Why the biggest lever in a company is not the strategy itself, but how leadership teams work around strategy and execution.
In many companies, a great deal of time is devoted to strategy. Presentations are created, market analyses are prepared and strategic workshops are organized. Leadership teams define the direction, establish initiatives and set goals. Yet after a few months, it often turns out that very little has changed.
The company is still trying to do too many things at once, projects are scattered across the organization and the most important decisions are postponed. Strategy slowly disappears from the company’s daily work.
Usually, this is not due to a lack of competence or commitment. In many companies, there is simply no system for leadership teams to work around strategy and execution.
Strategy Alone Does Not Change a Company
Strategy is necessary, but strategy alone does not change an organization. A strategic document can be very good, but if it does not influence how the leadership team operates, it remains merely a point of reference.
Whether a strategy truly works depends on how the leadership team works with it in practice. Do the most important topics regularly make it onto the leadership team’s agenda? Are difficult decisions made on time? Does the company have clearly defined priorities?
Strategy only starts working when it becomes part of the leadership team’s regular way of working.
Why Strategies Often Fail
From my experience working as a CEO, CFO, Sales Director and advisor to business owners and CEOs, the problem rarely lies in the strategy itself. Much more often, the problem lies in the way leadership teams operate.
Leadership teams easily get pulled into day-to-day operations. Urgent client matters arise, organizational tensions appear and new sales or operational projects demand attention.
As a result, more and more time is spent on current affairs and less and less on decisions about the company’s future direction.
There is also often an excess of initiatives. After strategic workshops, a long list of projects emerges, each of which seems important. Organizations try to pursue many things simultaneously, and the company’s energy becomes scattered across multiple directions.
The Biggest Lever in a Company
From my experience, the biggest lever in a company is not the strategy itself.
It is how leadership teams work around strategy.
When leadership teams operate in a structured way, companies can focus on a few truly critical priorities. The most important decisions are made faster and strategic initiatives are executed consistently.
The organization also understands the company’s direction and can focus its energy on the most important topics.
However, in companies where leadership teams operate without focus, even the best strategy remains a document.
A System for Strategy and Execution
That is why, in my work with business owners, CEOs and leadership teams, I focus on one thing: building a system for strategy and execution.
It is not just about creating a strategy. It is about building a way of working that enables leadership teams to make key strategic decisions, define the company’s true priorities and consistently execute the most important initiatives.
Management Operating System™
Over time, I named this way of working the Management Operating System™.
It is a system for how leadership teams work around strategy and execution.
It includes several key elements:
- a clear strategic direction
- a few true priorities
- a system for making strategic decisions
- a regular leadership operating rhythm
- a system for monitoring execution
When such a system starts working, strategy stops being a presentation.
It becomes the way the company operates.
My Role in This Work
I do not create strategy for my clients. Decisions always belong to the business owner, CEO and leadership team.
My role is to help them identify the key strategic decisions, organize the company’s priorities and build the Management Operating System™.
I work exclusively with business owners, CEOs and leadership teams because this is where the decisions are made that have the greatest impact on the company’s future.