It feels like we are standing at a crossroad as we move through this fall and look forward to 2022 and 2023. It is a critical juncture for leaders and companies where many important decisions need to be made.
In particular, now is the time period for excellent strategic leadership. We have to build resilience and adaptability into the very fabric of the company. And now is the time period for excellent operational leadership. We will continue tackling a myriad of current, day to day problems and challenges. Both of these levels of leadership will require tremendous planning, execution, and empowerment.
But before we rush out to make it all happen, we must not forget that no strategic plan ever survives contact with reality. There will always be unknown unknowns, and periods of complexity and volatility.
Furthermore, most people do not feel very empowered once they make contact with reality. Some will say the problem is a lack of alignment between strategy, goals and actions. Others will say the problem is a lack of coordination and/or collaboration across different business units. And finally some will say the problem is related to communication.
I think the problem in many organizations who are standing at the cross roads is that they believe communication equals understanding. As Donald Sull, Rebecca Homkes, and Charles Sull write in their article called “Why Strategy Execution Unravels - and What to Do About It” in the March 2015 issue of the Harvard Business Review, “Part of the problem is that executives measure communication in terms of inputs (the number of e-mails sent or town halls hosted) rather than by the only metric that actually counts - how well key leaders understand what’s communicated.”
This week, focus less on inputs and more on how well people understand what has been communicated. It will make a world of difference during the next two years of planning, execution and empowerment.
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