How_You_Can_Meet_Your_#1_Leadership_Challenge_RUSSELL

8/7/2019 How_You_Can_Meet_Your_#1_Leadership_Challenge_RUSSELL

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A Special Leadership In FastTime Report

Excellence In ExecutionHOW YOU CAN

MEET YOUR #1

LEADERSHIP

CHALLENGEFOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

LEADERSHIP Think Strategically Focus Sharply Move Quickly














By Leland A. Russell


2/13

EXCELLENCE IN EXECUTION

HOW YOU CAN MEET YOUR#1LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

2010 Leland A. Russell | For more information [email protected] or call (877) 855-2050 1

TOUGH AT THE TOP

Execution is the leadership challenge most commonly mentioned by leaders today

regardless of size of company or type of industry. Behind this trend is a fundamental fact:

its increasingly tough at the top. No, I mean really tough.

Leaders today are facing a perfect

storm of complexity and change

created by an unprecedented array

of driving forces. The pace of

communications, the blurring of

geographic boundaries and the

instantaneous mobility of ideasspawn new challenges. Competition

is no longer predictable in time,

place, or specifics. Disruptive

innovations, appearing seemingly overnight, can suddenly endanger a long-successful

business or make an entire industry obsolete. In this environmentthe New Normal

even the most vaunted leadership practices may not be enough.

Whether you are a seasoned leader at the top or an emerging leader on the way up,

youve probably found that executing effectively in todays environment can be a

challenge, and youre not alone. A wide range of research reveals that 70% to 90% oforganizations are failing to execute effectively. Its not surprising that, when an

international research group asked CEOs from 40 countries to rate their greatest concerns

from a list of 121 different challenges, Excellence In Execution was ranked #1.

What does it take to achieve Excellence In Execution and what are the benefits?

TheLeadership In FastTime Modelwe will present in this article is a proven formula

for Excellence In Execution. It has been acknowledged as highly effective by top leaders

of many well-known, forward-leaning organizations. The benefits are faster, better results

in thinking, planning and implementation that drive breakthrough performance.

TheLeadership In FastTime Modelhas three imperatives for realizing these benefits:

Smart Strategic Thinking without Wasting Time

Sharply Focused Planning that Leverages Resources

Fast-Cycle Implementation with Real-Time Learning
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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APROVEN FORMULA

TheLeadership In FastTimeModelemerged from our research and hands-on work with

hundreds of leaders in the Fortune 500, as well as leaders of non-profits, government

agencies and the military. An especially useful source has been the leaders of the Desert

Storm air campaignone of the most successful campaigns in military history. Because

of its size and complexity and the fact that it was such a rapid victory, it contains valuable

lessons for meeting the Execution challenges of the New Normal.

We presented what we learned from Desert

Storm in the bookWinning InFastTime,

which I co-authored with Colonel John

Warden, the architect of the air campaign.During one of our writing sessions, I asked

Colonel Warden a seminal question, How

would you describe the success formula of

Desert Storm? He paused for a moment and

then crisply replied, Think Strategically,

Focus Sharply, and Move Quickly. This

summed up in six words a proven approach to rapid success in a complex, fast-changing

environment.

The following year I began to deliverWinning InFastTime

keynotes and executive briefings to non-military audiences. It was

soon apparent that Think Strategically, Focus Sharply, Move

Quickly, resonated with leaders because it provides a

comprehensive mental modelthree essential mindsetsfor

achieving Excellence In Execution in the 21st century.

Mindset 1 Think Strategically

Organizations that consistently win in the New Normal have one thing

in commoncommitted proactive leaders who think strategically about

the organizations challenges and opportunities and act accordingly.

That was the case with our client Texas Instruments (TI). For over ten

years, during a period when many of its competitors, including Intel and

Motorola, were experiencing major growth in their market value, TIs

market value was flat. By the mid 1990s, TIs leaders began to realize that the problem

was not their tactical capabilities. It was a lack of smart strategic thinking.

Winning in FastTime should be a

required handbook for 21st century

leaders. It provides a road map that can

help make the difference between winning

and losing."

