LEADERSHIP EXECUTION - Execution - "Perform" / "Achieve"

Some of us are not perfect as people and leaders. I'm not, and maybe you are not perfect either. I try to exercise regularly and also eat a balanced portion controlled tasty diet at home thanks to my dietition spouse who executes a well thought out plan. When I stay on my established standard process and execute my plan consistently the results are measurable and quite rewarding.

So why am I drawn like a piece of metal to a magnet, when I venture out on a road trip and pass a McDonald's? I ignore my standard process and the results I have achieved and stop for my large diet coke, fries and cheeseburgers. Maybe you have seen in your life a similar situation where you thrive in a standard process well-executed and fail when you deviate from your plan.

Lean business systems and six sigma protocols are designed to reduce the variations in the process through continuous improvement. Still there are always variations - the business environment changes, the nature of the product changes, something always changes! So if you have a standard process, do leaders make a difference in the execution?

Definitely! Take McDonald's where I earlier established my vast experience. I had the occassion over a few days to observe the culture of execution at two different McDonald's at various times of the day for a week. (Spouse was visiting her mother)

Both restaurants were relatively new and basically identical in layout. McDonald's had deployed their legendary standard work so all the food was made on the same equipment, the process metrics were the same, uniforms were the the same, and the training manual identical.

The execution of the process and the customer experience could not have produced a starker result. The first restaurant X was a pleasant place to dine and the other Y wasa chore to leave unstressed. Y had more associates running around constantly bumping into each other. X and Y used almost the same words of greeting, and you felt like X employees cared about what you ordered and how your day was going. Y never listened to your answers to thir questions asked from the manual. X had eye contact and seemed to take more time with you even the line flowed smoothly. Y always seem rushed to get to the next customer in the long slow lines. The appearance in uniform was dramatic: X pressed and professional; Y the uniform was hanging on the associates. One drink area was messy (Y) with straw wrappers and spills, while the other (X) seemed to shine.

Execution is about enabling your team to translate the standard work and continous improvement into a culture of high expectations for achievements. There is a case to be made that while successful managers perform the basic operation of the operation. Leaders create a culture and expectation for consistent execution of operational excellence, even in an environment of difficult economic conditions or operational stress.

• Eliminate the distractions and uncertainty from the work environment that impact the core of the performance expectation. 
• Provide a culture of high expectation for the team's execution of the spirit and not just the words of the business process.
• Motivate the team members to embrace the standard process as the way to satisfy customers and lead to success, not just follow "stupid rules" or repeat "empty words".
• Develop a culture that allows enthusiastic execution of the organization's strategy. Make it fun to come to work, as well delivering a consistent high quality product.
• Envision a clearly defined and understood work practice that manifests itself in sustained excellent results.

Final thought: Larry Bossidy, in his book, Execution sets out an excellent frame work for " the discipline of getting things done". A great read for all levels of managers in forming a strategy of performance within their group.