The Executive Edge

Hurdle #3: People don’t keep their promises. If you’re thinking right now “I keep my promises,” you’re in the majority who think that.  However, try this challenge: spend the next week being observant of all the promises you make, big and small. This includes all the times you say “I will,” or “I’ll get that done” or “Okay” to a request because if you say you are going to do something, that counts as a promise. Now, during this challenge, pay attention to how often you didn’t follow through on your promises. You’ll be surprised by the results.  Continue reading →

Hurdle #2: People who have never been held accountable are terrified of the idea of being held accountable. This means almost everybody. Most people have been given accountability for activities or to oversee activities and that’s different than accountability for results. When you are accountable for results it means you have to deliver. If you don’t, you are failing at your job and there are consequences, real or perceived. Only a small percentage of people who comprise the workforce have had this kind of accountability (e.g., commissioned sales people and some entrepreneurs).
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Hurdle #1:  Every organization believes they have an execution management system. That’s right; every organization believes they have one. The problem is this: it’s not really a system. It’s a bunch of, at best, loosely related individual vehicles for accomplishing different apparent needs to manage execution. One CEO laughed out loud when we said every organization has an execution management system and said, “Yeah, but it’s a rabble!” (We love that word, rabble. It’s was the first time we ever heard it spoken in a sentence). Yes, it’s a disorderly mess.  Continue reading →