Why Your Strategic Plan Does Not Get Executed And What

You Can Do About It Howard Litwak, CBC

President and Certified Business CoachMeasurable Results LLC- Improving Thinking, Behaviors, and

ResultsCall us: 518-664-5033 Visit us: www.howardlitwak.com

There is nothing more important than making sure that your strategy is executed in a timely and efficient manner.

Execution disciplines help improve the linkage between your plan and your desired results.

If you are not getting the results you want, this may be the most important presentation you ever

view!

Your Key to Success

This presentation will show you what they are. It will be up to you to determine how well they are applied in your organization.

Each discipline is supported by or impacted by natural talents or attributes.

Meeting your goals and executing your strategy depends on these attributes. Fortunately, they can be measured to show you what best to leverage and what specifically needs to be shored up or minimized.

6 disciplines are necessary to achieve the results you

seek from your plan.

So, you have a strategic plan. It is well thought out and realistic.

Yet, there are gaps. It’s not being carried out the way you want.

Does this sound familiar?

Note! Everything brought up in this presentation can be measured. If it can be measured, it can be managed and improved. So, you will not only be made aware of issues and the cause of the issues, but take heart, you will be

shown how they can be fixed!

It’s not uncommon that I ask a CEO, “Do you have a plan?” and the answer is “Yes.”

When I ask the follow up question, “To what degree do the behaviors and actions of your people resemble what the plan calls for?” the answer is “Well, that is purely coincidental.”

This just can’t be ignored anymore. It’s costing you both financially and emotionally.

Are you a victim to the gap between promises made(to yourself, your company, your customers) and resultsdelivered?

What would it mean to you if you could improve the linkage between your plan and your desired results?

Most likely you would include: higher confidence, increased revenue, less stress, quicker realization of desired results and, growth both personally and organizationally.

An Important Realization!

A discipline is defined as :

“An orderly or prescribed conduct or behavior,” or

“A system of rules governing conduct or activity.”

For purposes of this presentation, the conduct, behaviors, or activity are what is required for the effective execution of your plan.

What is a Discipline?

These must be mastered in order to achieve your desired results, regardless of the size of the organization:

1. Priorities2. Metrics3. Communication4. Accountability5. Teamwork6. Personal growth

Top performing organizations, those that are really working towards realizing their potential, make these disciplines part of their routine all of

the time. Let’s take a closer look at each.

The Execution Disciplines

Priorities

Leadership Attributes necessary to be able to execute this Discipline or

impacted by this Discipline are:

Goal DirectednessBalanced Decision Making

Concrete Organizing

Organizing and executing around priorities is a core principle of effective time management. Do you have issues here? You may have found your solution. Organizing and executing around priorities is a core principle of effective time management. When you are clear on what is most important, it is easier to decide how to spend your time.

Leaders at all levels who execute focus on a few key priorities that everyone can grasp and act on.

What would be happening if you walked through your organization and asked ,“What’s the top priority this month?” and your people actually knew the answer?

ACTION ITEM! Identify the 3-5 top things that you want to accomplish monthly and quarterly. One should absolutely be the most important thing.

Goal Directedness – The ability to:

Stay on track while involved in a project even if there are unforeseen obstacles.

Keep a problem or a single task from diverting from overall project goals.

Is being easily and quickly swayed from a course of action anissue in your organization? Direct supervision in order to

stayfocused on a particular task or project may be required.

Fear and/or a lack of knowledge on how to handle a task are two major factors behind procrastination,

which is a symptom of low scores in Goal Directedness. These need to be addressed for

priorities to be carried out fully.

Attribute Definitions

Balanced Decision Making – The ability to:

Be objective and to fairly evaluate the different aspects (people and other) of a situation.

To make a decision taking into account all aspects and components of all involved parties or concerns; and which are more likely to satisfy all needs.

Low scores in this area indicates people who do not place equal importance on all aspects of a situation.

They may make decisions which satisfy some, but not all of the factors or people involved and so might

not take” right action” on what is most important (i.e. priorities)

Right Action=The Right People, Doing the Right Things, for the Right Reasons. Balanced decision

making around priorities helps people make the right decisions for what they should be doing.

Concrete Organizing – This capacity deals primarily with people’s ability to:

Understand and evaluate the immediate needs of a situation systematically and logically.

Properly allocate resources to accomplish a goal or plan.

Low scores in this capacity lead to difficulty in identifying the separate components of a situation, and therefore, difficulty in deciding what steps to

take to meet a goal which is a priority.

