Leadership Without the Discipline of Execution is Incomplete and Ineffective
Leadership without the discipline of execution is incomplete and ineffective
Even a cursory scan of Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan’s book, “Execution” reveals an intense focus on the importance of leadership in executing strategy.
We have been fortunate to have worked across a broad range of industries and in a number of different countries. If we evaluated our own performance in helping our clients build an execution discipline, we can draw a direct line between our success and the strength of the leadership in the client company.
Execution is not easy. Remember we are talking about discipline and discipline means behavior and as we all know changing behavior is difficult. We were sitting in a Senior Management Team meeting with one of our clients some months ago and after we delivered our presentation the CEO asked the members of the team what they thought.
”Do you have any questions, are there any concerns, do you see any challenges?” he asked. There was a short pause. Then to our surprise before anyone could answer he followed up with, “Because we are doing it anyway!”
Now this particular CEO was not as directive as this statement sounds. In fact he is more collaborative than directive overall, but in this particular case he had drawn a line in the sand. He clearly had decided to act.
Building an execution discipline in a company, department or team is tough but it doesn’t necessarily mean the Leader has to be completely directive (or though it does help). What it does demand is commitment, a commitment to bring a relentless focus on executing strategy. Even if you see yourself on the softer side of management you can still improve execution but you have to be unrelenting and persistent in your efforts to build the discipline.
Surprisingly, once a leader has made that commitment most will be successful. Our experience is that around 10% of Managers are gifted enough to get strategy executed without help. Another 10% will never be able to do it, they just don’t have the right wiring for management in the first place so execution becomes impossible. The remaining 80% can learn quickly with the right guidance. BUT!!!! It is the COMMITMENT that brings the success!
Four Commitments To Business Execution
1. Make sure your people know exactly what is expected. 2. Know precisely how they are progressing. 3. Hold them accountable. 4. Coach them. Help them improve.
