Many entrepreneurs wonder why some businesses explode with growth while others stagnate. The secret often lies in understanding and leveraging what we call the ‘hidden organization.’ Even the smallest businesses, including solopreneurs, possess this network. Your success hinges on identifying and leading this hidden organization to achieve desired outcomes.
While large corporations are traditionally viewed as having well-defined organizations with internal stakeholders like employees and departments, the reality is more expansive. Today’s leading companies recognize that external stakeholders—independent consultants, suppliers, outsource providers, alliance partners, and even customers—are vital components of their organizational ecosystem.
Just as your business forms part of your customers’ external organization, you also possess your own hidden network. By recognizing and strategically leveraging these relationships, you can navigate economic uncertainties, mitigate challenges, and propel your business to unprecedented levels of growth.
Identifying Your Hidden Organization:
Pinpointing all the stakeholders who influence your business can be challenging. Some relationships are obvious, but others are easily overlooked. An external stakeholder is any individual, group, or organization with a vested interest in your business’s success, whether they realize it or not. This includes:
* Customers
* Suppliers
* Outsource providers (payroll, virtual assistants, etc.)
* Advisors (attorneys, accountants, bankers, business coaches, etc.)
* Alliance partners
* Subcontractors
* Competitors
* Business and trade associations
* Advisory boards
By tapping into the collective knowledge, skills, resources, and support within your stakeholder network, you can innovate your offerings. Consider a specialty clothing designer who partnered with an online distributor to create a global business. Even competitors can find mutually beneficial collaborations. Growth opportunities abound when you actively seek them out.
While large corporations rely on organizational charts to define departments and employee roles, you can create your own chart to visualize how external stakeholders fulfill crucial functions. For example, your accountant, attorney, and insurance agent are integral to your ‘executive team.’ Your organization encompasses customers, alliance partners, outsource providers, and subcontractors who collaborate with you to deliver products and services.
Regularly update your organizational chart to reflect evolving goals, customer needs, emerging technologies, and economic shifts. Certain stakeholders may gain importance, while others temporarily recede in significance.
By redefining your organization to encompass these external stakeholders, you unlock new ways to connect with customers, expand your capabilities, and identify opportunities for increased revenue and profitability.
Leading Your Hidden Organization:
Once you’ve identified your hidden organization, the next step is to lead and manage it to achieve your growth objectives. Unexpected problems often stem from underlying assumptions about our organizations based on individual perceptions.
To uncover these assumptions, avoid gridlock, and foster growth, regularly ask yourself these three questions:
1. What is the uniqueness of each stakeholder? Avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. Understanding the unique values and practices of each stakeholder fosters stronger relationships and avoids persistent problems.
2. Are my stakeholders capable of doing what I want? External stakeholders have priorities beyond your own. Consistent communication minimizes surprises and allows for contingency planning. It also reveals opportunities for mutual growth.
3. Are my stakeholders willing to do what I want? External stakeholders may not share your objectives or urgency. Understanding their perspectives and needs promotes conflict resolution, improves decision-making, and facilitates win-win solutions.
To overcome organizational challenges and achieve high performance, understand your stakeholders’ issues and their potential impact on your business. Seek their input regularly to address challenges from a shared reality, not individual assumptions.
The Power of Collaboration:
Many entrepreneurs, especially solopreneurs, underestimate the power of collaborating with external stakeholders to fuel business growth.
Recognize that you are the architect of your organization. Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or a mega-corporation, the same organizational principles apply. Even the smallest businesses have hidden organizations waiting to be unlocked.
Harnessing the power of your hidden organization reveals untapped opportunities, prevents organizational gridlock, and propels you toward unprecedented success.