Picking up on my discussion from August, I wanted to add to my list of critical factors required to ensure successful strategy execution.  I’ve already talked about the importance of leadership, making the case for change, and accountability.  I want to add “establishing a vision that everyone works toward” to the list.

This vision needs to be set by leadership.  After all, that is a big part of what leadership is all about, right?  And, we always hear talk in the press about so and so’s “visionary leadership.”  

In the past week, I’ve already discussed what I believe to be two of the most important factors in ensuring successful strategy execution—having an active leadership champion and making the case for change.  In this blog, I want to discuss a third critical success factor—accountability.

While I don’t think it is earth shattering to say that making sure the people who are leading and implementing your strategy execution project are held accountable for it, in my experience, it is definitely worth emphasizing this point.  

“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results,” Winston Churchill famously said.  And, you don’t get results without execution.  So, how do you ensure successful execution?  With leadership.

Your organization’s endeavor to execute its strategy will have a very slim chance of succeeding without a high-level leader to champion the process.  In this, the first of my six-part blog series on keys to successful strategy execution, I will discuss the keys to having a leadership champion who will enable your organization to achieve strategy execution success.