5 Strategy Execution Skills Every Business Leader Needs

Essential Strategy Execution Skills · 1. Navigating the Tension Between Innovation and Control · 2. Mastering the Four Ps of Strategy · 3. Aligning ... …→ HarvardBusinessSchool→ HBSOnline→ BusinessInsights→ BusinessInsights HarvardBusinessSchoolOnline'sBusinessInsightsBlogprovidesthecareerinsightsyouneedtoachieveyourgoalsandgainconfidenceinyourbusinessskills.   FilterResults ArrowDown ArrowUp Topics Topics Accounting Analytics BusinessEssentials BusinessinSociety CareerDevelopment Communication Community ConneXt Decision-Making EarningYourMBA Entrepreneurship&Innovation Finance Leadership Management Marketing Negotiation News&Events Productivity StaffSpotlight Strategy StudentProfiles Technology Work-LifeBalance Courses Courses AlternativeInvestments BusinessAnalytics BusinessStrategy CORe DesignThinkingandInnovation DisruptiveStrategy EconomicsforManagers EntrepreneurshipEssentials FinancialAccounting GlobalBusiness LeadershipPrinciples LeadingwithFinance ManagementEssentials NegotiationMastery OrganizationalLeadership PowerandInfluenceforPositiveImpact StrategyExecution SustainableBusinessStrategy SustainableInvesting SubscribetotheBlog RSSfeed Filters Topics Topics Accounting Analytics BusinessEssentials BusinessinSociety CareerDevelopment Communication Community ConneXt Decision-Making EarningYourMBA Entrepreneurship&Innovation Finance Leadership Management Marketing Negotiation News&Events Productivity StaffSpotlight Strategy StudentProfiles Technology Work-LifeBalance Courses Courses AlternativeInvestments BusinessAnalytics BusinessStrategy CORe DesignThinkingandInnovation DisruptiveStrategy EconomicsforManagers EntrepreneurshipEssentials FinancialAccounting GlobalBusiness LeadershipPrinciples LeadingwithFinance ManagementEssentials NegotiationMastery OrganizationalLeadership PowerandInfluenceforPositiveImpact StrategyExecution SustainableBusinessStrategy SustainableInvesting SubscribetotheBlog RSSfeed 5StrategyExecutionSkillsEveryBusinessLeaderNeeds 21Oct2021 TimStobierski Author Contributors tag Leadership Management Strategy StrategyExecution It’softensaidacorporation’sstrategyisthemostimportantcomponentinwhetheritwillsuccessfullyreachitsgoals.Whileit’struethatidentifyingtherightstrategyisessentialtorunningabusiness,it’snottheonlypartoftheequationthatmatters.Strategyexecution—theartofimplementingastrategyasplanned—isalsovital. Successfullyexecutingcomplexstrategyissocriticalthatprofessionalswithatrackrecordoforganizationalstrategyimplementationareofteninhighdemand.Takingthestepstodevelopyourstrategyexecutionskillsandexperiencecanenableyoutofillthatdemand. Belowisalookatthekeystrategyexecutionskillseverybusinessleadershouldhave,alongwiththestepsyoucantaketodevelopthem. FreeE-Book:HowtoFormulateaSuccessfulBusinessStrategy Accessyourfreee-booktoday. DOWNLOADNOW EssentialStrategyExecutionSkills 1.NavigatingtheTensionBetweenInnovationandControl Successfullyexecutingafirm’sstrategyrequirestrade-offs,includingwhichopportunitiestopursue,whichcustomerstoprioritize,andwheretodobusiness. Inadditiontotheseimportantdecisions,businessleadersfaceafundamentaltensionbetweentheneedtoinnovatetostayrelevantandcontroloperationstoensurestrategiesaresuccessfullyimplemented.Learninghowtobalancethesetwoneedsisanessentialexecutionskill. Implementinga“leversofcontrol”frameworkcanhelpguidedecisions,whichoffersfourleversthatcanbemanipulatedtofacilitateeitherinnovationorcontrol. Tofacilitateinnovation,businessleaderscanusetheleversof: Beliefsystems:Thesecommunicatewhatpeopleshoulddoandhowtheyshouldactastheystriveforoptimumperformance.Theycommonlytaketheformofcredos,missionstatements,andcorevaluestatements. Interactivecontrolsystems:Theseareformalinformationsystemsmanagersusetoinvolvethemselvesinsubordinates’decisionsandfocusorganizationalattentiononemergingthreatsandopportunities. Tofacilitatecontrol,businessleaderscanusetheleversof: Boundarysystems:Thesecommunicatewhatpeopleshouldn’tdoastheypursueperformanceobjectives.Theytaketheformofcodesofconductandotherformalsystems. Diagnosticcontrolsystems:Theseareformalinformationsystemsmanagersusetomonitororganizationaloutcomesandcorrectdeviationsfrompresetstandardsofperformance. 