Taking a break

The old saying when the going gets tough the tough get going has certainly applied over the last year of challenging times. Sometimes as the business owners you have to roll your sleeves up and get dirty. For many this means putting in some extraordinary hours and grinding away to ensure that your company not only survives but thrives in a tough climate.

However, there comes a time when you need to refuel the tank. Working with a couple of business owners yesterday reminded me how hard we have all worked but also how hard it has been. They have come through an extremely challenging time in their business and have pulled through and are in a much stronger position now. As one of them said "We can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we are sure that it not a train coming". But they look exhausted.

One of the actions this week is for them to take some time and recharge. I had to swallow this pill myself recently as I had been busy and a long time between breaks. Took a few days off and come back charged. The world won't fall down if you take one too.

What's missing from business success

I was asked this morning what I thought was more important - having an effective strategy or effective execution?



To me the answer is obvious - Doesn't matter how good your strategy is if it does not get executed properly and effective execution is only effective with a strategy. Execution isn't the best thing it is the only thing!


While creating a well-formulated strategy is vitally important for business success, the biggest challenge for most business leaders is getting their team to effectively execute their chosen strategy.


- Consider the following alarming research:
–90% of strategies fail due to poor execution
–Only 27% of employees have access to their company strategic plan
–Only 5% of employees understand their company strategy
–92% of organizations do not measure Key Performance Indicators



We have just been trialling a execution tool called execution driver and I have to say it has been fantastic in my own team becoming more egaged and accountable for better execution of our strategy. Not only does it put a big tick beside each of the above statistics it has freed me up personally to concentrate on more of the things that I am best at.



Visit http://www.executiondriver.com/



Happy executing

Karl

Execution is what the AB's lack!

Like many things in the world, you can have all the theory and motivation in the world but actually putting it into an execution plan and adjusting to conditions takes a lot of skill. We see it in business and we saw it yesterday with the All Blacks. Good tactics theory, good training and then poor execution. Get it right and they will achieve extra ordinary results. Keep getting it wrong and they will just be another average team!

Of course it is easy to be critical from the couch, not so easy when you have 140kgs of Afrikaner breathing down your neck!

Karl

Time to Get Serious and real!

Right now as the NZ economy kicks along the bottom of the recession cycle there are strong signs of the early buds of recovery (see link). This is good news after a particularly tough time for all industries but it begs the question......what is your strategy in order to position your business to really dominate your market and reap the rewards of recovery.

There is no doubt that despite the doom in the media, recession really is a time of opportunity for those that choose to seize it. Now is the time to complete your strategy and execute some focused action in order to get the team and the plan honed to really make the most of the opportunity as the market resets. Lets face it...the same old plan will get the same old results!

Last night we held a seminar called "Think Growth, Simplify Your Business". The evening, sponsored by Westpac and the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, saw owners and representatives from 76 Canterbury based businesses attend and take part in an interactive presentation. The focus of the evening was to emphasis the importance of getting the key drivers in your business right.....Strategy, Cash, People, Execution. Get these four things right and watch your business take off.....now thats positive!

If you need some advice with any of these things give us a call......its what we do at Results.Com....We Grow Businesses.

Have a fun day

Karl (See our website)