Marshall Goldsmith, named by TheWall Street Journal as one of the top ten

executive educators, by Forbes as one ofthe five most- respected executive

coaches, and the Economist as one ofthe most credible consultants in the new

era of business


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So how did TI put that insight into practice and what was the result?

In a series of strategic thinking sessions that engaged over two hundred top leaders, they

shaped a new vision and new strategic focus. Instead of continuing to fight competitors

for a share of the memory chip market, TI targeted the explosive market for digital signal

processorsDSPs, which are a key component of Internet and mobile communication

devices. And, most importantly, they decided to dominate the DSP market. They sold

their huge defense unit, a sacred

cow, in order to pump more money

into the DSP effort. In an interview

with the Wall Street Journal the

CEO declared, "This isn't a market

we want to play in; this is themarket where we intend to win."

And they did win and win big: TIs

market value increased six-fold

over the next three years.

Mindset 2 Focus Sharply

In our consulting and coaching work, weve found that theres a

consistent concern among leaders who are responsible for

implementing strategiesresource constraints. They wonder if they

have the enough resources to achieve breakthrough performance.

In todays environment, resource constraints are always going be a

factor, but theres a proven solution: sharply focus your available resources on the

Leverage Points in your organization and market for optimal impact.

What is a Leverage Point?

The trim tab on a boat rudder is a good example of a Leverage Point. Buckminster Fuller,

the futurist best known for coining the term "Spaceship Earth," explained it this way:

Think of the Queen Marythere's a tiny thing at the edge of the rudder

called a trim tab. It's a miniature rudder. Just moving the little trim tab builds

a low pressure that pulls the rudder around. It takes almost no effort at all.


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Every successful executive

intuitively knows the People

Leverage Points within theirown organizations. That is

why, when they want to get

something done, they reach out

to the key Leverage Points

board members, other senior

executives, top customers and

the informal leaders that the

rank-and-file in the organization tend to follow. What may not be so obvious are the

process andphysicalinfrastructure Leverage Points, such as strategy making and

leadership decision-making (processes) and technology infrastructure (physical).

The key to having optimal impact with your available resources and significantly

increasing your probability of success is to sharply focus on the key Leverage Points and

affect a critical mass of them in the right way at the right time.

Mindset 3 Move Quickly

There is a fundamental truth about leadership in a world that is

operating on Internet Time: laggards lose. Organizations need speed,

and the speed of the leader and their team determines the speed of

the organization. The world's most successful companies have

leaders who move quickly to spot new opportunities, mobilize

resources and bring new products and services to market in a flash.

A prime example is Virgin Groups Sir Richard Branson. You are probably familiar with

the Virgin brand from its music megastores and airlines. What you may not know is how

rapidly Virgin has launched one new business after another1

In the vast majority of situations, time is NOT on your side the slower you move, the

less chance you have of achieving your objectives. One reason is Murphy's Law, whichstates that "anything that can go wrong will go wrong." Another reason for speed is the

ever-changing environment. No matter how theoretically perfect your original plan may

be, as the execution timeline lengthens, its value depreciates because the context changes.

. Often the window of

opportunity is very small," explains Branson. "So speed is of the essence."

1 Business Week, March 27, 2006


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Those who operate with a Move Quickly mindset tend to win for a number of reasons:

External competitors are outpaced.

Internal opposition to change is pre-empted.

Key planning assumptions dont become obsolete.

There are fewer unanticipated consequences.

Implementation gaps quickly surface and can be corrected.

Fast wins create a positive psychology in the organization.

Desired results and benefits are accelerated.

How fast should you move? The answer is simple:move at the speed you need to succeed. With few

exceptions, this means moving faster than the rate

of change in your environment and faster than

your competitors.

NINE SUCCESS PRINCIPLES

The three critical mindsets weve just reviewedThink Strategically, Focus Sharply,

Move Quicklyare the foundation ofLeadership In FastTime. They provide a holistic

mental model for leading Execution in the New Normal, a model that contains ninesuccess principles. Before we review them, lets clarify our defintion of principle.

A principle is a concise statement of a fundamental truth within a specific context. For

example, a few years ago an adventurous family decided to go backpacking in Alaska.

