Delivering on Promises

“The gap between promises &results is widespread &clear. The gap nobody knows, is the gap between what a company’s leaders want to achieve and the ability of their organization to achieve it.”
—Larry Bossidy, former CEO, Honeywell & General Electric

from Business Insider.com 30 Aug 13 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz 4/14

The Gap nobody knows is bridged by day-to-day operations. Everything comes from it. It’s where your company lives & breathes–where ideas spring to life in the form of people, processes & teamwork. It is the heart of execution–where strategy succeeds or fails. It’s a space I’ve worked in for over 25 years, and where I help leaders & teams succeed today.

Day-to-day Operations comprise roughly 80% of most organizations – making it one of their largest investments. Yet this asset is often overlooked. Not leveraging its value widens the gap and means your company is leaving money on the table. In today’s economy, where resources are at a premium and you need to organize & expedite at the speed of change, can you afford to do that? So why is it under-valued and under-utilized?

Planning your Strategy. I’ve asked a few leaders this same question, and they all focused on strategy as the one thing that mattered most. In fact, one leader, when asked about day-to-day operations and execution, waved his hand in dismissal and said “that’s management’s problem.”
As dieting is a favorite topic of mine, I asked this leader to compare business strategy and execution with a personal goal of losing weight. You want to lose 20 pounds. You plan on joining a gym, drinking 8 glasses of water a day, controlling food portions & counting calories. That’s your strategy—the direction you wish to take. You can say it a thousand times, promise your doctor or spouse, clip out photos of the ‘dream figure’ and attach it to your refrigerator door.

Executing your Strategy, part 1. Unless you take the necessary steps to incorporate your plan into your everyday routine, nothing happens. No change. Not one pound shed. Your weight remains the same—you don’t move forward and you don’t reach your goal. Promises don’t yield results without day-to-day execution.

[ Executing your Strategy, part 2: Resources, Timetable, Deadline, Support, Motivation, Minimize distractions, Allow for setbacks, Reward yourself in Premium Content ]