Many entrepreneurs struggle to achieve exponential growth, while others thrive. The key to their success often lies in understanding and leveraging their “hidden” organization. Even small businesses, including solo ventures, possess a hidden organization, and recognizing and leading it effectively is crucial for achieving desired results.
While large corporations have formal organizational structures, businesses of all sizes also rely on external stakeholders. These include independent consultants, suppliers, outsourced service providers, alliance partners, and customers. Recognizing the critical role these external stakeholders play is essential for high performance.
Just as your business is part of your customers’ external network, you also have your own hidden organization comprised of external stakeholders. By identifying and leveraging these relationships, you can navigate economic uncertainties, minimize problems, and propel your business forward.
Identifying your hidden organization can be challenging, as the impact of some relationships is easily overlooked. An external stakeholder is any person, group, or organization with a vested interest in your business’s success. This includes:
* Customers
* Suppliers
* Outsource providers (e.g., payroll services, virtual assistants)
* Advisors (e.g., attorneys, accountants, bankers, business coaches, consultants)
* Alliance partners
* Subcontractors
* Competitors
* Business and trade associations
* Advisory boards
By tapping into the knowledge, skills, and resources within your hidden organization, you can discover new ways to offer products and services. A clothing designer, for example, partnered with an online distributor to expand her business globally. Even competitors can find mutually beneficial collaborations. Growth opportunities exist if you seek them out.
While large companies use organizational charts, you can create your own to map out the roles of external stakeholders. Your accountant, attorney, and insurance agent, for example, are essential members of your executive team. Your organization also encompasses customers, alliance partners, outsource providers, and subcontractors involved in delivering your products and services.
Regularly update your organization chart to reflect changing priorities, customer needs, technological advancements, and economic shifts. Some stakeholders will become more important, while others may play a less prominent role over time.
Realigning your vision of your organization to include external stakeholders enables you to discover new ways to reach customers, expand your capabilities, and unlock increased revenue and profitability.
Leading and Managing Your Hidden Organization
Once you’ve identified your hidden organization, the challenge is to lead and manage it to achieve your growth objectives.
Unexpected problems often stem from mistaken assumptions about our organizations. To avoid these pitfalls, ask yourself these questions regularly:
* What makes each stakeholder unique? Avoid applying a one-size-fits-all approach. Understanding their values and practices is crucial for successful relationships.
* Are my stakeholders capable of fulfilling my expectations? Consistent communication is essential, as external stakeholders have other priorities. This minimizes surprises and allows for contingency planning and the identification of new opportunities.
* Are my stakeholders willing to do what I want? Understand their needs and how they perceive your objectives to prevent conflicts, improve decision-making, and find mutually beneficial solutions.
To overcome challenges and achieve high performance, understand your stakeholders’ issues and their potential impact on your business. Regularly seek their perspectives to address challenges from a position of organizational reality, not individual assumption.
Unlocking the Power of Your Hidden Organization
Many entrepreneurs, particularly those accustomed to working independently, overlook the potential of collaborating with external stakeholders.
By recognizing yourself as the architect of your organization, you can apply the same organizational principles to businesses of all sizes. Even the smallest businesses have hidden organizations waiting to be harnessed.
Leveraging the power of your hidden organization can help you uncover untapped opportunities, overcome obstacles, and achieve new levels of success.