The wilderness area they planned to visit had a large population of grizzly bears. Since

the family had never before been in bear country, they decided to visit the National Park

I am truly amazed by how much weaccomplished in how little time. With the

FastTime approach, we met some very

aggressive goals very quickly.

Hardy Wentzel,Leader, Weyerhaeuser Canada


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Service Center for a presentation on Safety in Bear Country. The Park Ranger strongly

emphasized one core fact: bears, if annoyed or surprised, can be very dangerous. He

concluded his presentation with a key principle for bear safety: Make noise!

The principle Make noise! provides a guideline for ensuring personal safety in a

potentially dangerous environmentbear country. Likewise, the nine principles for

Leadership In FastTimeprovide guidelines for ensuring success in a challenging

leadership environment, a dynamic landscape of complexity and rapid change.

As depicted in the chart below, each of the nine principles is an antidote for one or more

of the common obstacles to effective Execution.

Think Strategically Principles

Principle One, See The Big Picture, is an antidote for the narrow perspectives and

blind spots that can lead to bad decisions, missed opportunities and unintendedconsequences. It provides guidelines fordeveloping realistic situational awareness.

Principle Two,Design Your Future Picture, is an antidote for the knee-jerk solutions

that compound current problems and fail to move you in a strategically smart direction.

It provides guidelines forsetting objectives and shaping strategies and measures.

Behavioral / Cultural Inertia

Success Principles

Beginning / Ending Things Poorly

Lack of Alignment and Velocity

Failure to Learn / Course CorrectMOVE

Quickly

Striving for Perfect Plans

Obsolete Structures / Processes

Underestimating What It Takes

FOCUS

Sharply

Narrow Perspectives / Blind Spots

Knee-Jerk Short-Term Solutions

Lead The Transitions

Orchestrate Parallel Actions

Improve While You Move

Create Good Enough Plans

Organize For Rapid Success

Understand The System

Design Your Future Picture

Adopt Winning Behaviors

See The Big Picture

THINK

Strategically

Execution Obstacles


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Assess Current Reality

Explore The Future

Identify Strategic Issues

Principle Three,Adopt Winning Behaviors is an antidote for the status quo ways of

doing things that are often counterproductive. It provides guidelines fordefining and

practicing the behaviors and cultural norms that will help you achieve success.

Focus Sharply Principles

Principle Four, Understand The System, is an antidote for underestimating what it

takes to overcome the inertia of the status quo. It provides guidelines forbuilding a

shared understanding of the Leverage Points of the system in which youre operating.

Principle Five, Create Good Enough Plans is an antidote for allowing the desire for

perfection to be the enemy of the good. It provides guidelines forshaping Action

Roadmaps that allow you to move forward quickly to build momentum.

Principle Six, Organize for Rapid Success, is an antidote for the tendency to maintain

outdated structures and processes because they are politically expedient. It provides

guidelines fororganizing resources to support fast-cycle implementation.

Move Quickly Principles

Principle Seven, Orchestrate Parallel Actions, is an antidote for lack of speed and

being derailed by a single failure. It provides guidelines forimplementing multiple

actions plans to affect a critical mass of Leverage Points.

Principle Eight,Improve While You Move, is an antidote for the failure to quicklylearn from mistakes and rapidly course correct. It provides guidelines forcontinuously

assessing outcomes regularly with a singular focus on getting better fasterresults. .

Principle Nine,Lead The Transitions, is an antidote for weak beginnings and endings

that waste time and resources. It provides guidelines forstarting initiatives and projects

in a smart way and finishing them with finesse.

Each of the nine principles includes some specific leadership actions that help translate it

into a practical, understandable process. For example, the leadership actions for Principle

One, See The Big Picture, are:


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The graphic below presents theLeadership In FastTimemindsets, principles and

actions in one easy-to-grasp Rule of Three architecture: there are three mindsets, each

mindset has three principles and each principle has three actions.

Leadership In FastTime Model

*The value of this kind of architecture was discovered years ago by Calvin Thorpe and

George Rowland at the Bell Telephone Laboratories. They found that grouping

information in clusters of three greatly increases an individual's working memory 2

2 Lewis, D. & Greene, J., Thinking Better. New York: Rawson, Wade Publishers 1982.

.

