Much has been written about strategy and the need for organizations to invest the time and energy into developing the “Strategic Plan,” complete with corresponding action plans and regular checkpoints. I suggest you put Lou Gerstner’s book “Who Said Elephants Can’t Dance?” on your
Christmas reading list and learn how he used strategy to turn around the once great but failing IBM in the 1990’s.
As you near the end of his story, you will find a chapter titled “Execution – Strategy Goes Only So Far.” Here he describes how getting the task done is the most unappreciated skill of an effective business leader. He confirms that the magic is not in the development of a unique or proprietary strategy that will automatically produce extraordinary results. Instead, most great business success comes in the execution. Gerstner concludes that “All of the great companies in the world out-execute their competitors day in and day out … in just about everything they do.”
Can you personally make that claim? And if so, can you do so for all 365 days of the year? Execution is easy if you only have to do so when the spirit leads. The adrenaline rush at the start of a new set of goals each January quickly fades when we get into the dog days of executing the plan. Those days often occur at this time of year as we cope with all of the distractions of the holiday season. Here is where the grindstone of life will either grind you down or polish you up, depending on what you are made of.
Remember the words of Zig Ziglar, “A big shot is just a little shot who kept shooting.” Stay the course and finish strong.
Share with me, some of your tips for finishing strong as your year winds down.