2.MasteringtheFourPsofStrategy Themeaningoftheword“strategy”variesaccordingtothecontextinwhichit’sused.Thisisprimarilyduetothefactthatabusiness’sstrategycanbeleveragedforseveralprimarypurposes,collectivelyknownasthe“fourPsofstrategy”: Strategyasperspectivecommunicatesanorganization’slargermissionandpurposeandinspiresprideinemployees. Strategyaspatternsofactiondescribesabusiness’sabilitytoidentifyinformationaboutchangesinthecompetitivelandscapesoitcanadaptandstayrelevant. Strategyaspositionisthecompetitivepositionabusinesstakesinthemarketplace,includingitsvaluepropositionanddifferentiators. Strategyasplansreferstothespecificgoalsandmeasuresabusinesscommunicatestoitsemployees. Allbusinessleadersshouldaimtomasterthesefourdimensions.Doingsocanallowthemtocommunicateandexecutestrategyacrosschannelseffectively.Firmlyunderstandingthesecomponentscanalsobetterpositionaleadertopulltheleversofcontrolandinnovation. 3.AligningKeyJobswithStrategy Althoughbusinessleadersareresponsibleforoverseeingandimplementingorganizationalstrategy,itwouldbeimpracticalforthemtocarryouteachdistincttask.Forthesamereasonmanagersmustdelegatetaskstoteammembers,businessleadersmustdelegatekeystrategytaskstoemployees. Toaccomplishthis,businessleadersneedtobeadeptatdesigningjobsthatalignwithspecificelementsoftheirorganizations’strategies.Awell-designedjobcanensureemployeeshavetherightmixofcontrol,accountability,influence,andsupporttosucceed. OnetoolyoucanusetodesignjobsthatcloselyalignwithstrategyistheJobDesignOptimizationTool(JDOT)createdbyHarvardBusinessSchoolProfessorRobertSimons,whoteachestheonlinecourseStrategyExecution. 4.MeasuringValueCreationBeyondFinancialPerformance Todeterminewhetheranorganizationiseffectivelyhittingitsstrategygoals—andwhetheritsstrategyispositivelyimpactingthebusiness—it’simportanttohaveaclearmonitoringprocess.Withoutmeasurement,it’simpossibletoknowifthestrategybeingpursuedistherightone.ThisisakeycomponentofexecutingoneofthefourPs:strategyasplans. Well-designeddiagnosticcontrolsystemsallowleaderstomeasureandmonitorperformance.Butmerelymeasuringfinancialperformanceignoresintangibleassets,suchasresearchcapabilities,brandloyalty,andcustomerrelationships.Themostsuccessfulcompaniesalsomeasurecustomerperspective,processperspective,andlearningandgrowthperspective,eachofwhichproducesvalueforanorganizationthatcan’tbeeasilymeasuredinfinancialterms. 5.ManagingStrategicRisk Allbusinessesaresubjecttorisk—particularlyhigh-performing,innovativebusinesseswithhigh-pressurecultures.Thismakesriskmanagementanessentialpartofallbusinessoperations,includingstrategyexecution. Thethreeprimarysourcesofrisktobeawareofandaccountforare: Operationsrisk:Thelikelihoodanoperationalerrorwillinterferewiththeflowofabusiness’sgoodsandservices Assetimpairmentrisk:Whenanasset—whetherfinancial,physical,orintellectualproperty—riskslosingasignificantportionofitscurrentvalue Competitiverisk:Changesinthecompetitiveenvironmentthatcouldimpairabusiness’sabilitytocreatevalueanddifferentiateitsofferings Effectivestrategyexecutionrequiresunderstandingtheserisksandhowtheymightinfluencebothanorganizationanditsstrategy.Varioustoolscanaidinperformingriskanalysis,suchasariskexposurecalculator,whichhelpspinpointabusiness’spotentialproblemareas.Likewise,internalcontrols,boundarysystems,anddiagnosticcontrolsystemscanbeleveragedtotrackandmanagerisk. WhoNeedsStrategyExecutionSkills? Whilestrategyexecutionisoftendiscussedinthecontextofbusinessleadersandexecutives,otherprofessionalswhocanbenefitinclude: Mid-levelmanagersandfunctionalleads:Strategyisn’tonlyimplementedonacompany-widebasis;individualdepartments,teams,andverticalswithinanorganizationmustalsoexecutestrategies.Currentandaspiringmanagersorfunctionalleadscanimprovetheirteams’performancesbydevelopingtheirownskills. Entrepreneurs:Buildingandscalingabusinessrequiresexceptionalexecution.Thisisespeciallytrueintheearliestdaysofastartup’slifewhentheteamissmall. Consultants:Strategyexecutionissoessentialthatmanyorganizationshireconsultantswithstrategyexecutionexpertisetocarryouttheircorporatestrategy.Consultantswhodevelopstrategyexecutionskillscanpotentiallyaddalucrativenewsourceofrevenuetotheirbusinesses. DevelopingYourStrategyExecutionSkills Whiletherearemanyresourcesyoucanusetolearnhowtodesigneffectivestrategy,therearen’tmanydedicatedtoteachingstrategyexecution.Withthisinmind,completingacourseorworkshopthat’shighlyfocusedonstrategyexecutionisoneofthemosteffectivewaystobuildyourskills. TheonlinecourseStrategyExecutionwasspecificallydesignedwiththeskillsaboveinmind.Thosewhocompleteitwalkawaywithafirmunderstandingoftheskills,tools,andframeworksneededtoallocateresources,measureperformance,managerisk,andexecutestrategy. Areyouinterestedindevelopingyourstrategyexecutionskills?Exploreoureight-weekStrategyExecutioncourseandotheronlinestrategycoursestohoneyourstrategicplanningandexecutionskills. AbouttheAuthorTimStobierskiisamarketingspecialistandcontributingwriterforHarvardBusinessSchoolOnline.