There is no greater responsibility than leading troops to a common goal.

While military and business strategy may differ drastically, the same basic principles apply. You plan to win. You plan to succeed.

Being given the opportunity to command a company of Soldiers, I was faced with the daunting realization above. Each Soldier’s well-being, success, failure, and future opportunity was now my responsibility, and I needed a plan to succeed. I arrived at my new company to all foreign faces. These Soldiers were asked to put their trust in me, someone who was unknown to them.

My first step was to observe. I needed to figure out how to lead these specific troops. Adapt to their way of accomplishing a goal and come up with a plan steer the ship from there.

My next step was to develop a plan. Believe it or not, the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP) and business strategy development are very similar. This step required me to acknowledge (truthfully) where the company was and where I wanted it to be. From there, I created the necessary steps to accomplish a very simple goal - create the best company in the Louisiana National Guard.

But what is the measure of success?

Answering that question depended on two factors - create a culture internally that could stand the test of time, and ensure measurable metrics were identified to more specifically accomplish our goal. These two factors were mutually exclusive, yet the success of one was completely dependent on the other.

Over the course of two years, the company achieved unbelievable success while becoming a very tight knit, family-like group of individuals from every walk of life. The company became (and more importantly, maintained) a measure of success for other companies, achieving one of the highest metric-based rankings in the state. Soldiers even passed up the opportunity of promotion to stay within the family.

Lead, develop, achieve.

In strategy development and strategic planning, analysis is one of the most important tools in your toolbox. With Horatius Management, experience in analytics in both theory and practice will bring your company to new heights, accomplishing anything you put your mind to.