I’m not sure if I made that up or heard it elsewhere, but, whatever the source, it’s true – the hardest part of delivering a breakthrough strategy is the follow-through. Like someone who wants to get fit but is struggling to find time to get to the gym, it can be easy to become distracted by supposedly urgent issues even when you know that you should be focused on your breakthrough activities.
The true impact of transformative leadership isn’t found in the big set-piece speeches or running strategy and visionary workshops that create exciting new ideas. Instead, your biggest impact is made by following-up and following-through.
This means that a significant amount of your time – week in, week out – should be spent managing what really matters. This won’t happen by accident; it must be intentional. You must create systems that allow you to review progress on your most important initiatives, hold your teams to account on their transformational activities, help them find different ways to achieve difficult goals and ensure key learning points are shared and embedded.
How well do your company’s management systems enable you to follow-up and follow-through on your transformational, breakthrough agenda?
© Stuart Cross 2019. All rights reserved.