What Is Leadership Execution?
Question:
Ever heard of the saying: “actions are louder than words?” This simple universal truth applies very well to the process by which organizations achieve results. Take a look at the following equation, which represents how most companies use strategy (words) in combination with execution (actions) to create results.
Strategy + Execution = Results.
Just as the saying goes, ‘Execution’ (action) is much ‘louder’ than ‘Strategy’ (words). In the Hay Group’s 2008 Best Companies for Leaders Survey, 83% of the world’s best-in-class organizations identified ‘execution’ as the single most valuable leadership skill. The consequences of poor execution are equally ‘loud’. According to a Harvard Business School research article, when execution is poor, it can lead to a whopping 40% loss in financial value!
What is ‘Leadership Execution’?
If ‘Execution’ is how companies turn strategy into results, then in the simplest definition, ‘leadership execution’ is the daily behavior of leaders, which translates strategy into employee action. Notice that there is no clear recognition in the above equation for this necessary BEHAVIORAL partnership between leaders and employees?. Let’s rewrite that equation to take this collaboration into account:
Strategy + [Leadership Execution x Employee Action] = Results.
This improved equation implies that when leaders ‘execute’ well, they impart a multiplying effect on the employee actions that will eventually lead to results. In short, when leadership behaviors are executed effectively, employees are motivated to higher performance.
Leadership Execution: the New Paradigm for Leadership Development
Leadership development refers to various approaches for growing and coaching leaders within an organization. Unfortunately, far too many of today’s leadership development efforts are unsuccessful. The reason is because they are centered on high-level, non-specific leadership “words” such as those included in leadership competencies and psychological assessments. However, due to new technologies and social trends, there is now a growing emphasis on leadership ‘execution’, which is the daily ‘DOING’ of pinpointed leadership behaviors.
Most people would agree that ‘doing’ leadership is very different from ‘developing’ it. But what if the two were combined? Leadership development is a great start for training and coaching leaders, but it is not the same thing as actually ‘executing’ (doing) leadership behaviors effectively on a daily basis. Leadership execution is the new paradigm for leadership development because it combines learning with doing. If companies want to increase their ability to turn strategies into results, they need to go beyond leadership development and start getting better at leadership execution: the daily ‘DOING’ of leadership at all levels of an organization.
The paradigm shift from ‘development’ to ‘execution’ is not as easy as it sounds, because it involves new tools for measuring something as (seemingly) intangible as leadership. Thankfully, behavioral science gives us tools that allow us to turn leadership into measurable behaviors. As the saying goes, “you can only master what you measure.” Once we can measure leadership through behavior, we can begin to improve leadership execution on a daily basis. And once we can improve leadership execution, we can start to reap the benefits of greater employee motivation and actions, which in the end will more predictably turn organizational strategy into results!
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