“Is Execution Where Strategy Goes to Die?”

The article goes on to say: “Execution is an odd word. On the one hand, it means ‘the carrying out of a plan or course of action.’ On the other, it means, ‘the carrying out of a death sentence.’”  Execution is indeed where strategy often goes to die.

But it does not have to be like that!

In a more recent article in Harvard Business Review, the author points out that the breakdown between Strategy and Execution falls into three predictable areas. Here is how to spot them—and get your team back in lockstep:

1. The Arrogance Problem.  Sometimes, strategic vision simply outruns actual human capacity. When senior leaders lack full visibility into daily workflows, they project ambitious roadmaps that overwhelm the team, causing burnout and turnover. Ambitious goals are one thing, but goals that are completely detached from reality are non-starters.  Try involving front line workers in strategy development.

2. The Skills Problem.  When strategies shift, the required skills often shift too. If people are placed in roles that don’t match the demands of the new strategy, execution bogs down and output fails to meet professional standards. Build in time for training that is necessary for the team to deliver on the new strategy.

3. The Information Sharing Problem.  Middle managers are responsible for interpreting strategy and guiding teams. However, if they lack executive visibility into long-term priorities, they get paralyzed. Unsure of what can be safely dropped or delegated, they hold onto everything, which quickly slows down the entire system.  Involve them at the highest levels.

To mend these disconnects, you need more transparency and communication between different levels in the hierarchy.  You must create a trust-based communication loop. When teams feel safe offering clarity upward, operational concerns are treated as valuable data to improve the work rather than as active resistance.

Leadership isn’t just about setting direction or driving results – it’s about strengthening the link between the two. By investing in clearer meaning and deeper trust, you can ensure your organization moves with perfect alignment and purpose.

*Ideas for this blog taken from: McCray, F.  “When Strategy and Execution Fall Out of Sync,” Harvard Business Review online, January 22, 2026.

Every now and then it helps to follow the KISS Principle: Keep It Super Simple.

As someone who has written a book about strategy, and teaches both corporate strategy and nonprofit strategy at University of Maryland, I can definitely complicate strategic planning.  But let’s keep it simple.

The first thing I ever learned about strategy is that it answers three questions:

Who are we?

Where are we going?

How are we going to get there?

Let’s apply KISS to these questions:

Who are we?  What is your mission and purpose?  What are your values; what do you stand for?

Where are we going?  What is your vision for the future?  What are the 3-5 most important Strategic Goals you want to accomplish in the next three years?

How are we going to get there?  As you make your plans for the goals, you can look at your SWOTs.  What Strengths do you have that will allow you to seize Opportunities to accomplish your goals. What Weaknesses do you need to improve upon in order to achieve your goals. What Threats do you need to watch out for?

As you answer these questions, it will be wise to gather input from stakeholders, e.g., employees, alumni, customers, clients, donors.

You don’t have to overcomplicate it.  Following this Strategy KISS approach will give you focus, direction and acceleration to make even more of a Mission Impact.

Unfortunately, research shows that most change efforts fail.

While having a “sense of urgency” is widely regarded as important to a successful change effort, ironically – many efforts fail when a change is launched too soon.  It takes a wise leader to balance the tension between “urgency” and “being ready.”

Following is some guidance to help you with balancing that tension, with ideas taken from a recent Harvard Business Review article.

Many change efforts fail due to preventable patterns that drain an initiative’s energy at the point of launch. These include:

• A “Moral Authority Gap”: A lack of trusted, values-based leadership that fails to convert simple compliance into true conviction.
• Underestimating the Status Quo: Grossly miscalculating the resilience of existing routines and structural inertia.
• Perverse Incentives: Failing to align middle management’s incentives with the new priorities, leaving them tied to old habits.
• The Over-Hasty Launch: Rushing into execution without a detailed plan, often mistaking recklessness for healthy urgency.

