Between Flawless Execution and Innovation

They are two of the most important concepts and drivers of long term success in business; “Flawless Execution” and “Innovation.”

Most businesses thrive and stay in business through the efficient operationalization of a value proposition to customers.  The process of delivering a value proposition over and over again should create strong efficiencies and should create a culture of flawless execution.  Flawless execution is when the value proposition is delivered to the customer without any mistakes and the customer is 100% satisfied that the value proposition is the value proposition ordered.

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Leadership is really hard even when things are going great.  It’s even harder when things are not going so great.  And unfortunately it is inevitable that there will be a technological disruption, a downturn in the economy, a natural disaster or something else unexpected.  Great leaders lead through the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly.

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It is one of the most difficult leadership challenges faced everyday by leaders of people, leaders of leaders, and leaders of businesses; how to connect the minutiae of managing daily tasks to the global business strategy that is being executed by your company.

In the world of a “typical” employee, there are many distractions including the global 24/7 day, too much work to manage with limited resources, social media, unlimited sources of news, family obligations, and regular life (like banking and getting dry cleaning).  The challenge to leaders is how to create a culture and support it with processes to make sure there is alignment, collaboration, focus, and ultimately the best business results.

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We wanted a nice quiet and pleasant dinner at a great restaurant so we could prepare for the next days’ big day of delivering Business Acumen for Sales Professionals at a client’s Global Sales Meeting.

As we entered the restaurant, we were greeted by three hostesses that checked us in.  It became quickly apparent that each one of them had some sort of pre-scripted greeting;

• One asked us if this was the first time at the restaurant (it wasn’t)
• Another asked us if we would like to go to the bar first or sit down (we just wanted to sit down)
• The third asked us if our party was all here (no, actually we were going to be 4 instead of 5)

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In a span of a couple of days I have heard the term “acumen” used in comparison with the term “skills” numerous times. The first instance was during a recent NFL football game when one of the announcers declared that Tom Brady's does not have the skills he once had, but his “football acumen” remains intact and that is what is keeping the Patriots in the game. The second instance was in the context of business leadership.  I was speaking with the leader of a business who was talking about how they missed their quarterly revenue target because their manufacturing team wasn’t able to produce and deliver all of the units the sales team had sold and this really impacted the business.  “Our Manufacturing team can compete with anyone in the world. They have the skills, but they don’t have the leadership and business acumen to align, motivate, and coach to winning performance.  It’s the difference between being good, and being great.”

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