Concrete organizing is a critical component of goal achievement. The right action steps must be

developed that lead to the realization of goals which are priorities. An inability to determine these steps is a symptom of a low score in Concrete Organizing.

Metrics

Leadership Attributes necessary to implement the Discipline of Metrics

or impacted by this discipline include:

Attention to Detail Proactive Thinking Results Orientation

If continuous improvement is to occur, individuals and teams need to focus on improving their key business indicators.

Therefore, measurements must be developed and reviewed regularly to ensure progress.

After all, what gets tracked and measured can be improved. And if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. You just need to know what to track.

ACTION STEP: Go to www.kpilibrary.com for what other businesses in your industry are tracking.

Key Performance Indicators

Forward Looking:Number of prospectsPending businessCustomer loyalty scores

Backward Looking:ProfitSalesExpensesWhat would you get if all of your employees knew the most important metric relevant to their role?

What are your Key Performance Indicators?

Here are some non-industry specific examples.

Attention to Detail – The ability to:

See and pay attention to details.

Be able to recognize the parts of a procedure or object, and to recognize what is working and what is not.

Low scores here might result in people not being thorough in the execution of their job responsibilities and not making sure that all of their job functions are properly completed.

Metrics are the details necessary to make sure that your priorities are being executed. Do you have people who say “that’s good enough” when their responsibilities are not fully completed? This is a

symptom of low attention to detail scores.

Attribute Definitions

Proactive Thinking – The ability to:

Evaluate future implications of current decisions and actions.

Examining the long-range effects of a decision, mentally creating the outcomes of situations that could develop from decisions or plans of action.

Low scores in this area lead to a tendency to “react” to events as they present themselves. The focus is

on “now” as opposed to the longer term goals. Otherwise known as “Putting Out Fires.”

Proactive thinking leads to a focus on avoiding potential problems, and continuous improvement. You might

not be using this attribute enough if you are constantly putting out fires.

Results Orientation – The ability to:

Identify actions necessary to achieve task completion and to obtain results.

Meet schedules, deadlines, quotas, and performance goals. Low scores here indicate people who are not motivated by the desired results themselves but rather on things

such as being fast, enjoying the work, being perfect, etc.

This lack of focus on all the variables involved in achievingresults could lead to the result being incomplete.

Do you find that deadlines and quotas are constantly being missed? This is a symptom of a low score in

results orientation.

Communication

Leadership Attributes necessary for executing the Discipline of

Communication or impacted by this Discipline include:

Empathetic OutlookDiplomacy

Relating to Others

Communication rhythm helps information move accurately and quickly through your organization.

When leaders receive better information in a timely fashion, better choices result.

It can start at Senior Management and cascade down to the front line or vice versa. Either way should have as the end result a leadership meeting to discuss next actions and issues.

On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) how effectively does communication flow in your organization? What

would be the benefit to you of improving that score by one or two points?

What is your meeting flow? For many organizations, this is a challenge. How about yours?

What is your meeting frequency and rhythm?

Do you have a daily 7 minute huddle to touch every one?

Should you?

A weekly “all hands on deck meeting” can help with execution.

Empathetic Outlook – The ability to:

Perceive and understand the feelings and attitudes of others.

Place ones self “in-the-shoes” of others and to be able to view a situation from their perspective.

Being conscious of how one’s actions will impact others.

Low scores in this area may cause difficulties in understanding the needs and feelings of others.

This may cause them to do or say things which do not sufficiently consider the needs of others.

Low empathetic ability can show itself as people coming across as “cold” or having a “my way or the

highway” attitude.

Attribute Definitions

Diplomacy – This attribute is looking at how clearly someone can keep the feelings and concerns of others in mind while dealing with emotionally charged situations.

Low scores in this area may cause people to lose sight of the thoughts, feelings, and concerns of others when

they are dealing with an emotionally charged situation.

This can cause them to possibly offend others, or make decisions

that do not balance all parties’ needs equally and respectfully.

Relating to Others – The ability to:

Coordinate personal insights and knowledge of others into effective actions.

Make use of accurate interpersonal skills in interacting with others.

Low scores in this area often indicates people who feel that they are not comfortable with who they are. This can lead to

others not feeling comfortable around them. It is very difficult to relate effectively with others if you

are not comfortable with yourself as a person, thus impacting communication and teamwork.

Are self-confidence and self-image issues in your organization?

These issues are effectively addressed through professional development programs. Personal growth is a Discipline

too. Can you see how these are intertwined and interdependent?