Here are some strategies to increase your chances of success:

1. Perform the “Awful Triage”: Change capacity is a finite resource. You must be prepared to say “no” to secondary projects to ensure your mission-critical initiatives have the focus they need to succeed.
2. Conduct a “Do-Nothing” Analysis: Bring stakeholders together and ask: “What happens if we do nothing?”. Surfacing the real costs of inaction builds the urgency and alignment needed for a successful launch.
3. Build a Guiding Coalition Early: Assemble a diverse group of influential stakeholders—from senior experts to respected frontline managers—who can scale influence and help refine the roadmap.
4. Plan for Early Wins: Create concrete, visible milestones that can be achieved within the first 30 to 90 days. These “proof points” help bridge the “span of uncertainty” where employees are watching for evidence that the change actually works.

Nothing will derail your leadership momentum more than a “false start” when it comes to leading change.  It is nearly impossible to recover from it.  Use these ideas to lead your team to sustained Mission Impact.

*Ideas for this blog taken from: Clark, T. R.  “How to Avoid a False Start When You Are Leading a Big Change,” Harvard Business Review online, February 10, 2026.

The pace of change in our world seems to increase exponentially on a regular basis.  This can frustrate a lot of people when they begin a Strategy effort.  “What’s the point,” they may say, “the future is so unpredictable!”

While this can be true, a solid Strategy will:

• Clarify your Mission and the difference you want to make
• Set your Ideal Vision for the future
• Establish Three-Five Strategic Goals
• Identify relevant SWOTs: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats that are relevant to implementing your Strategic Goals

In a Strategy Refresh, you can briefly revisit each of these items.

• Your Mission probably has not changed. If not, reaffirm and Onward!
• Maybe you want to update your Vision. If so, great.  This does not have to be a long process.
• Are your Strategic Goals still relevant? Most of them probably are.  If you need to change them for any reason, go for it.  It is more likely that you may want to tweak them based on what you have learned in the past year.
• It is likely that some of your SWOTs have changed – either due to internal changes (i.e., staffing, finances) or external changes. Make sure that you identify these changes and feed them into your implementation process.

A strategy refresh is a healthy standard operating procedure to help make sure that you are still on the right path to your vision and mission.  It will help assure that you maximize your Mission Impact.

Resistance to change is inevitable, and not always bad.

When many leaders face backlash to change, their instinct is to push right back.  A more successful initial response will be to react with appreciation and interest: “Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and feelings.  It is great to see that you care so much about the organization.  Help me fully understand your viewpoint.”

If you can do this sincerely, you might be surprised by the response.

Sometimes people just want to vent.  If you actually hear them then their concerns might dissipate.

Other times you may be surprised that they have a very good point and give you ideas about how to change your plans to some point.

In other situations, people may have more serious concerns that you do not agree with.  In those cases, here are a few suggestions based on a recent article in Harvard Business Review:

1. Reframe Resistance, Don’t Personalize It.  When others are upset, our brains often assume we’ve done something wrong.  However, most of the time, people’s reactions have less to do with you and more to do with their own fears.  People must often grieve what they’re losing before they can embrace what they’re gaining. Understand that the backlash you’re experiencing is a natural byproduct of processing the end of something familiar.

2. Acknowledge Discomfort Without Apologizing.  You can validate a colleague’s experience without backtracking on the decision to move the organization forward.  The key is showing empathy while making it clear the choice is final.  Try statements that show you’re listening without signaling that the course is open to reversal: “I understand that this shifts how you’ve been operating and that’s hard. I’m committed to supporting you.”

3. Redirect Conversations to Next Steps.  When discussions dwell on why the decision is wrong, gently pivot to implementation and execution.  Be clear about what’s negotiable and what’s not.  For example: “I hear your concerns, but at this point we need to focus on next steps. What support do you need from me?”  By directing people’s desire for contribution to areas where they can meaningfully move things forward, you may turn resistance into productive effort.

4. Amplify Your Early Adopters.  There are likely people who agree with you or are already seeing progress, but they may be less vocal than the opposition.  Give them a platform to share their support and what is working.  In team meetings, ask them to share their experience, positioning it as information-sharing that helps everyone succeed.

Leading change is one of the most important responsibilities we take on as leaders.  Navigating backlash is a predictable—and often necessary—rite of passage that separates good managers from leaders who drive meaningful change.  You can do this!

