In their cover feature that appeared in Fortune in June 1999, management consultant Ram Charan and senior editor Geoffrey Colvin looked at many of the big-name CEO’s of major American corporations who fell from grace or were fired from their positions during the 1990’s (and there were plenty).
The authors estimated that, most of the time, the fatal issue was not that the chief didn't have a compelling strategic vision for their business, or wasn't capable or hard-working enough. The problem was simply bad execution on their part.
“Not getting things done, being indecisive, not delivering on commitments,” — this was the undoing of many a brilliant career.
Apart from their own weakness on this score, these CEO’s very often failed to deal decisively with their poorly performing managers. Even though they may have recognized the problem, for reasons such as personal loyalty or the particular manager's influence or popularity, the CEO failed to act — and the organization ultimately failed to deliver.
In contrast, the most effective CEO’s focus the organization on a few, key initiatives that are clear and specific. They keep track of assignments and follow-up on them. They don't launch a new business initiative until those in progress are embedded in the company's DNA. Commitments are everything.
We believe that Charan and Colvin’s insights are applicable not just to corporate CEO’s but to leaders in every sphere — of small enterprises as well as big businesses, of social organizations, in politics. Performance matters more than promises.
The authors estimated that, most of the time, the fatal issue was not that the chief didn't have a compelling strategic vision for their business, or wasn't capable or hard-working enough. The problem was simply bad execution on their part.
“Not getting things done, being indecisive, not delivering on commitments,” — this was the undoing of many a brilliant career.
Apart from their own weakness on this score, these CEO’s very often failed to deal decisively with their poorly performing managers. Even though they may have recognized the problem, for reasons such as personal loyalty or the particular manager's influence or popularity, the CEO failed to act — and the organization ultimately failed to deliver.
In contrast, the most effective CEO’s focus the organization on a few, key initiatives that are clear and specific. They keep track of assignments and follow-up on them. They don't launch a new business initiative until those in progress are embedded in the company's DNA. Commitments are everything.
We believe that Charan and Colvin’s insights are applicable not just to corporate CEO’s but to leaders in every sphere — of small enterprises as well as big businesses, of social organizations, in politics. Performance matters more than promises.
The leader has a responsibility to maintain and communicate focus, to set high standards for his/her subordinates and model them, and to be prepared to “call out” members of their team who don't deliver. Focus and follow-through on what you say you’ll do is the difference between mere nice-sounding strategy and achieving actual success.
Charan and Colvin argued that getting execution right would become one of the leader’s most important tasks in the 21st century economy. We think that they were right on the money.
You can read the original Fortune article here.
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