Getting Things Done Responsibly

These days, companies are finding themselves in the middle of a big dilemma.

Responsible leaders are finding themselves out of jobs because for some reason their teams are not producing. So what’s the problem? Is it a hard business environment these days? Yes. Of course, change is coming faster than ever also. Often times, when leaders fail to deliver on promises, they are often accused of trying to implement a flawed strategy. The truth of the matter is strategies fail because they are not executed well.

Without execution, strategic thinking breaks down, learning adds absolutely no value, and people don’t meet their stretch goals. What you get is a change for the worse. Failure is inevitable. Failure tends to suck the energy from your organization. Constant failure destroys it.

These days, responsible leaders are being more practical. They want to take their organizations to the next level.

As responsible leaders you have to ensure that execution is a part of a company’s strategy and its goals. It’s the link between goals and results. Having said that, it is your job to ensure execution happens. If you don’t know how to execute, the whole of your effort as a responsible leader will be less than the sum of its parts.

So what is execution? It’s about getting things done. It’s about turning your goals into reality. Execution is essential to strategy. You cannot attempt to implement a strategy without taking into account the organization’s ability to execute that strategy. In other words, you can’t have one without the other. Execution lies within the three basic business processes: the people, the strategy and the operations. The responsible leader of the business and his or her leadership team are involved in all three. Actually, they are the owners of the processes.

In its most basic sense, execution is a way of exposing reality and acting on it. Most companies don’t face reality (go figure). That’s the number one reason they do not execute well. Responsible leaders understand this definition of execution and they are ready to work with their teams and companies to achieve better results. As a responsible leader making responsible decisions, DECIDE to do the work.

Work with your team to implement and execute the strategies that you know will take your organization to the next level.

The Power of Service

When you think of the word “serve”, what comes to mind? Do you think of a waitress or some other form of pleasing others? Do you think of leaders? If not, you should. The truth is responsible leaders are servants. “Servants to whom?” you may ask. Servants to your team, that’s who.

The real question is not to whom, but how. How can you lead responsibly and still serve your team (as if leading is not hard enough)? In order for you to be a responsible leader, you have to recognize that there are 2 key tasks you must fulfill.

The vision and the execution.

It is your responsibility to communicate what the organization stands for and wants to accomplish. Just as kids look to their parents and players look to their coaches, people are looking to you (their leader) for guidance and vision. In this role of a visionary, you are behaving like a responsible leader.

Now that they know where they are going, people will now look to you (the leader) to fulfill the second task of responsible leadership. The Execution! How will you get the team to the finish line? I’ll tell you how. You will become a bridge builder. As a responsible leader you will try to find out what makes people perform well and bridge the gap between their performance and your vision. That’s when you begin to make positive impacts on the lives of those around you. When you make an impact on your team, you are making an impact on the entire organization as well.

So you see; it’s not that bad. As responsible leaders you understand that the only way to truly have an impact on any organization is to serve the people in that organization. You know that it is your responsibility to leave the organization better off than before you arrived on the scene. You are there to service your team and to build bridges.

What type of bridge you will build is totally up to you.