Understand Your Ecosystem to Drive Sustained Results
April 18, 2012
In the broadest sense, organizations are living entities – whether the ‘organization’ is a business enterprise, a family, or a community – the common structure is that of an ecosystem. Keeping the ecosystem alive and healthy – thriving, actually – is essential to creating and preserving success. That means managing challenges and optimizing opportunities while artfully keeping the elements of the ecosystem in balance. Without a conscious approach, both tactical and strategic, to managing the enterprise as an ecosystem, maintaining organizational health and delivering long-term, everlasting results is greatly at risk (if not simply unachievable).
A client’s recent inquiry as to the name “Sustainable Leadership” inspired me to open this dialogue about what sustainable leadership truly means. What do organizations and ecosystems have in common?
An ecosystem is a complex set of relationships among the living resources, habitats, and residents of an area. Translation for business: Clients and employees; countries and markets; communities where you operate and live.
Ecosystems vary greatly in size and the elements that make them up, yet each is a functioning unit of nature. Hint: Regardless of industry, stage in the business life cycle, entrepreneur or corporate entity, the organization is a functioning unit made of several parts (R&D, business development, marketing, leaders, Boards, staff, etc.).
Everything that lives in an ecosystem is dependent on the other species and elements that are also part of that ecological community. At the core: The relationships within and surrounding the organization are interrelated and rely on human capital. Employees seek leaders; leaders seek engaged followers; clients seek products & services; business development and domain experts create solutions; shareholders demand results and enterprises strive to deliver them.
If one part of an ecosystem is damaged or disappears, it has an impact on everything else. Warning: The inter-dependencies in the ecosystem are what keep it alive over the long-term. Sub-optimizing any one element in the ecosystem without foresight and integration with the rest jeopardizes overall health.
When an ecosystem is healthy, scientists say it is sustainable. This means that all the elements live in balance and are capable of reproducing themselves. Sustainable leadership: leveraging human capital assets to produce value in such a way that the production of value is continued, is sustained.
- To what extent are you engaging and leveraging the ‘brain trust’ of your organization?
- How effective is your leadership style in influencing and leveraging those around you?
- As an investor, how comfortable are you that human capital is being leveraged to meet if not beat payout targets?
Here, in this blog, (bookmark it!) and in our newsletter you’ll find information, practical tips and resources to broaden perspectives and help you enhance your (or your organization’s) “Sustainability Factor”.
Thanks for joining the dialogue, and stay tuned!
*The definition of ‘ecosystem’ partly credited to the Michigan Tech University Kidscorner.
