Hello Friends,
Today I finished reading an interesting management book. I specifically learned more on why too many leaders fooled themselves into thinking their companies are well run.
The Gap Nobody Knows
The gap nobody knows is the gap between what a company’s leaders want to achieve and the ability of their organization to achieve it.
Here is the fundamental problem:
People think of execution as the tactical side of business, something leaders delegate while thy focus on the perceived “bigger” issues. This idea is completely wrong. Execution is not just tactics—it is a discipline and a system. It has to be built into a company’s strategy, its goals, and its culture.
Execution is a specific set of behaviors and techniques that companies need to master in order to have competitive advantage.
Co-author of the book is Ram Charan. He is a legendary advisor to senior executives and boards of directors, a man with unparalleled insight into why some companies are successful and others are not.
One of the interesting and important tasks for a leader to do is selecting and appraising people. This is something that should never be delegated, according to Larry and Ram. As a CEO, Larry Bossidy personally makes the calls to check references for key hires. Why? With the right people in the right jobs, there’s a leadership gene pool that conceives and selects strategies that can be executed.
People then work together to create a strategy building block by building block, a strategy in sync with the realities of the marketplace, the economy, and the competition. Once the right people and strategy are in place, they are then linked to an operating process that results in the implementation of specific programs and actions and that assigns accountability.
Putting an execution culture in place is hard, but losing it is easy. The book stresses the importance of creating a culture of openness, dialogue and knowing your people.
I've enjoyed reading the book, it was very practical, a lot of examples and easy to read. For me the examples all referred to the same type of industry(electronics, technology...) and very "American" good to great philosophy style" management approach.
But like I said I got tips & tricks on how to develop a strategic plan and how a culture of execution is being developed.
And finally what exactly does a leader who’s in charge of execution do? How does he keep from being a micromanager, caught up in the details of running the business?
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Know your people and your business.
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Insist of realism.
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Set clear goals and priorities.
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Follow through.
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Reward the doers.
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Expand people’s capabilities.
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Know yourself.
http://www.altfeldinc.com/pdfs/execution.pdf
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