Effective Leaders Use ‘Strategy of Execution'

ORGANISATIONS look to impactful leadership to guide them through unprecedented times.

- Srinath Sridharan

Time and again, we have seen that even the most established firms fail to adapt to effects of crisis, societal change or cultural shifts; they fail because they could not face uncertainty in the market conditions.

Looking at companies that have survived market upheavals, we learn from them. Effective leaders understand their team’s strengths well and direct them towards achieving the organisational goals. They understand that as much as having a robust strategy, they also need sharp execution capabilities to deliver results.

In their research for an article published in the Harvard Business Review titled The Secrets to Successful Strategy Execution (2008), authors Gary L. Neilson, Karla L. Martin, and Elizabeth Powers asked over 125,000 executive level participants from over 1,000 companies and 50 countries, “Are important strategic and operational decisions quickly translated into action?” and most of the answers were an emphatic “NO”. Over a decade later, the situation doesn’t seem to be any different.