A small rural healthcare system sees a significant opportunity to improve its its strategy map. Expertly design their strategy map is a simple one-page document illustrating their strategy for growth. It is posted proudly in their various “visibility walls” that provide staff, patients, and visitors graphical displays of leadership, performance, and strategy. Structured in a classical Balanced Scorecard (BSC) methodology it identifies Aspiring Cultural of Greatness, as the central theme of leadership (learning and growth perspective). Where many organizations are content to leave it at that, this rural hospital took their BSC to the strategic horizons. They determined that a leadership system needed to be designed that would in fact – create a culture where all staff aspired to be great – individually and organizationally.

Nearly a year in the making, it follows the structure of classical systems theory. It has 1) a central focus (empowerment), 2) critical elements leaders control; 3) routines & activities for leaders to follow, a clear system for deploying the system; and 4) three mission critical performance objectives. They will be able to measure the performance of both their leadership system and individual leaders with non-financial measures of performance. They will actually be able to measure how well individual leaders are doing empowering their staff!

What is so impressive, is that this focuses individual leaders on executing the requirement of the leadership system rather than gaining followers. In this organization, there is little room for the dynamic charismatic leader following a model of personal power and control. The entire leadership system is mapped to a growth strategy that will execute on the mission and vision. Furthermore, it will deliver mission and vision with an approach consistent with their values.