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Leadership topic - execute

tasks critical to business success flawlessly. Marshals resources (people, funding, material, support) to get things done; Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; Leverages metrics, tracking, and dashboards to make sure that positive business results can be delivered, communicated, and repeated; is constantly and consistently growing top performers, steadfastly pushes self and others for results; focuses on the Bottom Line in a wholistic way; 

Roadblock –   Over controls and meddles; does too much of the work themselves; doesn’t get the most out of people; has weak followers and teammates; often traveling alone

execution Differences

execution Differences

Mar 20, 2021 | , ,

I have been thinking about Teams a lot lately, particularly those that are formed in a crisis.  They typically execute with “show up in a conference room at ….”  and from there, take on a life and a feeling that is hard to describe.  Leaders of those teams have a unique challenge – how to assemble a group that has all of the various skills that might be needed, and then, how to keep them together when there is not a lot that they share.  Differences that bring strength and breadth also challenge you to communicate and lead in a way that says execution is about the work and not about what happens to you or others 😉 

The Value of execution

The Value of execution

Mar 13, 2021 | , ,

For as long as I can remember, I have been working – and not in a negative way.  I love doing things, solving problems, creating things, particularly when they are complicated.  As an executive I had to realize that making things EASY was actually WAY more important… and also, WAY more difficult.  The way I would explain this to you in-person would be to draw a Venn diagram – which most of you won’t even remember from Geometry or Algebra.  The idea is you have a circle, I have a circle.  Where they overlap, we share… objectives, deliverables, targets, mission, etc.  Easy with 2… but when organizations are large, the execution overlap becomes smaller and smaller… sometimes the Null Set… 

Celebration execution

Celebration execution

Mar 6, 2021 | , ,

Politics, or trying to not write about it, had a hand in starting these columns years ago.  After being active in High School, begrudgingly, I tried to stay out of it in college, but to no avail.  I was spotted by a junior in my sophomore year, and he wanted to groom a successor.  There was a Student Senate, and the Engineering School needed someone to be on it, and he suggested I ran – which I did and served for 3 of my 4 years.  He also wanted me to take over the Student Engineers Joint Council (SEJC), the student leadership group for the School, which I also did.  This was one reason I was standing in the middle of the road on a Friday night, missing a shoe, waiting for my girlfriend to pick me up… and likely be executed… 

Performing and renewing

Performing and renewing

Feb 28, 2021 | , ,

After that jarring start yesterday, let’s take a more restful approach for today’s conversation.  It is difficult to tell what is real and what is Performing, particularly as you consider another’s or your own stance on faith.  Paradoxes of what is said versus what is done can be a conversation that goes in directions that are not renewing for anyone.  For me, it has helped to realize it is more a dance, and sometimes the steps are not clear or easy, and balance is hard to hold…

executing the Performance

executing the Performance

Feb 27, 2021 | , ,

So who are you… really?  A jarring way to start a Saturday conversation, but one that could be well-timed.  Freed from your 9-5 commitments, what do you pick up and execute … first?  As I have mentioned repeatedly, doing is what I do… Performing and acting.  Resting happens only in the process of actually executing something to be completely honest.  A weekend is best ended when there are activities that have been completed, things built, people entertained… you get the idea.  Performing and execution go hand in hand in my world…

wonder who is Performing?

wonder who is Performing?

Feb 26, 2021 | , ,

In my world, we talk a lot about Authenticity.  Ironic as we also talk about Performing… and Presence… and lots of other catchphrases that are offered up as insights to help people become “better”.  It is a wonder that we make any progress, with over 15,000 books published – each year, and the countless “self-help” blogs, video blogs, and writers like me giving you their pearls of wisdom to make it sound simple.  I can offer this insight – it is not easy… but the trick I have found is don’t lose the ability to wonder what it is that makes you Perform at your best.  There is always someone to help you in ways you can’t even imagine… 

Your Partners in Performing

Your Partners in Performing

Feb 24, 2021 | , ,

The First 90 Days is one of my favorite topics to work with new leaders on.  That time is when they are at their freshest to see things that can really help business change and grow… and also are at the highest risk of stepping into things they are just starting to understand.  As it is early in the year, I have a number that are on day 20-30 of that transition, and are feeling the compelling push to Perform – do SOMETHING… and another of my least favorite management “truisms” that is patently false – “Quick Wins”.  They are rarely either, and most often damage your reputation with at least one partner. 

What manages Performance?

What manages Performance?

Feb 23, 2021 | , ,

There is an entire industry now built up around what is called “Vulnerability”.  Brought to the forefront by researcher Brene Brown, now a legend, the concept is that deep inside all of us are fears that need to be managed.  Left unchecked, they can get in the way of our best Performance, and often are topics that I work with leaders to understand and reframe – the coaching word for turning Lemons into Lemonade.  The paradox often is that by not showing vulnerability in your early career, you appear to have it all figured out… which, to those of us later in our career, we can remember those days… and how Performance changes….

engaging Performance

engaging Performance

Feb 22, 2021 | , ,

A good friend was leading a workshop for leaders, and it caused me to pause.  She enjoyed drama and theater, including music and dancing which we had discussed often… as hobbies. She was now offering training for managers on Improv, what they shortened “improvisation” to in Performance competitions. Perhaps from my days in Debate, where the Theater people were… “different” – a feeling they had about us also – I thought it was little off.  What would Improv have to do with leadership?  And then… I was called in to engage a team with…. no preparation…

executing with Harmony

executing with Harmony

Feb 20, 2021 | , ,

When teams are at their peak, there are ways of executing together that anyone outside of the team may or may not even be able to observe.  Little looks and phrases become cues for Harmony that is hard to duplicate.  While the reason for being together may be stressful, those hours of work start to build up muscles that become second nature.  In one season, I was in meetings 3 times a day with the same people – 6 days a week.  We got tight enough to really understand how to cover for each other’s faults, and build on the strengths in ways that most teams will never experience.  What causes that Harmony? 

Rhythm that executes… Email and Writing

Rhythm that executes… Email and Writing

Feb 13, 2021 | , ,

I grew up with email.  My class was the last class to learn slide-rule in high school, and the first to move from punched cards to a terminal. And it was just as inside IBM and outside networks were starting to connect remote people together in ways that are still taking over our lives.  I took typing in high school, not to be an admin (like my first bosses thought), but because being able to do it well was the connection to the rest of the world. Interestingly, studies have shown that people hate email – it takes up way too much of their daily Rhythm and produces very little ROI – and yet, they can’t let go.  So who is executing whom? 

executing Efficiently

executing Efficiently

Jan 23, 2021 |

So back to my teen years, and now I was “old enough” to be some help on the farm in Lubbock....