Translating strategy from the top of an organization to the bottom is not a new challenge. From pivoting priorities to launching new values or implementing new business processes, leaders have grappled with the challenge of aligning across the levels of an organization for years. The shift to hybrid working environments exacerbates the challenge. Now more than ever it is imperative for leaders to clearly communicate their strategy to make sure that people, processes, and projects (sometimes referred to as the braid) are aligned.

Executing business strategy is like a braid — specifically, a French braid, the beautiful, twisted strands of hair atop one's head. Both require a clear start and ongoing adjustments.  

It’s no secret that trust is key in an engaging and productive work culture. When crisis strikes, organizations with a strong culture of trust tend to have the highest levels of engagement and productivity.

Why is it that some Fridays find us feeling proud of our productivity, while other weeks we barely make it to Wednesday before the completion anxiety kicks in? Sometimes the interruptions come in waves and fires pop up with alarming frequency. All of your best people call in sick, your voicemail fills up, and your inbox piles high.

One of the elements that is often absent from virtual leadership development programs is the lively “oh, by the way” exchanges — the hallway conversations that frequently occur between participants at in-person programs. One approach Insight Experience has taken to combat this is to have participants engage in Colleague Conversations or Virtual Watercooler Chats within our learning platform. One of the most insightful conversations leaders explore during our Executing Strategy leadership development program is about balancing Dance Floor time with Balcony time. If you don’t already know the Balcony metaphor, check it out! 

Goals. Objectives. KPIs. OKRs. Metrics. Success Factors. Vision. Mission. Purpose. And then there’s the elusive “Value Proposition.” Companies use these terms differently, and departments use them differently within the same company. Does this vocabulary matter? If it does matter, why?

Every manager must be able to take the strategy handed down from above (sometimes more clearly than others!) and make that strategy work for their teams.  The Strategy Execution Cycle lays out an interconnected path for making that happen.  First, a manager must Understand what the larger strategy is – the big picture and the larger goals.  Based on that understanding, the manager must then Translate it in terms, metrics, and expectations that are meaningful to the team.  Implementation of the strategy is the day to day work of the team, meeting customer needs, responding to the unexpected, and working toward the expectations set in the Translate stage.  The Measure stage checks performance against those expectations, and the Adapt stage course corrects.  But the stages cannot happen only linearly -- all of these stages happen multiple times over the course of any business’ regular operations.