Strategies most often fail because they aren't executed well.
The leaders who executes assembles an architecture of execution. He puts in place a culture and processes for executing, promoting people who get things done more quickly and giving them greater rewards. His personal involvement in that architecture is to assign the tasks and them follow up. This means making sure that people understand the priorities. which are based on his comprehensive understanding of the business, and asking incisive questions. The leader who executes often dos not even have to tell people what to do; she asks questions so they can figure out what they need to do. In this way she coaches them. passing on her experience as a leader and educating them to think in ways they never thought before. Far from stifling peoplel this kind of leadership helps them expand their own capabilites for leading.
The walking around is useful and important but only if the leader doing the walking knows hwat to say and what to listen for.
Organisations do not execute unless the right people, individually and collectively, foucs on the right details at the right time.
BUILDING BLOCK 1
The Leader's Seven Essential Behaviors
The leaders who executes assembles an architecture of execution. He puts in place a culture and processes for executing, promoting people who get things done more quickly and giving them greater rewards. His personal involvement in that architecture is to assign the tasks and them follow up. This means making sure that people understand the priorities. which are based on his comprehensive understanding of the business, and asking incisive questions. The leader who executes often dos not even have to tell people what to do; she asks questions so they can figure out what they need to do. In this way she coaches them. passing on her experience as a leader and educating them to think in ways they never thought before. Far from stifling peoplel this kind of leadership helps them expand their own capabilites for leading.
The walking around is useful and important but only if the leader doing the walking knows hwat to say and what to listen for.
Organisations do not execute unless the right people, individually and collectively, foucs on the right details at the right time.
BUILDING BLOCK 1
The Leader's Seven Essential Behaviors
- Know your people and your business
- Insist on realism
- Set clear goals and priorities
- Follow through
- Reward the doers
- Expand people's capabilities
- Know yourself
BUILDING BLOCK 2
Creating the framework of cultural change
Your aim is to ask questions that bring out the realities and give people the help they need to correct problems.
We don't think ourselves into a new way of acting. we act ourselves into a new way of thinking.
An organisations culture is the sum of its shared values, beliefs and norms of behaviors. Values may need to be reinforced, they rarely need changing.
The beliefs that influence specific behaviors are more likely to need changing. The beliefs are conditioned by training, experience, what people hear inside or outside about the company's prospects, and perceptions about what leaders are doing and saying. People change them only when new evidence new evidence shows them persuasively that they;re false.
Linking rewards to performance.
The foundation of changing behavior is linking rewards to performance and making the linkages transparent. A business's culture defines what gets appreciated and respected and ultimately rewarded. If a company rewards and promotes people for execution, its culture will change.
The importanc eof robust dialogue
You cannot have an execution culture without dialogue - one that brings reality to the surface through openness, candor, and informality. Robust dialogue makes an organisation effective in gathering information, understanding information and reshaping it to produce decision.
When people speak candidly, they express their real opinions not those that will please the power players or maintain harmony. Indeed, harmony - sought by many leaders who wish to offend no one - can be the enemy of truth.
Leaders get behavior they exhibit and tolerate
The culture of company is behavior of its leaders. Leaders get the behavior they exhibit and tolerate. You change the culture of a company by changing the behavior of its leaders. You measure the change in the culture by measuring the change in the personal behavior of its leaders and the performance of the business.
BUILDING BLOCK THREE:
The job no leader should delegatge - having the right peopole in the right place.
Follwing through ensures that people are doing the things they committed to do, according to the agreed timetable.
THE THREE CORE PROCESSES OF EXECUTION
People process: Making the link with strategy and operations
A robust peoples process does three things.
- It evaluates individuals accurately and in depth.
- It provides a framework for identifying and developing the leadership talent - at all levels and of all kinds - the organisation will need to execute its strategies down the road and
- it fills the leadership pipeline that's the basis of a strong succession plan.
One of the biggest shortcomings of the traditional people process is that it'sbackward looking. focused on evaluation the jobs people are doing today. Far more important is whether the individuals can handle the jobs of tomorrow.
The basic goal of any strategy is simple enough: to win the customer's preference and create a sustainable competitive advantage. while leaving sufficient money on the table for the shareholders. It defines a business's direct an positions it to move in that direction
If a strategy does not address the hows. it is candidate for failure.
A strong strategic plan must address the following questions:
- What is the assessment of the external environment?
- How well do you understand the existing customers and markets?
- What is the best way to grow the business profitably and what are the obstacle to growth?
- Who is the competition ?
- Can the business excute the strategy?
- Are the short term and long term balanced?
- What are the important milestones for executing the plan?
- What are the critical issues facing the business?
- How will the business make money on sustainable basis?
