Focused Execution: The Mandate of Leaders 

“Without a strategy, execution is aimless. Without execution, strategy is useless.”

— Morris Chang

A leader who can’t execute their strategic plans well and reliably is in deep trouble. You may have many other strong leadership skills–you build loyal teams and are a clear communicator with strong executive presence. But if you can’t deliver results, none of it will matter.  

The primary purpose of leadership is to get results. You can be a brilliant strategist, but strategy only matters if it translates into measurable action that moves the organization forward. If you don’t assess progress and know which actions are getting results, you can’t make the right go-forward decisions.

Your strategy plan needs to be well-executed and contribute meaningfully to your organization’s goals for you to be judged a successful leader. If execution is subpar, your organization falls behind the competition, and fingers of blame start pointing your way. 

Why Leaders Usually Fail at Execution

Executing well over time is challenging. A burst of achievement, yes, but sustaining great performance over time is a rarefied realm only a few reach. In one study of over 1,800 large corporations from 1988-98, seven out of eight failed to achieve profitable growth.

Why is this such a difficult leadership skill? The gap between strategy and execution is often wide. Many organizations write down big strategy goals and then keep doing the same things they always have. The results they are looking for don’t happen. Soon, their competitors are leaving them behind. Often, the next thing that happens is that the leader of that initiative has been axed.

If you can’t break lofty goals down into measurable actions, you can’t lead a well-executed initiative. If you don’t review results and derive actionable lessons from the data, you won’t know if you’re progressing toward your goal and can’t see how to improve execution. And constant improvement is what brings focus to execution and allows organizations to excel.

What is Successful Focused Execution?

Execution is the process of implementing a strategy to reach organizational goals. It’s the point where you go beyond cool-sounding strategic ideas and devise the structures, systems, and operational goals that lead to successful execution.

Focused execution cuts to the core of what’s needed most to achieve goals. Waste and less-impactful activities are minimized so more resources can be devoted to the key actions that are getting the best results.

Stand Out With Focused Execution

How can you build stronger execution skills? Focus on the benefits to prioritize the most important projects and actions. Ask yourself and your team:

• Are all these initiatives doable with existing resources? If not, what should wait?

• How does each project serve the objectives in our performance model? 

• What will be better if this initiative succeeds–will costs be reduced, customers gained?

• Do we have objectives with no assigned projects? If so, what project is needed?

Few leaders are great at executing on their strategy. In fact, one study found only 8% of leaders succeed at both creating effective strategy and focused execution. That means the opportunity to stand out if you master focused execution is huge. 

Focused Execution At Every Level

If you’re responsible for fulfilling the strategic plan with even a small team, you need to execute well and consistently. If you can’t turn strategy into action, you have a problem.

Even individual employees can demonstrate focused execute tasks efficientlytion–and if you want to move up, you should. You can efficiently execute your assigned tasks without getting distracted by less important work, showing managers you know how to focus on what matters.

CHEAT SHEET: 4 Ways to Keep Your Execution On Track

Could your plan’s execution use improvement? Use these four steps to keep your focus sharp:

1. Model performance–Create a visual map of key objectives and desired performance levels, noting how they create value for customers. 

2. Manage projects–List all current projects–then, cut any that don’t align with your strategy.

3. Measure progress–Constantly measure progress towards milestones and total project completion.

4. Make decisions–Hold review meetings to decide if course correction is needed.

From the book Twelve Skills https://twelveskills.com 

Resources on Focused Execution

• Gartner–5 key pillars of strategy execution by Jackie Wiles

• Harvard Business Review–Four Fatal Flaws of Strategic Planning by Ed Barrows

• Harvard Business Review–4 Ways to Be More Effective at Execution by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman

• American Management Association: What is Strategy Execution? By Ed Barrows

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About Us

Ed Barrows and Laura M. Downing have nearly 60 years’ experience as certified coaches and university professors and work with high-potential leaders in the world’s top organizations. They’ve distilled their knowledge and research into twelve fundamentals leaders need most to advance in their organizations today. Learn more at www.twelveskills.com. 

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