Five Building Blocks to Successful Strategy Execution
Five Building Blocks to Successful Strategy Execution
The legendary Alabama football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant retired with 323 wins over 38 seasons.
He was one of the most successful college football coaches, taking 29 teams to
bowl games. He would often say that players on winning teams ask for five things:
- Tell me what you expect of me
- Give me an opportunity to perform
- Let me know how I’m doing
- Give me guidance when I need it
- Reward me according to my contributions
What struck me most about this simple, yet insightful advice is its application to business leaders.
At Albu Consulting we place a high value on good strategic thinking and planning. But strategy implementation is as important, if not more important than the plan. Our systematic approach to strategy execution management requires discipline and commitment. If you strip away everything, the most important driver of successful strategy execution manage- ment comes down to these five things:
- Tell employees what you expect from them: Involve your direct reports (and in turn their direct reports) in creating specific and detailed goals with metrics that will support and drive the company’ s strategic initiatives.
- Create a winning environment: Once goals are set, hold everyone accountable and give them the resources and support to succeed.
- Let employees know how they and the company are doing: Follow up in a consistent and predictable manner with employees, both individually and as a group, to check in on progress. This will cause discussion around issues and opportunities on a regular basis.
- Provide guidance when needed: Positive and negative feedback will create discussion and lead to continuous improvements over the long term
- Reward performance: Recognize and reward employee successes, and deal with issues quickly.
Business is a lot like football. Following these five simple rules can help you build a championship team.
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