What really gets people noticed and promoted?
What truly separates individuals from a crowd?
Career advancements are conferred by shareholders, boards, executive teams, individual executives and so on down the line. What is the key thing they must see before they’ll promote?
There are many lists of attributes for leaders. I have written about them myself. Often these are largely comprised of personality traits and human characteristics. And yet, there is one particular attribute that should never be weak or missing in the makeup of a key appointee.
For several years I worked closely with a well-known Silicon Valley executive, famed not only for his strategic vision, but also his formidable set of alliances and friendships.
In private conversations he often scorned the importance of strategic vision and product insights as key personal skills. He believes brilliant ideas and suggestions are all around us, you simply need to listen to your people, connections, advice and then select. This he felt was no great trick. Indeed, he always said such insights were offered to him daily.
It’s an interesting view.
What he felt was scarce and critical to any senior player was the ability to execute. That indeed, “execution is everything.”
No matter what the role of an individual in a corporation, they must ultimately deliver results. It’s the very accomplishment of agreed results that ultimately drives a business.
Great vision and ideas truly are critical, but without realization, without implementation, what do they matter?
Accomplished (and honest!) Corporate consultants will tell you that when they take on tasks to fix businesses or develop teams to get companies on-track they are largely defining their recommendations from basically what they see and hear. Invariably the organization knows what’s wrong, sometimes very specifically. Failing that, those people interviewed will at least clearly relate the blatant symptoms of existing woes.
An expert recommending corrective action to a problem or advising when symptoms are presented on-a-plate is performing no great trick. In fact, just being the outsider with no normalcy or situational bias is most of the advantage he/she requires.
I certainly wouldn’t unfairly diminish the value of such consultants, yet again, the facts do play to the position that expertise and ideas are all around, if you’ll just listen, carefully select and have the abilities in-house to address your own problems.
This discussion brings us full circle. If we are able to simply appreciate and select (listen and communicate) from available ideas, then it’s our ability to execute that becomes critical. By this argument, execution truly is everything.
When we see a worthy promotion (one everyone readily accepts and respects) isn’t it generally of someone who gets things done? Aren’t the key players typically change-agents, folks who make things happen?
For all executives (CEOs, presidents, VPs of Marketing, Sales, Operations, Engineering, and their supporting Directors Etc.) and indeed every individual contributor, the job is to make things happen.
Technical vision has to become practical product recommendations. Similarly, Marketing ideas have to be delivered through collateral, sales support and more. Sales plans have to become bookings, Operating teams have to build products and Development groups must produce prototypes and production devices.
It doesn’t matter if you deliver from your own hands or by leading, guiding and directing others. Ultimately, everyone has to execute, to agreed standards and schedules.
Objectively ask yourself, how good is your execution? And for your future’s sake, just ensure you execute at or above requirements and so present to the world the true value you can bring to the table.
Ian R. Mackintosh is the author of Empower Your Inner Manager Twitter @ianrmackintosh