Did you go through all of that strategic planning effort to decide to keep doing the same things?  Are you just going to change the dates on the cover page and continue with the “same ‘ol, same ‘ol?”

Never have I worked with an organization on their strategy who wants more of the same.  They always want to be better.

If you want your new strategy to lift your organization’s performance to higher levels – to make even more of a difference – then you need to go into the process expecting CHANGE.  And some of it may be uncomfortable.

*You may need to make changes in the programs/services/products you offer.

*You may need to make staffing changes.

*You may need to make Board changes.

*You may need to change your culture.

*And if you really want to improve your organization’s performance, it will definitely require changes to your budget.

CEOs and Boards need to go into the strategy process, expecting budget changes.  In fact, the CEO should keep their Budget Committee updated as the strategy process unfolds.  As Implementation Plans are created, there needs to be direct communication with the Budget Committee.

“The essence of strategy is making choices” (attributed to famed strategy expert, Michael Porter). There can be no “sacred cows” as these decisions are made.

Put key leaders in charge of implementing strategic goals.  They should meet regularly with the CEO and be encouraged to recommend changes in budget priorities.  You may even need to reorganize your budget according to your strategic goals.

Your strategy is doomed if it is not aligned with and supported by your budget.  Strategy and budget alignment make your strategy real – and its greatly enhances its Mission Impact.

Based on my consulting experience and research, I have found that what many organizations call their “strategy” is a glorified To Do List.

Here is how you can turn your To Do List into a Strategy.

Hopefully you have a Vision for your organization – an idea of what you want it to look like, ideally, in the future.  If not, then get some input from a wide variety of stakeholders and create this Vision.

Then, look at your To Do List.  What are the three – five items on your list that will propel you most effectively toward your future Vision?  Make sure that these items are specific and measurable.  The result will be Strategic Goals.

Next – look at your Strategic Goals and ask yourselves:

*What Strengths do we have that can help us achieve these Strategic Goals?

*What Weaknesses do we have that we should address in order to achieve the Strategic Goals?

*What Opportunities should we pursue in order to achieve the Strategic Goals?

*What Threats in the environment do we need to monitor so we are not derailed in our pursuit of the Goals?

Once you have identified these SWOTs, you can summarize them into a Strategy Statement that provides an overall explanation to your organization members on how you are going to:

Leverage Your Strengths, Fortify Your Weaknesses, Seize your Opportunities, and Block Your Threats as you pursue your Vision and Strategic Goals .

You can ask your team to internalize this statement and let it guide them as they create more specific Action Plans to move you forward.

This, of course, is a very brief summary.  But, taking the time to move beyond a simple To Do List to a real Strategy will give your organization the focus and insight needed for high performance.  For a more extensive explanation of the Strategy process, I would encourage you to read my Mission Impact book.

Landscape Analysis, Competitor Analysis, Benchmarking.  Organizations of all types carry out these activities from time to time.

Landscape Analysis is the broadest of these activities and can include both Competitor Analysis and Benchmarking.  It may also include a Needs Assessment, Stakeholder Input, and Environmental Data Collection – often looking at PESTLE aspects of the environment: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental.  The purpose of this analysis is to stay current on trends and identify possible shifts in the Landscape that may require a Strategic response.

Competitor Analysis is focused on an organization’s main competitors.  Corporations typically focus on competitors for similar products that they sell, and sometimes substitutes as well.  Nonprofits look at organizations which provide the same types of services, but also at the types of services their key donors fund.  They may also look at competitors for Staff, Board Members, and Volunteers.  This type of analysis is usually done more frequently than a full Landscape Analysis.  Many companies, for example, will monitor competitor prices in real time.

Benchmarking involves identifying and studying comparable organizations that are highly regarded and/or peers.  Organizations will typically seek to emulate the “best in class.”

It is a good idea to carry out all three of these activities, especially during a strategic planning process.  However, here are the ways that Benchmarking can be improved:

*Cast a wider net.  Look beyond key competitors and the most popular choices.  Scour the world to identify the organizations that are the most innovative in your industry.  Ask others in your same industry who they think are the unsung innovators.

