LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"A strategy, even a great one, doesn't implement itself." Unknown

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

It's November, and if you're like me, as we approach the last weeks of the year, you begin to think about what's next. I'm in the middle of budget planning, calendar planning, and project planning, yet the most important aspect of planning is simply asking questions around STRATEGY and what will get us where we want to and need to go. This month, let's look at strategy a little bit and see what we can learn.

Last month I shared some quotes that talked about "Vision without Strategy is an illusion", and "Vision without great people is irrelevant".

Last week I shared the quote from Seth Godin that talked about the importance of execution on that strategy.

Today, I share this simple thought on strategy that should be a reminder to us all:

Strategy Doesn't Just Happen! You Have To Implement It

I like this 3-Step Implementation Model:

#1) Clarify Your Strategy: Make sure YOU understand your strategy and that it gets you to where you want to go

#2) Communicate Your Strategy: If you don't communicate your strategy clearly, it won't go anywhere. Define it and communicate... over and over!

#3) Cascade Your Strategy: Make sure that the strategy reaches everyone in the organization. Cascading is the idea that the strategy flows through everyone to everyone.

Don't make it too complicated! Is your strategy currently too difficult to understand and communicate?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"There's no shortage of remarkable ideas, what's missing is the will to execute them." Seth Godin

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

It's November, and if you're like me, as we approach the last weeks of the year, you begin to think about what's next. I'm in the middle of budget planning, calendar planning, and project planning, yet the most important aspect of planning is simply asking questions around STRATEGY and what will get us where we want to and need to go. This month, let's look at strategy a little bit and see what we can learn.

We're exploring the concept of STRATEGY but when I saw Godin's quote above, the idea of EXECUTION jumped out at me.

"Strategy is the overarching plan for an organization, while execution is the process of putting that plan into action." Unknown

Last week, I participated in a Barnabas Board Meeting. This is the organization I lead here in Orange County California. At the meeting, we did our normal business, but then we spent some time doing some brainstorming around strategy. Some great ideas circled the room, and as I drove home, I spent time thinking, dreaming, praying, wondering, and processing some of those strategic ideas about where we're wanting to go as an organization and a Community.

The next day, when I woke up, I shifted into the reality of execution. What would it take for one or two of those ideas to actually make it from the brainstorming process into reality? This is Strategic Execution. They go hand in hand.

In your personal leadership, do you lean towards the "STRATEGY" side of thinking, planning, dreaming or do you lean into the "EXECUTION" side of moving into action? Or both?

LEADERSHIP QUOTE:

"Strategic Planning does not deal with future decisions, it deals with the futurity of present decisions." Peter Drucker

A LITTLE BIT DEEPER:

It's November, and if you're like me, as we approach the last weeks of the year, you begin to think about what's next. I'm in the middle of budget planning, calendar planning, and project planning, yet the most important aspect of planning is simply asking questions around STRATEGY and what will get us where we want to and need to go. This month, let's look at strategy a little bit and see what we can learn.

But first, today is election day in the USA, and while all of our readers aren't in the USA, I am, and the quote above connects with our election as well as the conversation we'll have around strategy.

My prayer today for the United States is that we would have a peaceful election and that we would consider the decisions we're making TODAY that will affect our TOMORROW! Pray with me today for the process we're in and for the Leaders that will be selected to lead us forward!

Here's a great definition of strategy I've carried with me. Not sure where it came from, but I like the flow of it:

"Strategy generally involves setting goals and priorities,

determining actions to achieve the goals, and mobilizing

resources to execute the actions."

When Peter Drucker makes a statement, people stop, listen, think, question, and then act. I do.

I have a book from Drucker called The Daily Drucker, and sometimes when I get stuck on something, I just open up a page and it causes me to step back and think again.

I came across this quote about 2 months ago, and I've been carrying it with me trying to figure out how it applied to me. First, I had to look up the word "futurity" which I didn't think was a real word, but it is, and it simply means "the future time; a future event".

Before I comment on Druckers quote, how does it land with you?