navigate through their project.

Plans are evaluated by company executives and accepted or declined based on criteria and processes used to evaluate any other proposal by any other member of the company.

Management and business acumen content is modular and provided on a just-in-time basis to support teams at each step as their project develops. The innovative on-the-fly curriculum meets the immediate learning needs of teams and individuals.

Measurement

The true measure of the team's success is the completion of their team project and how well it met or exceeded initial proposal expectations.

Outcomes

As a result of this intense program, participants will have applied “on the job” skills. They will be able to:

• Identify opportunities that add real, bottom-line value to the business.
• Develop, pitch, and sell their business plan to key stakeholders and decision makers.
• Formulate audience-specific value propositions for their project.
• Influence key players to work on their projects—even when there is no reporting relationship to them.
• Navigate workplace politics effectively.
• Perform risk management for their project and manage expectations for all those involved.
• Deliver and maintain a positive communication process regarding their project to all levels of the organization.
• Become adept at presenting project updates, adjusting for audience.
• Drive the agreed-upon dollar amount in revenue increases or cost reductions.
• Take the current project, identify other opportunities that rise from it, and replicate successes on future projects.

Leadership Development Case Study

Copyright © 2009. Workshops by Thiagi, Inc. All rights reserved
URL: http://thiagi.com/ws-strategic-decision-making.html
Revised: February 12, 2009