8 Things a CEO Can Do To Increase Strategic Execution

David McGlennen
Aug 25, 2017 · 4 min read

If you are a CEO or business owner with employees, it’s likely that you are challenged with creating a culture where your people are fully engaged and performing at peak levels. As evidence to this fact, a recent Deloitte survey indicated that 87% of organizations surveyed said that this is one of their top challenges.

A recent Gallup poll showed only 13% of people are highly engaged in their work to underscore the issue. This is not an HR issue but is a leadership issue at the most senior levels.

I’m sure than many who are reading this article have likely heard the famous Peter Drucker quote that “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”.

It’s a true statement but what is really missing is that culture creates the environment for higher levels of strategic execution.

At the end of the day, most senior leaders want to see the strategies they’ve laid out for the company to be executed so that goals are achieved which normally means good things for all stakeholders of the organization.

So if strategic execution is a key to success and culture provides the fuel for high performance and engagement, why aren’t more senior leaders working on their culture?

In his book, “The Advantage”, Patrick Lencioni says that there are two things required for success in business: Smarts and Health. It’s easy to work on the “Smart” side of the equation because it’s more easily quantifiable and also, it’s what has been taught in business schools. Thus they are more comfortable working in this realm.

The “Healthy” side or organizational culture side of success, however, is the multiplier of that intelligence. When a company has a culture that has minimal politics, extreme clarity, high engagement and low turnover, it provides an environment — a healthy environment — that allows for utilizing more of the intelligence within it.

This side of the equation though isn’t as easily quantified and it is more “squishy” than the world of spreadsheets, efficiencies and continuous improvement metrics. On top of that, there’s really not been any teaching on how to intentionally build a culture that is practical and applicable so most leaders simply let it evolve by default.

Unfortunately, when culture is left to default rather than design, some unintended consequences can emerge. The signs on the wall with the company mission and values don’t always line up to what really goes on in the organization. When the behaviors and the values along with the strategy don’t line up, it’s easy to see how the execution of the strategic plan can fall short.

Think for a moment about what would happen if you could get leaders everywhere in your organization to focus on a behavior each week that would move you forward towards achieving your strategic plan. What would happen if you took a success behavior that you’ve pre-defined every week that gets discussed and engaged each and every day?

Wouldn’t it be just like any sports figure who works on the fundamentals of his or her game? If it’s a golfer, time spent on the putting green or working on bunker shots helps improve a critical part of executing their game plan. That routine ground ball is ‘routine’ because the infielder has seen thousands of them before.

The same can be true with your organization if you build your culture with intentionality. Without a roadmap or framework, it’s a challenge to be intentional with it.

Here is an 8-step framework that we use called the Fundamentals Systemtm that many entrepreneurial companies have been implementing all over the world. It’s a process to “institutionalize” your culture:

  1. Define with great clarity the behaviors (fundamentals) that drive your company’s success
  2. Ritualize the practice of your fundamentals
  3. Select people who are the right fit for contributing to the success of your company and culture
  4. Integrate your new hires into your culture
  5. Communicate your culture throughout the organization
  6. Coach your people to reinforce your culture
  7. Lead your culture by example
  8. Drive your culture through accountability

There is much more to elaborate on throughout this framework. Each step has its own nuances and details.

However, if an organization wants to have a culture by design, the first to steps to this framework are crucial.

What do you think?

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David McGlennen

Written by

I help business owners live intentionally to achieve what matters most. Creating intentional culture and strategy execution. #Leadership #Culture #strategy

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