As leaders, we often believe that the job is done once we have formulated our strategic plan or updated our targets. This is not true at all. The real work starts when leaders transform into evangelists for their strategic intent and repeatedly and consistently explain it.
In fact, communication is not enough: what matters is UNDERSTANDING, i.e. making sure that all employees embrace the strategy. If they do not agree with it, the leadership should strive to have employees “disagree and commit”, an approach consistently applied by Jeff Bezos at Amazon.
“True North” must be communicated up and down the organization. Otherwise, watch out for goals, strategies, or current initiatives that operate south of the equator!
It is essential that any work your company does in this area involves first defining your actions by clarifying the long-term Mission, Vision and Strategic Intent of your business.
In our next blog, we will consider how critical leadership is to execution.
How well is your business executing? To find out, please reach out and we can initiate an assessment of your execution capabilities.