Accountability

Leadership Attributes necessary for or impacted by the

execution of the discipline of Accountability include:

*Personal Drive*Persistence

*Self-Starting Ability

Once everyone in the organization has clearly defined goals and action steps, there can be little doubt as to who does what by when.

Each team member can monitor the others and themselves against the completion of their own action steps.

Having other team members checking up to make sure everyone meets their stated commitments is valuable. People are more productive when they have a stated deadline and are held accountable to it.

Want to increase Productivity? This is an area to confront. Who is making sure that you will do what you say you will

do? An accountability partner can help here.

Accountability is a function of tracking and measurement

Personal Drive – This is a measurement of:

How strongly people feel the need to achieve, accomplish, or complete something.

The level of personal motivation they are capable of bringing to bear on any given task which they feel is important.

Low scores in this area may lead to people having difficulty committing towards the completion

of a task, even once convinced of its importance.

This capacity can be improved by increasing the understanding, or awareness of importance a person

has for the priorities and metrics associated with their role or job.

Attribute Definitions

Persistence – This is people’s capacity to:

Stay the course in times of difficulty. It involves their personal commitment, their belief in what they are doing, and theirproject/goal focus.

To remain motivated to accomplish goals in the face of adversity or obstacles.

Low scores in this area indicates people who may have difficulty accomplishing goals in difficult situations or when

confronted with obstacles that were unforeseen.This can be due to an insufficiency in their role awareness,

their self-esteem, or their project/goal focus.

Persistence is necessary to carry out the “NO MATTER WHAT” attitude required to achieve the goals defined

in your plan. Lack of persistence leads to…lack of execution.

Self- Starting Ability – The ability to:

Find one’s own motivation for accomplishing a task and the degree to which a person will maintain that course in the face of adversity.

This capacity is somewhat dependent on a person’s level of persistence, focus, and initiative.

Low scores in this area may reflect people who have some lesser abilities in one or more of the key areas mentioned above.

They may tend to require greater external influence to accomplish their goals or become distracted from the target

more easily then people with a higher score.

A system of accountability and rewards can help create the internal drive for people to carry out their

responsibilities 100%.

Teamwork

Leadership attributes necessary for or impacted by the execution of the discipline of Teamwork include:

Understanding Motivational NeedsRelating to others

Consistency/Reliability

In any business, due to the interdependence of all the parts, it is virtually impossible to reach great heights without teamwork.

Teamwork is a cooperative effort by the members of a team to achieve a common goal. A winning team is one whose members recognize that when a member of the team is successful the entire team wins.

Does everybody in your organization work together sharing tasks and information? Do they trust and

look out for one another? Or are there silos and turf wars?

If these exist, how is that working for you?

It is important to note that if you want the people in your organization to act as a team, the leadership absolutely must

act as one.

It’s been said, “As goes the executive team, goes the rest of the firm”. Your people look to see if you are “walking the talk.”

Also, it is imperative that everyone understand each other’s differences, styles, priorities, and preferred method of communication.

Diagnostic tools can be used to determine people’s values and preferred communication styles. How

would you benefit from knowing this?

Understanding Motivational Needs – The ability to:

Understand the needs and desires of employees enough that this knowledge may be used to motivate them to succeed.

Encourage a self-starting and an active pursuit of goals and objectives.

Low scores in this capacity lead to people who will tend to discount the importance an individual’s desires and needs play

in regards to managing or motivating that person.Executive leadership and management are responsible for creating an environment and culture where people

are internally motivated. Low scores here can contribute to a culture of motivating in other ways less effective then by what is important to the individual.

Attribute Definitions

Relating to Others – The ability to:

Coordinate personal insights and knowledge of others into effective actions.

Make use of accurate interpersonal skills in interacting with others.

Low scores in this area often indicates people who feel that they are not comfortable with who they are. This can lead to

others not feeling comfortable around them.

It is very difficult to relate effectively with others if you are not comfortable with yourself as a person, thus impacting communication and teamwork.

We see this attribute also impacting the Discipline of Communication. Showing how interconnected

Teamwork and Communication are.

Consistency/Reliability – This is the capacity to:

Feel an internal need to be conscientious in their personal or professional efforts.

Be both consistent and reliable in all of ones life roles. Low potential in this capacity may result in people who are not consistent or dependable. They might

work very hard for a period of time, but without external motivation or supervision, they might lack the internal desire to maintain this level of performance throughout

the duration of the task at hand, thus impacting the team.

Very few things will impact the ability of a team to be high performing more than people who don’t pull

their weight. Implementing the Discipline of Accountability can help improve this trait and

improve teamwork.