See TheBig Picture

Design YourFuture Picture

Adopt WinningBehaviors

Assess Current Reality

Explore The Future Identify Strategic Issues

Define Strategic Goals

Create Winning Strategies

Make Success Measurable

Avoid Self-Deceit

Know What It Takes To Win Seek Real-Time Feedback

Create GoodEnough Plans

Understand TheWhole System

Organize ForRapid Success

Clarify System Boundaries Define A Common Language Identify Relevant Components

Identify Leverage Points Define Desired Effects Develop Action Roadmaps

Secure Required Resources Define Rules of Engagement Mobilize Your Stakeholders

Orchestrate

Parallel Actions

Improve While

You Move

Lead The

Transitions

Form An Orchestration Team Establish An Action Rhythm Facilitate Feedback Loops

Conduct After Action Reviews Monitor Results and Metrics Course Correct Quickly

Start Smartly Accelerate Transformations Finish With Finesse

MOVEQuickly

FOCUSSharply

P

RI

NI

P

LE

S

A

C

TION

S

THINKStrategically


10/13




APPLYING THE MODEL FORPERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT

Our research and experience indicates that most organizations have opportunities for

performance improvement in one or more of three key areas: (a) shaping a winning

strategy for current market conditions; (b) aligning workforce goals and actions with the

strategy; (c) quickly and effectively implementing initiatives and projects.

For the past decade, our consulting focus has been

on helping leaders meet their toughest Execution

challenges in these three areas. We have applied the

Leadership InFastTimeModeland a supporting

online toolkit to Execution issues in each area with

consistent success.

They say the proof is in the pudding, so lets look

at two diverse examples ofLeadership InFastTimeExecution results, one in a large

organization with thousands of employees and one in a small organization with nine

employees.

FastTimeResults in a Large Organization

The U.S. Industrial Business of a Fortune 500 wood product corporation urgently needed

to develop and implement a new strategy to combat some significant challenges:

Sales growth was stagnant and two previous efforts to address the problem had failed.

There was a poor history of translating desired changes into action because

participants did not understand and support the changes.

The organization had just reorganized into a matrix structure and implementation was

under the authority of 10 different regional managers throughout the US and Canada.

The larger business segments overshadowed the Industrial Business and getting

regional leadership commitment to implementation was extremely difficult.

The corporation was in the midst of integrating a major acquisition, which required a

significant number of regional personnel to be on transition teams.

The costs in both time and travel to physically convene regional participants were

beyond the available budget.

Using theLeadership InFastTimerapid-cycle planning process and web-based planning

tools, we guided the leadership group through a 90-day process that produced what

The FastTime principles were at the

core of the transformation at Motorola.

We used them to launch fast,

fundamental change and they worked!

Sandy OggFormer Corporate Director andcorporate transformation leader

Motorola Corporation


11/13




proved to be a breakthrough strategy. The group consisted of 15 representatives from

throughout the US and Canada who met online each week. The process concluded with a

two-day onsite session that vetted the 17 project plans and immediately obtained topmanagement support for implementation.

Given the failure of the previous efforts, the corporations CEO was clearly pleased with

the business results that were reported 12 months later:

Sales were up 10 percentthe highest-ever

rate of sales growth in a market that grew less

than 3 percent.

Net profits were up 58 percent.

Return on assets was up 60 percent.

Headcount was reduced by 10 percent.

Total business investment held constant.

Share of key market segments increased.

FastTimeResults in a Small Organization

A regional paging company based in Orange County California offers anotherLeadership

InFastTimesuccess story. This company was in deep trouble because the cell phone

market had suddenly exploded and put their paging business on a rapid road to

obsolescence. The industry as a whole had no long-term prospectsfour of the five

national paging companies had recently declared bankruptcy.

Using theFastTimeSystem Mapping Process, we determined that this small firm had

three valuable assets: experience with sophisticated billing systems, an established

network of merchant customers across southern California and a small staff of 9 capable,

committed people who worked well together. With those insights, we conducted a two-

day strategic planning session that included an outside-the-box opportunity search. We

then followed up with a 90-day executive coaching process with the CEO.