*Don’t copy others.  If you do this, you will always be behind.  The best keep innovating.  See what you can learn about what others are doing.  Take their ideas and figure out how to make them even better.

*Look under the hood.  Look at details.  What is really making this organization so successful?  Look beyond price and product features.  What is the culture like?  How do they do their hiring?  What leadership principles are they following?  Much of innovation is due to excellent implementation.

Keep your eyes open.  Once upon at time Circuit City was thought to be one of the best companies in the world.  They were heralded in the book, Good to Great – but now no longer exist.  One of their former CEOs wrote a book called Good to Great to Gone – that tells the story of how the Circuit City leaders ignored the competitive environment after he had left the company.

Change is coming.  We need to stay aware and innovative in order to make the best Mission Impact possible.

Leading change can include adjusting the organization’s direction due to changes in the environment, looming problems ahead, new great opportunities, and more.

Regardless of the purpose for the effort, Leading Change expert John Kotter says that 75% of change efforts fail.  Why?

Much has been written about this over the years.  Kotter, for example, has his eight-step process for leading a change which I have used and taught to executives for years.

However, my experience has been that the first three steps are the most important and that they are really not “steps” – they occur more as a “swirl” as the steps interact with one another.  For example:

• Having a Sense of Urgency is the first step and it starts with the initiator of the change. Someone has to have an insight about a problem or opportunity that others are missing.  Once they have this insight, they share it with colleagues.
• Building a Guiding Coalition is the next step. This is where you gather people together who are well positioned in the organization to promote the change to others.
• Creating a Vision and Strategy to implement the change is next. In this step you create a positive vision for the organization’s future – once the change is implemented.  Then you create a strategy to accomplish it.

This is all well and good, but consider some of these nuances and interactions:

• Leaders who take on a change need to start with a gut check. Look yourself in the mirror before you start and image how much effort this is going to take.  Then multiply it by ten.  If you are not willing to put in this effort, do not even start.  Many change efforts fail simply due to fatigue.
• Make sure your Guiding Coalition also has a Sense of Urgency. “Sure, Rob, that sounds like a good idea” is NOT a Sense of Urgency!  Your inner team has to realize the importance of the change and embrace it as a top priority.
• Finally, the leader and the Guiding Coalition also need to embrace and focus on a positive vision for the future. Too often all we hear from leaders during a change effort is doom and gloom – “we will go bankrupt,” “our stock price will plummet,” “layoffs will ensue.”  These may be important statements to get people’s attention at the beginning, but you then need to focus on how wonderful the future will be once you work through the challenge.

There is no magic process for leading a successful change – which is why it is so hard.  But if you focus on this Triad – Sense of Urgency, Guiding Coalition, and Vision & Strategy – your odds for success will increase significantly.

In a survey of more than 10,000 senior leaders, 97% said that being strategic was the most important leadership behavior needed in their organizations.

In the same survey, 96% of the leaders said they did not have the time for strategic thinking.

How can you make more time to be strategic?

1 – Give up your “busyness” as a status symbol.  Count this a second new year’s resolution which supports becoming a strategic thinker.  “Busy” does not equal productive.  Reduce your “urgent list” with these tips.

2 – Improve your productivity.  Check out this recent blog which details ways to focus your time on what is really important.  Hints: it includes more prioritizing and delegating.  Also stop trying to multitask.  By being more productive and allowing yourself to not be “constantly busy,” you are setting yourself up for the next step.

3 – Block one hour on your calendar every week for Strategic Thinking.  And keep this hour sacred.  Treat it as your most important hour of the week – delay everything else.  Start the hour by asking yourself: “What three big goals could transform our future if we were able to accomplish them?”  Ask the question anew every week.  This will set you on the path for thinking strategically.

Strategic Thinking does not require a weekend retreat of solitude once a month.  Giving yourself weekly windows to start your strategic engine will spark creativity and innovation.  In this way, you will make more of a Mission Impact.

*Ideas for this blog taken from: Clark, D.  “If Strategy Is So Important, Why Don’t We Make Time For It,” Harvard Business Review online, June 21, 2018.