Successful Strategy Execution – Can It Happen Without Good Leadership?

Can successful strategy execution happen without good leadership?  My answer is that depends.

Most people would say that it take as leader to lead the battle.  But I ask you, how many times have you seen a successful company with an incompetent owner at the helm?  We all have, so that’s why I say it depends.

Now, how did the company get there?  Was it just by happenstance? Or, do good leaders exist within the ranks of the business?

On the first question, how did the company get there, I’d ask was there even a strategy involved?  Many times it’s just by luck that companies have success.  They’re in the right place at the right time and it just works out.  Now you and I both know that’s not a strategy.  You can’t replicate that even if you try!

Good Leadership from Within

Next, take a look inside the ranks of the business.  Are there people that just have knack for leadership?  Leadership is much simpler than people want to admit.  It’s not easy but it is simple,  as I noted in my previous post 10 Leadership Tips We All Can Learn from a Boy Scout.  The problem is most of us are not disciplined enough to do what we need to be a good leader.

Let me ask you, have you ever seen that person in the office, on the line, or in the field that just does it right?  Of course you have we all have.

If an incompetent business owner happens to make a lucky hire and get one or more of these people then they can have success.  If they happen to get their vision across to someone else or if the competent workers see what the business can become and do it then it can happen.

But I ask you, what are the chances of this happening in your business?  You probably have a better chance at winning the lottery!

Successful Strategy Execution – Be The Leader

In the post Business Execution – 10 Things Make You More Effective I listed number 6 as lead your team.  Leadership is a core skill necessary if you are to have success.  Even if you don’t have employees, which is not a self-sustaining business model, you must have vendors and partners that helps you execute your strategy.  So, begin learning and practicing the skills of leadership.

Leadership is also critical because it is a core discipline of project management (PM).  And, I made the correlation between strategy execution and PM last week in the post Sound Project Management (PM): A Key to Successful Strategy Execution.

So Leadership keeps popping up everywhere we go.  So, if you’re having trouble with strategy execution or if you just don’t seem to be making as much progress as you had hoped, look at your leadership skills.  Are they where they need to be?

So, I’ll wrap up this post by asking the question again.  Can successful strategy execution happen without good leadership?