IN THE LONG RUN STEPHANIE

MANN TAKES THE BIRD’S EYE VIEW ON THE PATH AHEAD

a coherent framework, ensure that we continue to focus on realizing the long-term strategy, and communicate that to the organization. Everything an organization does is a choice to not do something else. By illuminating those choices, we can all be more intentional about our near-term and long-term objectives.” investments and partnerships. She oversees the bank’s embedded banking business, Live Oak Private Wealth, and Live Oak Ventures, with eleven portfolio companies.

What are some pitfalls leaders can make in this area?

She is used to looking out at the horizon, both in her role in Wilmington and through her twenty-plus years of experience advising companies on capital structure and growth strategies.

“In my role, I can leverage my experience advising companies on transformational transactions and still have the benefit of opportunities to learn and grow,” Mann says.

She previously served as a managing director of investment banking at Citi, where she advised Fortune 500 technology companies and worked on more than $125 billion in M&A transactions.

Mann, a speaker about strategic thinking at WILMA’s Women to Watch Leadership Institute, shares how to get yourself out of the day-to-day grind and look at the big picture. How do you think organizations can encourage a culture of strategic thinking? How do you as a leader promote it?

“Strategic thinking is a discipline of self-improvement, and we are all capable of participating in it. Organizations need to set aside time to think through their market, their customers, and their own strengths and weaknesses.

My job is to consolidate that thinking into

“First, critical to a successful strategy is a clear vision, mission, and set of values.

We start every strategy conversation by grounding ourselves in our (Live Oak’s) goal to be America’s Small Business Bank, to treat every customer like the only customer, and to take care of our employees. Anything that doesn’t align with this is a distraction.

Second, strategic planning has to be collaborative. It is the ‘How’ of a company’s vision and mission and fundamentally requires the full support and shared commitment of the leadership team.

Lastly, don’t worry about precision. The future is uncertain, and the strategic plan serves to align the company directionally.

President Eisenhower once said, ‘In pre paring for battle, I have always found plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.’”

What about personally? What have you learned or practice now to ap ply strategic planning in your own outlook?

“Both for Live Oak and for myself, back is an important part of strategic planning.

What are we/I doing well, what could be done better, what can I learn from what others are doing?

On a personal level, I seek feedback from my team, my colleagues, and my family, and I set annual goals for myself. I don’t want you to think I have it all together though. I don’t.

I have an amazing village that works with me, and some things just don’t get done. Give yourself some grace.” W

Be informed: Talk to your customers, your colleagues who work with your customers, and your competitors regularly. Be reflective: Look back on what happened, what you did well, and where you want to be better.

Be aspirational: Set bold goals and use them to drive near-term plans

Be data-driven: Measure the opportunity and your progress. Accountability matters.

Be disciplined: Know what you aren’t going to do. A good strategy acknowledges trade-offs. Place your bets and be ready

Asked who else we should know locally, Mann points to Katrina Knight, executive director of the Good Shepherd Center “She is tackling one of the hardest problems we are facing today, with determination, creative thinking, and ambition,” Mann says. “Check out the work she is doing with Home for Good.”

INa time where most hard skills can be taught in an online Udemy or Coursera course or even via a Youtube playlist, companies are looking towards acquiring talent with soft skills and cultivating those skills in their current employees. One of the most important of those skills is agility. Agility is the ability to move, think, and understand quickly. Being agile and nimble requires balance, coordination, speed, and endurance.

Horses are agile creatures. We observe their ability to navigate rough terrain, seek water in a drought and pick over grasses that do not taste the best and this is an innate part of their being. Looking closer at the components of agility, we can see what horses have to teach us about ways we can change our companies and organizations:

Balance

Horses demonstrate balance by being in the present. It does not benefit them to harp on the past or have their eyes set too far into the future. In order to navigate their uncertain environments, the lead mare has mastered the ability to set direction and adjust this direction based on the information provided by her herd. When thinking critically about balance in your team, ask “What are we noticing within ourselves, our team, and our environment? What course corrections to our direction need to be made?”

Coordination

Coordination requires constant communication that is open to feedback and acknowledgment of what your team is noticing or concerned about. Horses are able to move together in large herds by having constant communication about what is present, whose strengths are needed, and who needs to be protected– they don’t wait to attend 3-day retreats to have these discussions. Ask, “Who needs to be involved in our collective, coordinated movement?”

Speed

We have an analogy at TeachingHorse that says “When horses in California see smoke, what is it likely? – A wildfire.

When horses in North Carolina see smoke, what is it likely? – A barbecue.” The speed and discernment with which you approach problems in your organization indicate your ability to be agile in the marketplace.

In the Diamond Model of Shared Leadership, we share how energy affects the herd and is often influenced by the role of the lead stallion. The lead stallion has the most perspective, protects the herd from threats, and sets the pace of the herd.

Endurance

In cultures of shared leadership, endurance is achieved through constant communication about capacity and rest. Horses value rest and energy conservation because that is what is required for navigating uncertainty long-term. How well-equipped is your organization to endure uncertainty? This is an opportunity to discuss with your team, “How can we develop supportive infrastructure that sets an appropriate pace for long-term growth/innovation/ advancement?”

TeachingHorse is having these same conversations. Our agility is in the form of productizing, researching our clients’ industries, and cultivating our current herd. We are expanding our core inperson experiences to be supported by asynchronous, blended learning and our team of certified facilitators has grown nationwide. From the barn to the boardroom, we are ready to support executive and high-potential leaders in 2023

Sources: www.kornferry.com/insights/ this-week-in-leadership/3-essentialskills-for-2023

Abriana is the Creative Director of TeachingHorse, LLC. She spends her days navigating brand and product development to support today's leaders via equine experiential leadership development.