Leadership - too. much thinking and not enough doing
Over the past several years there has been a major drive to enhance the leadership skills of individuals in private sector organisations. No doubt effective leadership is a key contributor to building a capable team, department or business.
All good stuff, however the leadership emphasis could have gone too far. Organisational inertia often results from endless meetings to discuss visions, missions, strategies and plans. The outcome of many of these sessions tends to be unrealistic with poorly thought through schemes delivering no value.
Success is based on 20% strategy and 80% doing - many organisations get this the wrong way round. Creating organisational momentum is based on some very simple principles:
Setting out what you want to achieve and being sure this is communicated to everyone (over and over again)
Understanding what activities will get you there and having the right people doing the right things
Defining who will do what - and being accountable
Being sure we know when it will it be done
Let us not fall into the trap of too much thinking and not enough doing - get on with it and stop talking about it - if we fail, fail fast and move on. The famous strap line of Nike is one we could all do with listening to - Just Do It!