We are one month into 2014, more specifically nearly 10 per cent of the way into the year, so are your employees on target to deliver their plans for the year? This is a great moment to pause and see how you are progressing with your performance delivery.
It’s way too easy not to invest in starting well, but this is the key to finishing strong.
There is a real assumption, probably a misconceived hope, that everyone will start the year well. When this thinking takes roost, leaders often wait until deep into the year to really inspect how the company is delivering on its plan. At that point, it may just be too late.
Last year, I listened to a chief executive panic after his third-quarter board meeting, where the discussion focused on the company’s failure to achieve its goal for the year. Following this meeting, they reacted to the situation and took some drastic measures.
Four months later at the close of this January, I asked him if he had spoken to each member of his top management team to ensure everyone is on target.
I got one of those answers that make you question if he really did it in the right way. You know the sheepishly famous: “Sure, we are on top of that. Don’t worry.” Actually he didn’t say that; instead he conveyed this is the message he received during the monthly review with his direct reports.
This was followed by me quizzing the chief executive further. “Last year, did you have a solid plan in place? And was it designed to yield a profit of [what their target was]?” I asked him.
To both he unflinchingly responded: “Of course.” Almost implying I was stupid for asking.
But they did not achieve it, so why should he think they will this year? Doing the same as before will almost always get the same results, as Albert Einstein once warned.
Again, there is a solid plan in place, but this does not mean it will be achieved. Execution is the issue, not planning. Fortunately, this chief executive accepts he must do something different, as they must resolve the execution gap. Now how about you?
In recent weeks, I have been inundated with leaders seeking advice on this exact issue. They are suffering from an execution gap, the difference in what is said and done, and they need to fill it.
It’s actually rather simple to lead execution, however it is the complete opposite of planning. In planning you focus on the outcome, the end result. You could say, planning is about “finishing”, whereas execution is about starting. Finishing is much less important than starting because if you start well and follow through, then finishing comes automatically. At the beginning of the year, your focus should be more on the starting line, than on the finishing line.
Starting being the key to execution seems deceptively simple. And it’s absolutely true. It should go without saying, if you don’t start well, then you will have a hard time for the rest of the year. Your efforts will shift from delivering to recovering, which means you have to correct what went wrong so you can exceed your targets the rest of the year to rectify the results.
This raises the matters of action and activities that need to be passed to resolve the execution quandary. I rarely hear a leader complain that the employees are not working hard and not putting in the hours. The focus of frustration is usually the gap between what is said and done.
It is easy to be busy, but they need to be doing what will deliver the results. Being busy and being productive are not the same. Therefore, the focus needs to be on the actual activities, the right ones, that lead to the desired results.
When this is understood and your team starts the year focused in the right direction, you will have a higher probability of achieving your year-end targets. While that may appear to be a long time away, your actions today will determine what that outcome will be like.
Great leaders master the art of starting, which is the key to minding the “execution gap”.
Tommy Weir is a leadership adviser, the author of 10 Tips for Leading in the Middle East and other leadership writings and is the founder of the Emerging Markets Leadership Center