Personal Growth

Leadership Attributes necessary or impacted by the execution of the

discipline of Personal Growth include:

Self Improvement Developing OthersProblem Solving

Leaders are constantly seeking, learning, improving, and stretching their capabilities. It’s been shown that the growth rate of your business won’t exceed the leader’s own personal growth rate. They set the example, establish the environment, and implement the processes for everyone in the organization to follow.

Personal development leads to planning and organizing time, energy, and your activities around priorities. Doing this increases ones knowledge base and options.

It’s been shown that the growth rate of a business won’t exceed the leader’s own personal growth rate.  

To what degree is Personal Growth a part of your strategy and rewards system? Should it be more?

In addition, you can expand the capabilities of your organization by expanding the capabilities of your people through education and coaching.

Help your employees to grow and expand personally and they will begin to feel more passionate about life, people, and their jobs.

This makes them want to contribute more out of a sense of personal pride rather than outside pressure.

Doesn’t that sound appealing?

A clearly defined and focused professional development program which ties organizational goals with personal

goals can help here.

Self-Improvement – This is the motivation that a person has based on the importance of improving oneself.

This is motivation by the opportunity to obtain training and educational growth opportunities.

There are no “high” or “low” scores here. It is simply an indication of the degree of influence this “personal

motivators” exerts on this individual. Lower scores indicate that a person

is just not motivated by self-improvement.

“Know it all’s” are not motivated by self-improvement. Are there any in your organization? Do they impact

your ability to have a culture of continuous improvement and proactive thinking?

Attribute Definitions

Developing Others – The ability to:

Understand the needs, interests, strengths, and weaknesses of others, and to utilize this information for developing others.

Evaluate others, and to identify with others. People with a low score in this capacity may not be able to determine who needs development or they simply may not

consider it as important. They may not see the importance of building an organization through developing people.

Recognizing areas of improvement organizationally and individually are keys to having a high performing

company. Diagnostic tools can help with this.Also, a person with a low score in this area may not take a proactive approach to management, and fail to perceive the importance in planning ahead to develop

talent. Instead they may tend to be reactive, and deal only with the immediate, or that which presents itself in the now.

Problem Solving – The ability to:

Identify alternative solutions to a problem and to select the best option.

Identify the system component that is causing an error, as well as the options available for resolving it and completing the task.

Low scores in this capacity lead to not being able to pool together as much information and talents as others to assess all aspects of a problem from identification to

resolution. The greater ones knowledge base, the more options they have in terms of solutions to problems!

“Empty the coins of your purse into your mind and your mind will empty coins back into your purse.” Ben

FranklinTop performing leaders never stop learning about their

profession, human relations, success principles, and how to best serve their customers.

Having the right strategy is important to your organization’s long term success. However, nothing is more important to the success of your business than the execution of your plan.

Remember, strategies most often fail because they aren’t executed well. Things that are supposed to happen don’t happen. These execution disciplines help close the gap between what an organization’s leaders want to achieve and the ability of their people to actually achieve it.

These disciplines are not a “sometimes” or “take a few” proposition. They are an “all the time, all of them” commitment!

ConclusionA huge difference between businesses that execute

and those that don’t is the intensity with which the leader implements these disciplines.

You can identify the attributes and behaviors present or not present in your organization relative to each discipline by utilizing cutting edge diagnostic tools.You can identify the right people to do the right things by measuring these attributes or talents and aligning talents with roles.

By improving alignment of your peoples’ attributes with their roles, you can improve communication, productivity, and results.

What is it costing you by not having your people use their natural abilities at less than their full potential?

Answers to execution and performance problems may be easier to diagnose and to solve than you may think!

You just need someone with the right skills and competencies.

Do you think there may be some areas to improve? It’s better to be sure. If there are attributes that are contributing to creating weaknesses, you just can not wait any longer to address this. It’s costing you money, time, and energy.

Contact me today. We’ll talk about where you are, where you want to go, and what you need to do to get there.

A talent profile for you or your team may be the most effective first step to better communication, improved productivity, improved results, and realization of your plan.

Howard Litwak, CBC Measurable Results LLCPh: 518-664-5033 Email: howard@howardlitwak.com

Are any of these Attributes missing from your

organization?

My Certifications:

Attribute Index, DISC Index, Values Index- Innermetrix Corp. (Together these equal the “What”, “Why”, and “How” of Human Performance)Certified Business Coach- Resource Associates Coaching AcademyDIALOG (Organizational Assessment tool) Resource Associates Corp.