The result was a breakthrough strategy that put the

firm on a path to extraordinary successastrategy based on a Point-of-Sale Activation

(POSA) technology that allowed its existing

network of merchant customers to create a new

profit center for their business.

The FastTimeprocess helped our IndustrialDivision rapidly develop a superior strategy

that not only produced short term-results, and

strong momentum for the long term. It also

helped establish an Execution culture, which

gives us a significant competitive advantage.

Ed JonesDirector of Industrial Planning

Weyerhaeuser Corporation

We were on the road to extinction

because of the transition away frompagers to mobile phones. Then, we

learned and aggressively applied the

Leadership In FastTime tools and the

results were extraordinary.

Cliff Thompkins


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Smart Strategic Thinking without Wasting Time

Sharply Focused Planning that Leverages Resources

Fast-Cycle Implementation with Real-Time Learning

The new strategy delivered hyper-growth for this small firm with no outside capital

infusion and no increase in their headcount. The gross revenue tells the success story:

$300,000 in year one, $9.5 million in year two, $52 million in year three and $150million in year fourat which time the CEO was able to sell the firm for $20 million.

SUMMARY

TheLeadership In FastTime Modelis a proven formula for Excellence In Execution.

The benefits of applying it are faster, better results in thinking, planning and

implementation that together drive breakthrough performance.

Whether you are a seasoned leader at the top or an emerging leader on the way up, the

Leadership InFastTime Modelcan help you and your organization improve Execution

performance because:

The three mindsetsThink Strategically, Focus Sharply, Move Quicklyprovide the

essential conceptual frameworkfor leading Excellence In Execution in the New Normal.

The nine principles provide guidelines for anticipating and overcoming the common

obstacles to Excellence In Execution.

Each principle is translated into practical actions that can be measured, evaluated and

reinforced to ensure performance improvement.

The Models Rule of Three architecturethree mindsets, each mindset has three

principles and each principle has three actionsmakes it easy to learn and apply.

It is a disciplined, proven methodology that focuses on the Execution practices,

processes and tools that leaders, managers and mission-critical teams need to win.

When you think about the potential value of learning and applying theLeadership In

FastTime Modelpersonally, or in your organization, consider these questions:

What are your most significant Execution challenges and opportunities today?

What are some of the potential costs of delay in solving even one of those problems?

What are some of the potential benefits of acceleration of even one opportunity?

________________________________________________________________________


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DEVELOPING YOUREXCELLENCE IN EXECUTION

For the past decade, hundreds of leaders in a wide range of organizations have applied the

Leadership InFastTimeModeland its supporting toolkit to meet their toughest Execution

challenges.

Our first steps with a new client are typically to: (1) assess their current Execution challenges and

improvement opportunities; and (2) conduct an onsite briefing with a good cross-section of those

who have Execution responsibilities. The purpose of the briefing is to provide an overview of the

assessment results and shape a path forward, which could take three forms:

Providing comprehensive consulting and coachingto help senior leaders and their teams

accelerate action on the assessment recommendations.

Designing and deliveringscalable training programs for leaders and managers who have key

Execution responsibilities. These programs are customized for the organization and its business

units based on the assessment and they have a strong learning by doing component.

Working with one or more mission-critical teams to accelerate Execution of a priority

project or initiative, with hands-on consulting and real-time knowledge transfer to the team.

If you are interested in learning more about how you might use the Leadership in FastTime

Modelpersonally, or with your team or organization,please [email protected]

or call us at 877-855-2050.

Click hereto go to our Blog to see what others are saying about this report.

The author of this article, Leland Russell, is co-author of Winning In FastTimeand President of GEO Group Strategic Services..

Russell and his GEO Group colleagues have successfully served a wide range of leaders in all sectors. Their typical clients are

CEOs, heads of business units, corporate functions and leadership teams who face tough Execution challenges.

"A very big personal thanks for all that you did for me and my team. The FastTime

Mentoring process has proven to be a turning point in the Execution of our business."

Barney Saunders, Agilent Technologies

Former Vice President & General Manager of Bio-Research Solutions

To learn more about Leadership In FastTime:

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