Execution is one of the biggest challenges facing large organisations today, with research indicating that about two-thirds of strategic initiatives fail to deliver the desired performance results.

What this means is that great strategy formulation is no guarantee for success. The organisation relies on people leaders to coordinate their teams' efforts and deliver results. They need to be skilled at translating strategy for their teams and adept at creating an environment that allows their teams to turn strategy into action.

Easier said than done. Great leadership is often dependent on years of experience and a deep understanding of the organisation's strategy, people and systems. But waiting on "years of experience" is not a great option in a fast-paced world. Instead, we need to find ways to accelerate the learning journey.

But let's start with an evaluation of where we are now. Based on your observations - where do your teams sit on the strategy & execution framework? Are they mainly operating above or below the line?

Below-the-line (levels 1 & 2), when execution looks and feels chaotic, the team is often disconnected from the strategy, meaning they are unclear on what the strategy is or how it relates to them. This lack of alignment can lead to poor decision making and ultimately result in costly mistakes such as infighting, poor morale, mediocre value creation for customers and poor financial performance.

On the other hand, teams that have clarity on how the strategy relates to them and are deliberate about the actions they take on a day-to-day basis (level 3), are able to deliver balanced results that consider multiple stakeholders. Decision-making at this level allows you to deliver solid business results, both in the short and long term.

But the very best outcome (level 4) is where execution is a set of disciplined actions aligned to the organisation's overall strategy. We want to ensure that teams deliver exceptional results, which means they can deliver on today's strategic objectives and successfully set the business up to deal with tomorrow's opportunities and challenges.

Food for thought:

Do our people understand the strategy and how it relates to them?
Are we aligned as an organisation, or are people pulling in different directions?
Are we investing enough time building the necessary strategic leadership skills that will allow us to realise the benefits of our strategy?

The execution challenge