You can develop the opportunity for a competitive advantage in the finishing and coaching industry by mastering the disciple of execution.
Jim CastigliaThis article will focus on how to get things done that really matter to your organization and how to leverage those accomplishments into a competitive advantage.
First, let’s learn what execution really means. Larry Bossidy, former chairman of Honeywell International, and corporate consultant Ram Charan provide a powerful definition in their book, Execution — The Discipline of Getting Things Done. In short, “execution is a systematic way of exposing reality and acting on it. Most companies don’t face reality very well.”
What is Execution?
Here’s their full definition:
“Execution is a systematic process of rigorously discussing the how’s and what’s, questioning, tenaciously following through, and ensuring accountability. It includes making assumptions about the business environment, assessing the organization’s capabilities, linking strategy to operations and the people who are going to implement the strategy, synchronizing those people and their various disciplines, and linking rewards to outcomes. It also includes mechanisms for changing assumptions as to the environment changes and upgrading the company’s capabilities to meet the challenges of an ambitious strategy.”
How well does your organization execute? Here’s what happens when you don’t:
- Wasted assets
- Wasted effort
- Wasted time
- Wasted energy
- Wasted talent
- Wasted ideas
Waste means that you pay the bills, and waste takes the profits. Can you afford that?
The Process of Execution
Look at your process of execution.
- Are you achieving your strategic objectives? Look over the last five years. How often were your stated objectives achieved? What percentage of the time? If you’re achieving your objectives about 70% to 80% of the time, you’re on the right track. (If you’re achieving your objectives 100% of the time, maybe the strategy isn’t ambitious enough.)
- Do you take into account the external environment and its realities? Are you considering the financial history of the industry, the overall business environment, your customer base, and root cause analysis?
- Do you establish clear financial targets for margins, cash flow, revenue growth, and ROI?
- Are you assessing the robustness of your internal activities like strategy, operations, people, and organization?
By rigorously mastering the above, you will create a strong competitive advantage in the finishing and coating industry.
Here are two examples of the discipline of execution:
- A client, who owns a $5M revenue company with three operations, created a five-step strategy for 2022. He met with his two top executives and focused on what he wanted to accomplish. In one of our coaching sessions, I asked him about his progress on each strategy. We discovered a red flag. His sales team of nine people was struggling with closing sales. A big part of the problem was the lack of effective sales training. As a result, he committed to bringing in a top-flight sales training program. He took action. Specific success criteria have been established, so this initiative can be measured and the ROI clearly identified.
- Another client, the owner of a $5M company, had a production manager whom his customers loved. This guy bent over backward to serve them, and customers often emailed the owner about the manager’s excellence. However, he struggled with confronting underperforming direct reports and holding them accountable for results. Part of the problem was this manager’s individual style. We decided to address this situation by having the manager focus on serving the customers (his unique talent) and moving the responsibility of confronting poor performance to the general manager. The GM has a knack (her unique talent) for calling out underperformance in such a way that people could positively respond and change their behavior.
So, if you want to develop a competitive advantage in the finishing and coating industry, start by getting on the path of mastering the discipline of execution. You, your employees, and your customers will be glad you did.
Jim Castiglia is the founder of Business Street Fighter Consulting and supports entrepreneurial business owners in their desire to grow and maximize the value of their business. He can be reached by email at JimC@BSF.consulting or by phone at 919.263.1256. Visit www.BSF.consulting
