This was the final session of the book study on the book Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan. We discussed chapter 8 & 9 in this session.
Probably the most significant thing to rise up out of chapter 8, and perhaps in this study as a whole, was the importance of connecting the people process to the strategic process. The authors also pose these questions regarding the strategic plans: Is the plan plausible and realistic? Is it internally consistent? Does it match the critical issues and the assumptions? Are people committed to it? These questions and others addressed in this chapter reiterate another focus that has come to the front as we have gone through the study: ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS. The focus on asking questions as part of the execution process has surfaced repeatedly as one of the crucial roles of the leader whose desire is execution.
In chapter 9 the link between the strategic plan and the operations process is discussed. Without this link the strategic process is typically a paperweight that reflects a "checked that off" mentality, instead of a culture of execution. HOW will you get done what you have laid out in the strategic plan? One interesting thing which came to light in the conversation is that some of the campus leaders have strategic plans for their campuses and others don't. This final session has pointed out the need to rectify that missing piece, but also to make sure the strategic plan is connected to an operations process in relationship to people and budget.
The operation plan is summarized here:
1. Set the targets connected to the strategic goals
2. Develop action plans which will hit those targets (keeping in mind the need for contingency planning)
3. Get agreement and closure from all the participants, establishing follow-through measures to make sure people are meeting their commitments or work up corrective steps if the aren't.
Sounds easy but requires the exercise of leadership.
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