The rhythm of business

Strategy execution failure is not a mystery. It is a predictable outcome of believing comfortable lies about how organisations actually work. After transforming hundreds of companies across five continents, I have watched brilliant strategies die the same death—suffocated by myths that leaders refuse to abandon. In Lead to Beat, I debunk the five most dangerous myths sabotaging your organisation's potential.

- Jonathan Escobar Marin, CEO, ActioGlobal and author, Lead to Beat: The Leadership Rhythm That Shapes Tomorrow, writes on the leadership myths that kill execution.

MYTH 1: STRATEGY COMMUNICATED = STRATEGY HAPPENING.

Not long ago, a Fortune 500 CEO proudly showed me his strategy deck. Twenty-six slides. Beautiful graphics. Distributed to thousands of employees. “Everyone knows our strategy,” he beamed. One day later, I asked his leadership team to name the priorities from that strategy they were working on. The response: sixty seconds of piercing silence.

Strategy is necessary for execution, but it is not sufficient.

The brutal truth is that your people aren't ignoring your strategy—they literally can’t find it in the avalanche of PowerPoints where silos have buried it. When the leadership team from that Fortune 500 example finally replied to my request, they listed 15-20 ‘strategic initiatives’... 15—20 yes...from each department! That meant over 120 priorities in total! That was not strategic prioritization. That was the wish list of each kingdom; a list full of activities, vanity metrics, and ambiguously defined initiatives. Sadly, very common ‘wish lists’ I must confess.

Real strategic execution demands what I call the “Wall” of Brutal Focus—a one-page visual fortress of missions with committed targets, dates, and staffing that translates long-term vision into unmissable priorities. It’s not about broadcasting intentions; it’s about weaponising clarity to eliminate the noise of competing agendas.

The most successful companies I have worked with operate this way. They achieve 1.6x faster growth compared to similar organisations in their markets. Their cost reduction initiatives achieve an impact 2.7x to 5.1x greater in the year’s budget. Speed to market for new launches improves by 1.3x to 1.9x. They deliver all this not because they worked harder, but because everyone finally knows what actually matters, and they have multiplied their talent capable of owning strategic goals by at least 9x. Let me cover this one in the next myth debunker.