The Second Executive Imperative of the Effective Executive - Execution

Continuing with the Third Part from the four-part-Series written by Ron Wilder:

What does an effective executive do? In my experience, effectiveness as an executive comes down to doing three things well: building the right business model, executing it, and rapidly leading learning to close the gap when the business model or execution is not where it needs to be. In this third article of a four part series, I'll outline the necessity of focusing on effective execution.

Wilbur Ross, the billionaire who invests in struggling companies and turns them around, once said "I'd rather back a mediocre idea that was brilliantly executed than a brilliant idea that was poorly executed."

While many of us would love to have a brilliant idea and business model (such as Google's), we'd be happy to just get decent execution. Consider this recent study:

• Execution is the number one concern of CEOs. This number one concern is linked to their second, third, and fourth concerns: top-line growth, effective execution, and bottom line growth. Number five is finding and retaining qualified managerial talent (presumably to deliver on items one through four). (Source: Conference Board Survey, 2007)

Unfortunately, instead of complaining about execution, executives need to look in the mirror. Consider these findings:

• In over half of organizations, employees do not understand the strategy of the company and senior management does not do an effective job of communicating the strategy. (Source: International Association of Business Communicators/Right Management Study)
• The number one factor determining employee productivity and execution is the degree to which they understand the connection of their role to the strategy of the company. (Corporate Executive Board)

So let's put this all together:

• If execution is the most important concern of CEOs, ...
• And the most important factor determining employee execution is making a connection between the strategy and their role, ...
• And senior management does a poor job of communicating the strategy...
• Then who is ultimately responsible?

Often times, the senior leaders will complain that employees just don't get it. But if your employees consistently do not get what you are communicating about the strategy of the company, perhaps it is time to consider a new approach.

Execution is really about behavior.

As leaders and managers, we often refer to behavior in the workplace as the touchy-feely soft skills that helps create a positive work environment. Managers are sent to training courses to address negative behavior uncovered during 360-degree reviews. Behavior is often narrowly viewed in terms of interpersonal skills.

Yet in terms of our business model and execution, behavior covers all of the decisions and actions that our people do every day, and the manner in which they do them. The sum total of these local behaviors determines the global performance of the company and its success in execution.

These realities lead me to the second imperative of the effective executive:

As the leader of the business, your second imperative is to focus on effective execution -- you must make sure that the local behavior of all people in your organization is aligned to achieve global results.