Establish clarity across your people and organisation, align valuable resources behind strategic intent, use the art of laser focus to create unstoppable employee momentum.
But what kind of zebra are we? It might sound like a strange question but if you showed a hundred people a picture of a zebra and asked them what it was...a hundred would say 'a zebra.' Repeat that process in your business. Ask a hundred people who work for you what kind of business you are and I bet you get a hundred different answers. This is the Zebra Reality and without a really clear picture of where you are right now and consistent alignment on what to do next, you are guaranteed to sub-optimize the opportunity, fail to reach your goal, or simply be consigned to swim in an ocean of mediocrity.
Never has it been as important to deliver more for less, to challenge the norm, to drive progress faster and more efficiently. Customers become increasingly demanding, competitors more aggressive, margins tighter, supply bases harder to extract value from, this is the real world and its not going to change. New generation business leaders must be capable of balancing the here and now with the ability to see what the bright future needs to look like, creating a organisation where business alignment and employee engagement are the two driving forces.
The Zebra Reality book is a proven five step programme to achieve your goals, deliver rapid performance improvement, significant value creation and sustainable future success for your business.
Cotter, Richard: - Richard Cotter is currently Chairman and CEO of the Fresh Oxygen Group, a strategy consultancy specialising in driving rapid business performance improvement in consumer facing branded, retail and e-commerce businesses. In addition, he is also Chairman of the ITM Group, a UK based IT Data Analytics Software business, Chairman of Grace Cole, the global beauty and cosmetics brand and Chairman of the Jack Wolfskin Group, a global performance textile brand Prior to joining the Fresh Oxygen Group, Richard was CEO of the Snow&Rock Group. A multi facia retail and ecommerce business focused on the ski, outdoor, cycle and running sectors. He successfully delivered an exit for the private equity arm of Legal & General PLC in 2015. Richard joined SRG in 2013 from the Pentland Group, a $5bn privately owned international brand management company, where for eight years he had been Global Brand President of the Berghaus outdoor brand. In this role he built the company into one of the leading aspirational brands in the global outdoor sector, re-establishing a positioning of true innovator in performance products. Prior to joining the Pentland Group, Richard held a number of CEO positions in consumer facing businesses across the sport, fashion and lifestyle sectors. He is also a serious high altitude mountaineer, having climbed numerous peaks in both the Himalaya and the Alps as well as Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Cotopaxi in South America.
