Many people in your organization have resolutions for the New
Year. As you read this, strategies are being executed to lose
weight, get stronger, spend more time with family, and make more
money.
Your company has a resolution – the same one it has every year:
increase profitability. And, no doubt strategies are under way
to achieve that resolution. Sadly though, just like the majority
of the New Year's resolutions held by your colleagues, your
company is likely to fall far short of achieving its yearly
objective. Why? Because the strategies implemented fail.
The latest study from Ernst and Young reveals that 66% of
corporate strategy is never executed. The waste and loss in
potential caused by your team's inability to execute is
staggering – and includes a disenfranchised workforce,
relentless reorganizations, dissatisfied customers … and a hit
to the psyche that bleeds into the community.
If these are the facts, how hopeful can you be about 2008? The
answer: if you master the steps below, 2008 will be the year you
and your organization steps on the scale and wins.
What Kills Results
Most New Year's resolutions fail. Here's the biggest reason
why: while working toward an objective, the majority of people
measure all the ways they're failing. These people keep track of
where "they've fallen off the wagon," and the moments they ate
the extra cookie. This is a focus that makes them feel like dog
do-do. People do not make good choices or give the extra effort
when they don't feel good.
Our research shows that the same holds true within
organizations. Teams spend endless hours focusing on why their
strategies are failing. They point fingers, revisit old
information, and waste time being defensive.
Is it any wonder people are not getting things done? When we
beat ourselves up, when we destroy our forward momentum, how
likely is it that our New Year's resolutions – profitability –
will become a reality?
Most people make progress more difficult than it needs to be.
A 3-Point Plan To Achieving The Company Resolution
To make changes we must feel good about ourselves; we must have
momentum on our side. Those individuals and companies who
succeed do so because they first create momentum in their lives.
They understand that results are an outcome, not a strategy.
Therefore, they focus on creating the conditions – a healthy
culture – that allow strategies to be successfully executed.
Rich Crawford is the President of Global Glass Operations for
O-I, the largest glass producer in the world. He and his team
have lifted O-I stock from under $10 a share to over $40. Their
strategies are working because they've established the
conditions that allow them to.
"You've got to connect culture and strategy. If you don't start
there, you'll waste a lot of time," says Crawford. "I had a
visitor from another organization in my office, and he's
incredibly frustrated. He does these surveys – all focused on
making things faster and better – and they completely miss that
it's the people. So many leaders make it more difficult than it
is.
"We know where we need to go – and it begins by getting people
together and creating a culture so they can do it."
You can do this, too.
Step #1: Religiously focus on the progress that is being made.
Do you want the people executing strategies to believe they
cannot succeed – or have confidence? The majority of
conversations in meetings focus on "what we're doing wrong" and
this kills confidence.
You can reverse this trend by creating a culture of
celebration. We're not talking about throwing pizza parties
every time someone does something well; we are talking about
verbally appreciating efforts, giving handshakes for achieving
small steps, and posting progress. Such actions establish a
focus that builds confidence – and assures the momentum is
heading in the proper direction.
Step #2: Ask the right questions. Average leaders everywhere
are telling people what to do…and then lamenting that nothing's
getting done. Enlightened people understand that nothing
disengages people faster than the "telling approach" to
leadership.
Questions that we don't know the answer to are the key to
greater execution. But not just any questions. "What are we
doing wrong?" and "What's the problem?" build walls fast and
assure that everyone will be "experts" at failure. To create
experts of success, ask questions like "What can we do better?"
and "What are the issues we must improve on?"
Step #3: Tap into motivations. In the moment people make
choices – the choices that will determine whether a strategy
works or not – one thing influences their decision more than
anything else: their motivation. When people are clear on what
they want and why they want it, they often make great choices.
How connected to "purpose" are the people executing strategies
around you? The body builder sitting at the dinner table has a
vision of what they want their body to look like – and they make
decisions accordingly. What vision do people sitting in your
meetings have? These questions tap into motivations and move
things forward:
• What is important for us to achieve now?
• How are our efforts connected to our yearly objectives?
• Why is flawless execution of this strategy important?
Your company's ability to achieve its New Year's resolution –
to execute strategies – is a function of how effectively people
approach those strategies. Create momentum for yourself and
others by following through with the three action steps above –
and consider that you could achieve much more than your New
Year's resolution.
About The Author: Stomp the Elephant in the Office employs the
programs and concepts successfully implemented by Pathways to
Leadership, Inc., formed by Steven Vannoy and Craig Ross. To
find out how big the elephant in YOUR office is, visit
http://www.stomptheelephant
