Lions rugby This was one of the important factors that Kevin de Klerk, ex-Springbok lock, had to consider when he accepted the position as CEO of the Golden Lions in July 2009 in order to turn the Union around. De Klerk realised very quickly that he had to leverage his strengths to achieve and succeed in the structure he had to implement at Golden Lions. People have criticised The ‘Kevin de Klerk’ appointment, but the reality is that criticism is common along the road to success, and as is almost always the case, just simply meaningless. To be successful one has to handle the feelings of rejection and the road ahead will become a clear path to travel. Successful people use criticism as leverage to excel, organise better structures, build better relationships, better motivate the players before a crucial game and understand when to get up when a big game was lost. It was important for de Klerk to restructure the Golden Lions by firstly getting the organisation into proper shape through good benchmarking and establishing which business model was going to be applicable for the success of the Union ahead. He had to get the Lions to move away from a ‘Low Performance Benchmarking’ to a ‘High Performance Benchmarking’ scenario. Then he had to recruit and get the right administrators on board, while at the same time overseeing a talent search for players who would fit in with the culture and future vision of the Lions.
The most important aspect was the leadership development culture, and then to put a succession planning process in place. With his team, de Klerk had to empower players, his support team, doctors, physios and everyone involved to ensure a successful outcome for the Union. How do you go about analysing how well your organisation is positioned to achieve its intended objective? McKinsey 7S While some business models of organisational effectiveness go in and out of fashion, one that has persisted is the McKinsey 7S framework. It primarily defines the importance of strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff and skills, in order to identify if they are effectively aligned and allow an organisation to achieve its objectives. Developed in the early 1980s by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, two consultants working at the McKinsey & Company consulting firm, the basic premise of their business model is seven internal aspects of an organisation that need to be aligned if it is to be successful. The 7S model can be used in a wide variety of situations where an alignment perspective is useful, such as: 1. Improve the performance of a company. 2. Examine the likely effects of future changes within a company. 3. Align departments and processes during a merger or acquisition.
Implementing structure De Klerk approached the implementation from a structure point-of-view, thereby ensuring a solid fundamental necessary in the Golden Lions structure for the turnaround to be successful. Structure is defined by three questions: 1. How is the company/team/ organisation divided? 2. What is the hierarchy? 3. How do the various departments coordinate activities? The McKinsey 7Ss business model is one that can be applied to almost any organisational or team effectiveness issue. If something within an organisation or team isn't working, chances are there is inconsistency between some of the elements identified by this classic business model. Once these inconsistencies are revealed, it can work to align the internal elements to make sure they are all contributing to the shared goals and values? The process of analysing where the organisation is right now in terms of these elements is worthwhile in and of itself. But by taking this analysis to the next level and determining the ultimate state for each of the factors, you can really move your organisation and the team forward. Then it actually becomes truly worthwhile to get out of bed early.
Ross van Reenen is an academic, writer and businessman. He graduated his MBA degree with distinction and received an Honorary Doctorate from the California State University in Finance & International Business Administration.
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