Now that title ought to get some attention. It's certainly not what you might think on the surface. Though some employees in companies all over this country might have personal experience that causes them to view their leader and company leadership as executioners of the sort that pull the switch, give the command to fire or push the button for the lethal injection to begin that is not what we are talking about today.
Jim Stroup, author of Managing Leadership, had a great post recently called The Executioner. I am not going to insult your intelligence by citing it back to you verbatim here. You can read and digest it for yourself by clicking on the link. Just a few quick thoughts on Jim's post before you head over there to read it.
First, he clearly states at the front end of the piece one of the most glaring issues with leadership and executive leadership today - accountability.
Excuses are rampant everywhere but no where is this more apparent than corporate leadership. "No excuse, Sir" is one of only 4 acceptable responses of new cadets at West Point (see my recent post related to this). Leaders in corporate America would do well to learn this. With all the "golden parachutes" and back room deals when a leader or CEO doesn't get it done there is little to no accountability for leaders anymore. Jim does an excellent job of analyzing this and breaking it down. He also offers up this as a means to ensure accountability:
But if you have a board of professional directors that says to hired management: “This is who we are (corporate identity), this is what we do (business model), this is what we want you to do (strategic aim), and this is how we will measure your doing of it (strategic plan),” then you have the base upon which accountability can be built.
Most companies do well with establishing corporate identity and business model. Where many fail is in the strategic aim and strategic plan components. Establishing sound measurement tools and criterion reference performance expectations is mission critical. Few companies get this right.
Second, he clearly articulates the most vital aspect of leadership - execution. Being able to drive performance of a well planned business or corporate strategy is the fundamental purpose of any leader. Jim cites one of my favorite books on this topic and he astutely observes that it is an indictment of the leadership profession that this book even had to be written in the first place.
While I have not yet read Jim's book you can rest assure I will as soon as I finish my current readings (see the right hand side of this site). I have recently started pouring through past writings of his and I am really getting an education from him. You would be wise to add Managing Leadership to your reader today and start getting caught up.
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