Strategy Execution (A Competitive Differentiator)

A well-formulated business strategy, powerful product or breakthrough innovation can put an organization on the competitive map, but only sustained strategy execution can assure long-term success.

However, navigating from strategy development to execution is one of the biggest challenges for today’s leading CEOs and few are successful. An Economist survey found that a discouraging 57 percent of firms failed to efficiently execute strategic initiatives over the past three years.

A brilliant strategy, blockbuster product, or breakthrough technology can put you on the competitive map, but only solid execution can keep you there. Strategy execution is not the result of a solitary employee decision or action, but the consequence of a series of coordinated, enterprise-wide decisions and actions occurring over time.

It is comprehensive and must bring the people in the organization along for the ride. Execution may start at the top of the organization but must cascade down to be successful. Traditional approaches to execution typically involve one-way information flows from senior leaders to lower levels in the organization: town hall meetings, blogs, PowerPoint presentations, or off-site events.

However, these events fail to drive the necessary organizational alignment, mindset and capabilities needed to achieve effective execution and business results.

Not surprisingly, a five-year Harvard Business Review study, involving 125,000 executives representing more than 1,000 companies from 50 countries, found that employees at three out of every five companies considered their organization weak at execution.

Without significant organization involvement, a strategy that sounded good in principle begins to dissipate and move in 1,001 different directions. Even the most promising business strategies can be unsuccessful.

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand the Critical Components for Superior Strategy Execution
• Determine Execution Readiness:  A diagnostic tool determines execution readiness at multiple levels of the organization and indicates gaps and opportunities.
• Defining Strategic Alignment – Employees need to clearly understand their company’s strategic direction and priorities.
• Changing Mindset – Successful execution requires collaboration and commitment. To accelerate execution, individuals need to be engaged and passionate about the strategy.
• Connecting the strategy to personal success is critical.
• Defining Capability – Companies that excel in execution invest heavily in building the skills and capabilities necessary for execution. These include but are not limited to business acumen, leadership, sales and project management.
• Mapping the Execution Journey: Create the Execution Acceleration Process for high-impact Results