DISCLAIMER: VIEWS PUBLISHED BELOW ARE MY OWN AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE VIEWS OF CURRENT OR FORMER EMPLOYERS.
2013 is history, 2014 is here. Happy New year friends. I have been wanting to share some experiences and observations on leadership and execution from the year gone by. While study of leadership and execution is fascinating, I believe that the more we learn and the more we share, we get better at both of them collectively. So here is my little contribution to the kitty.
Getting it done. Perfectly. Day after day, month after month. Very few get it right. Ditto for leadership. Practised to perfection only by a very few.
Some reflections on the Leadership of Execution:
Excellence in execution often accompanies leaders that have clarity around prioritising and sequencing of activities. A simplistic principle at first sight, but I believe this works every time. Importantly - for leadership of execution, saying NO and being critical is often as equally important as agreement, alignment and support of team members. Knowing when to start execution and when to move on after completion also help. Which partly means that getting to 85% delivery may actually deliver better returns than trying to get to 100% (probably because the original assumptions at start of execution often change due to the dynamics of the industry or other internal/external factors and new information may alter strategy and hence the deliverables of execution).
And a little reminder - having the best people in every role in the team builds trust and when team members trust each other, it helps resource optimal execution consistently. But even when you have the best people working in central and local roles - if the company culture does not build or foster trust, then execution suffers. Constant follow-ups, updates and meetings destroy executional momentum and reduces motivation of those people managing execution.
And how can I forget my favorite ingredient for perfect execution. Leaders who have a stomach for ambiguity. The perfectionists and the systems experts want the perfect road to be defined from Point A to Point B, RACIs etched in stone and deadlines signed in blood !! Often this means they (ones with penchant for clarity) would create paralysis to the network if resources, KPIs and end points are not defined. And many a time, this results in poor speed to market and frustration (not to forget scanners in the works !!). Leadership of execution often means putting imaginary stakes in the ground, making sound and often data deficient assumptions and motivating teams to move forward in the darkness. Teams working on new product launches and new to world ideas - please take note.
And a short note on Execution of Leadership. Six people caught my fancy this year:
His Holiness - the Pope Francis, the Australian Ashes team leadership (Darren Lehmann, Pat Howard and Michael Clarke) and of course Arvind Kejriwal and Arsene Wenger.
Enough has been written about His Holiness the Pope Francis and Arvind Kejriwal. What truly stood out as a common factor in both their styles was 'Inclusive decision making'. Moreover, both leaders took on leadership roles of organizations (Catholic Church and Delhi Government respectively) - both that had a history of nepotism, corruption, high handedness and pandering the elite few. Both won electoral victories over more powerful candidates in extremely difficult circumstances. And early work from both of them indicate people are flocking back to participation in their leadership in droves. Try this - Tourism to the Vatican as seen a big revival. Delhi had one of the highest voter turnouts (66%) in history !!
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2014/01/02/pope-francis-lured-66-million-to-vatican-in-2013-more-than-twice-as-benedict/
Team Australia made a huge revival to win the Ashes 5-0 (after being in the dumps in early 2013).
Besides the obvious ones - M Clake and D Lehmann - one other person who made a big
difference to the fortunes was 40 year old Pat Howard - the Chief Performance Officer for
And of course, how can my blog be devoid of any reference to football or Arsenal ? Most of the
Arsenal faithful (including yours truly) from Highbury to Holland Road had written off Mr Wenger
when Arsenal lost the opening EPL game to Villa. However two important master strokes from
the Frenchman have been instrumental in the Gunners being on top of the League mid-season
(and if we we had a system to crown the team that won the most points in 2013 - Arsenal would
be champions in 2013). - strengthening the defence and retaining all key players - both identified
as key weaknesses in previous years. Just reminds all leaders that our strengths could be
greatly amplified if one could spend some time improve on our weak spots.
So here is wishing everyone fantastic leadership in execution and execution of leadership
in 2014.
