When we consult our clients for their cashflows to break 10-figure upwards yearly revenue, it is often a debate where they ask — “What truly running an organisation involves?”

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There are two ways to approach this question:

Way 1: A profitable company

If you are primarily aiming to build prosperity by delivering high-competence, high-performance and strategically driven organisation, then your organisation performance architecture (OPA) should involve Governance; Leadership; Management; and Administration.

Way 2: A purposeful & profitable company

If you are primarily aiming to build a purpose-delivering (not only purpose-conscious), abundance-led, long-term organisation by being customer-centric, stakeholder engaging, and highly profitable, then your organisation purpose, prosperity, & performance architecture (O3PA) should involve Stewardship; Governance; Leadership; Management; and Administration.

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Since this is an article and not a multiyear consulting engagement for building such an organisation, I will still simplify each term stated above for its absolute, distinctive, distinguished, and discrete boundaries. Please find them enlisted below:

Please note that each of these terms below holds the merit of a minimum of one thousand hours of formal education and years of practitioner-level knowledge, wisdom, and skills. Hence, I am giving you something that is the absolute jargon-free, distinguished, discrete and distinctively clear description of what these terms really must DO & ACT to bring in real-world success.

The descriptions are as below:

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Governance.

Governance delivers 2 critical aspects:

(1) Balance

A system of governance baselined on company law and by-laws and constitutional bedrock creates a vital balance of actions that strengthen institutional identity and bring expected business results or outcomes.

A well-designed governance system takes care of blind spots, such as never underestimating a ‘real’ strategic risk and never failing to see a ‘real’ strategic opportunity.

This gives organisations an all-encompassing stakeholder-centric growth, helping the business deliver its long-term purpose, ever-growing fortune, and socio-ecological impact.

(2) Ultimate Decision Responsibility

The balance above comes when the importance of accepting responsibility is imbued in governance. The adherence and alignment to the governance baseline deliver top-quality decisions continuously.

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Leadership.

Leadership delivers 3 critical aspects:

(1) Vision

Another overly used term but hardly one in a million understands and gives due care to create it in a structured way.

(2) Communication

Please don’t be fooled by this overly used term and least understood in its ability to make organisations move mountains with radical speeds and precision to direction integrity.

(3) Energising

The energy of mass is ground-shaking when leaders learn to energise their mass effect, and most importantly, continuously via leadership system design.

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Management.

Management delivers 2 critical aspects:

(1) Efficiency

Primary of all, the management systems of an “organisation with purpose, prosperity & performance (3P) architectures” embed energy efficiency as a broader concern in its core design.

An efficient management design measures, monitor & controls every pulse of workforce engagement and productivity and align the energy of all to deliver results – continually.

(2) Results

Management is responsible to the ultimately accountable steward. The results are created with a concerted and continuous set of actions. Organisations with 3P architecture believe that results are already decided with management’s ability to plan per the leader’s vision, build a culture of execution, and manage risks in a structured way.

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Administration.

Administration delivers 2 critical aspects:

(1) Rules

The organisation with 3P architecture understands and hence builds a rule-based enterprise. Rules are critical not to have too many leader or steward-focused companies, which will only bring perils of slow growth and eventually death.

Rules running down from policies set by core constitutional or similar guidance systems only give the advantage of running a company in an institutional sense for an institutional advantage.

Having the right organisation design gets benefits from a well-concerned and empowered administration.

(2) Procedures

Procedures in Organisation 3P architecture are designed to hold water for top-level, mid-level and low-level policies to be implemented with controls and records management.

Procedures, an evident sign of solid administration, helps management and workforce in operations to focus on their tasks and productivity while leadership and governance, keep their devotional focus on what truly matters for the future of the company and its development necessary to deliver and achieve the same!

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Stewardship.

Stewardship is about worrying about the following 3 aspects and championing it:

(1) Leading with impact

Stewards are abundance-focused and stratosphere thinkers who act on the ground flawlessly. They enable, equip and embolden their people to deliver the company or enterprise strategy as a whole.

(2) Safeguarding the future

They have the ability to sacrifice in short run for the long term good.

(3) Driving the social good

They understand connection between broad dots. Usually not easy for many to see let aside connect. And they seriously hold concern for the good at large. They are the legacy builders hence who bothers for good must pass on and grow. Simple.

Stewardship can also be seen as chief architects with leadership to move mass, make sacrifices for long term good and leave world a better place while their stewardship in form of outclassed institutions thrives.

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Thus, the answer to what really is required to run a company is embedded in the core intent of the steward. They could wish for either Way 1 or Way 2 above. Both will define their own fortunes and destiny.

No way is wrong or right. It is just the steward’s cry!