One tenet at a time… Reach the top of your career goals with this HOLISTIC approach! [Wednesdays: “Speak on the Shoulders of Giants”]
Carroll’s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Pyramid.
Social-Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (SEFEL) Pyramid Model.
Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
Do you see the commonality between these three models?
Although tackling different topics, the items listed above operate with a common logic―that in order to reach the top of the pyramid, the foundations or the base must first be well-established and fulfilled.
In the business industry, there’s also a pyramid framework that business leaders use as a guide in making reasonable decisions that will contribute to the achievement of their goals.
The Return Driven Strategy is a business framework that helps leaders better understand, analyze, and employ activities and decisions that produce superior returns and wealth creation.
This framework is further expounded in the book titled, “Driven: Business Strategy, Human Actions, and The Creation of Wealth” by DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business Professor Mark L. Frigo and Valens Research President and CEO Professor Joel Litman.
At Valens Research, we use the Return Driven Strategy as part of the different aspects of our business and operations.
The framework summarizes eleven tenets representing eleven activities that lead to wealth creation (at the top of the pyramid). On the base of the pyramid are three foundations, all of which are applicable to every tenet in the framework.
One primary benefit that the Return Driven Strategy offers its users is better resource allocation. Aside from that, it assists a firm’s leadership team in choosing actions that are most suitable in achieving the firm’s goals.
TENET ONE
Ethically Maximize Wealth
In order to achieve this tenet, business leaders must first be able to define “wealth” explicitly. Afterwards, all activities in the firm should be aligned towards achieving that goal.
It is important that the pursuit of this goal falls within the ethical parameters of the communities in which the business operates. Failure to do so will destroy everything that the leaders hope to achieve.
TENETS TWO AND THREE
Fulfill Otherwise Unmet Customer Needs
Target Appropriate Customer Groups
The Return Driven Strategy framework implies that in order to achieve high performance and ethical wealth creation for a firm, customer needs and demands should be fulfilled.
Return-driven businesses target customer groups that support the firm’s wealth-creation goals. This includes understanding the psychological reasons behind every customer’s purchase.
The framework also states that a firm’s achievement of high returns relies on being a dominant provider of products or services to appropriate customer groups.
TENETS FOUR, FIVE, AND SIX
Deliver Offerings
Innovate Offerings
Brand Offerings
These three competencies form the driving force behind the creation of the right product or service offerings for the right customer groups.
A balance of these offerings depends on the definitions that business leaders provide in the higher tenets.
TENETS SEVEN TO ELEVEN
Partner Deliberately
Map and Redesign Processes
Engage Employees and Others
Balance Focus and Options
Communicate Holistically
These tenets represent the five specific types of activities that high-performance firms display to enhance their abilities to reach the higher tenets.
THREE FOUNDATIONS OF THE RETURN DRIVEN STRATEGY
Genuine Assets
These are the things that create competitive advantages and sustain a firm’s high performance.
These assets are unique, tangible or intangible, and difficult or impossible to copy. Examples are a firm’s patent portfolios, exclusive customer relationships, proprietary customer information, and key geographic locations.
Vigilance to Forces of Change
Businesses regularly encounter dynamic threats and opportunities such as governmental and regulatory change, demographic and cultural shifts, as well as scientific and technological breakthroughs.
This foundation compels business leaders to adjust their pursuit of each tenet accordingly with each change. To succeed in this aspect, business activities must also be regularly re-evaluated for the firm.
Disciplined Performance Measurement and Valuation
According to Professor Frigo and Professor Litman’s book, this foundation is the bedrock of all successful business planning, analysis, and performance. Inability to understand what drives valuations will cause business leaders to make the wrong decisions and actions.
Now, you might be wondering, “Where does communication or public speaking fall into this framework?”
Here is an answer: Communication is applicable to the Return Driven Strategy AS A WHOLE.
If you look closely at the Return Driven Strategy framework, “Communicate Holistically” is part of the lower tenets. It means that in order to reach the higher tenets, good communication skills are necessary.
As mentioned by Professor Litman in his Speak on the Shoulders of Giants presentation, communication is a key piece of ethically maximizing a firm’s wealth.
If you’re in the business industry, mastering the art of public speaking, or communication in general, can open doors of opportunities for you and your business.
The better you can communicate…
… the better you can organize and improve your brand.
… the better your employees and business partners will innovate with you.
… the better you’ll be able to deliver on the offerings (tenets four, five, and six).
… the better you’ll understand customer needs.
Lastly, the better you can communicate, the closer you’ll be towards reaching the highest tenet―maximizing wealth ethically.
Don’t underestimate the power of holistic communication! It will not just help you get by in life, but it can also contribute to the achievement of your career goals and organizational goals.
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Wednesday: Speak on the Shoulders of Giants”
In a meeting with one person
…a boardroom with five people
…or a huge venue with hundreds of people
—whatever the situation or setting, it’s very important to learn and eventually master the art of public speaking.
No matter what, you always need to effectively get your message across.
What good is a presentation with awesome content if you don’t deliver it properly?
Every Wednesday, we publish different tips, insights, and secrets on how you can improve your presentation skills to captivate your audience and lead interesting discussions.
The need for great presentation skills applies EVERYWHERE.
(Small meetings with your team, big meetings with your boss, an important marketing pitch, speaking engagements for events with a big audience, etc.)
Learning these skills is not just for the corporate world. Being in other industries such as the Arts, Information Technology, Medicine, and Education while knowing how to present well will definitely give you an edge.
Have that advantage.
Hope you’ve found this week’s public speaking tip interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Wednesday’s Speak on the Shoulders of Giants!
Cheers,
Kyle Yu
Head of Marketing
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
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www.valens-research.com