2013 is history, 2014 is here. Happy New year friends. I have been wanting to share some experiences and observations on leadership and execution from the year gone by. While study of leadership and execution is fascinating, I believe that the more we learn and the more we share, we get better at both of them collectively. So here is my little contribution to the kitty.
Getting it done. Perfectly. Day after day, month after month. Very few get it right. Ditto for leadership. Practised to perfection only by a very few.
Some reflections on the Leadership of Execution:
Excellence in execution often accompanies leaders that have clarity around prioritising and sequencing of activities. A simplistic principle at first sight, but I believe this works every time. Importantly - for leadership of execution, saying NO and being critical is often as equally important as agreement, alignment and support of team members. Knowing when to start execution and when to move on after completion also help. Which partly means that getting to 85% delivery may actually deliver better returns than trying to get to 100% (probably because the original assumptions at start of execution often change due to the dynamics of the industry or other internal/external factors and new information may alter strategy and hence the deliverables of execution).
And a little reminder - having the best people in every role in the team builds trust and when team members trust each other, it helps resource optimal execution consistently. But even when you have the best people working in central and local roles - if the company culture does not build or foster trust, then execution suffers. Constant follow-ups, updates and meetings destroy executional momentum and reduces motivation of those people managing execution.
And how can I forget my favorite ingredient for perfect execution. Leaders who have a stomach for ambiguity. The perfectionists and the systems experts want the perfect road to be defined from Point A to Point B, RACIs etched in stone and deadlines signed in blood !! Often this means they (ones with penchant for clarity) would create paralysis to the network if resources, KPIs and end points are not defined. And many a time, this results in poor speed to market and frustration (not to forget scanners in the works !!). Leadership of execution often means putting imaginary stakes in the ground, making sound and often data deficient assumptions and motivating teams to move forward in the darkness. Teams working on new product launches and new to world ideas - please take note.
And a short note on Execution of Leadership. Six people caught my fancy this year:
His Holiness - the Pope Francis, the Australian Ashes team leadership (Darren Lehmann, Pat Howard and Michael Clarke) and of course Arvind Kejriwal and Arsene Wenger.
Enough has been written about His Holiness the Pope Francis and Arvind Kejriwal. What truly stood out as a common factor in both their styles was 'Inclusive decision making'. Moreover, both leaders took on leadership roles of organizations (Catholic Church and Delhi Government respectively) - both that had a history of nepotism, corruption, high handedness and pandering the elite few. Both won electoral victories over more powerful candidates in extremely difficult circumstances. And early work from both of them indicate people are flocking back to participation in their leadership in droves. Try this - Tourism to the Vatican as seen a big revival. Delhi had one of the highest voter turnouts (66%) in history !!
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2014/01/02/pope-francis-lured-66-million-to-vatican-in-2013-more-than-twice-as-benedict/
Team Australia made a huge revival to win the Ashes 5-0 (after being in the dumps in early 2013).
Besides the obvious ones - M Clake and D Lehmann - one other person who made a big
difference to the fortunes was 40 year old Pat Howard - the Chief Performance Officer for
Cricket Australia. From sacking of Mickey Arthur to appointing D Lehmann to standing by his people, Pat demonstrated outstanding leadership.
And of course, how can my blog be devoid of any reference to football or Arsenal ? Most of the
Arsenal faithful (including yours truly) from Highbury to Holland Road had written off Mr Wenger
when Arsenal lost the opening EPL game to Villa. However two important master strokes from
the Frenchman have been instrumental in the Gunners being on top of the League mid-season
(and if we we had a system to crown the team that won the most points in 2013 - Arsenal would
be champions in 2013). - strengthening the defence and retaining all key players - both identified
as key weaknesses in previous years. Just reminds all leaders that our strengths could be
greatly amplified if one could spend some time improve on our weak spots.
So here is wishing everyone fantastic leadership in execution and execution of leadership
in 2014.
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