Wrap up of Lever 1: Leadership & Trust

Strategy Execution by Design Series
Wrap up of Lever 1: Leadership & Trust

After close to 20 years designing and executing business strategy, I am still surprised at how much of the literature (professional and academic) focuses on formulation rather than execution, even though execution is where success or failure is decided.

This gap became the 'why' for my eMBA research, where I explored with executives of large New Zealand-based organisations the elements that enable effective strategy execution. What did I discover? Successful execution follows identifiable patterns. While every organisation is unique, there are specific levers that consistently drive results, and it's not what most organisations focus on.

My research with executives revealed the elements that separate successful execution from failure. Over the past few weeks, I've shared insights on Lever 1 of my Execution by Design model: Leadership & Trust, examining why trust, psychological safety, and leadership behaviours form the foundation of effective execution - check out my wrap up article attached.

Execution isn't about plans or dashboards. It starts with people.

When senior teams lack cohesion and confidence in one another, projects stall, priorities fragment, and energy shifts to self-protection. High-trust teams, by contrast, move faster, take on bolder goals, and adapt with resilience. Execution begins with how leaders show up with each other. Without trust, courage, cohesion, and voice at the top, execution fragments before it reaches the frontline.

Leadership and trust create the foundation, but strategies still fail when teams can't answer four critical questions: 
- Where are we going? 
- Why does it matter? 
- How will we get there, and how will we know we have been successful?
- What does it mean for me?
Which leads me to Lever 2: Strategic Clarity & Alignment - stay tuned.

You can access the full Lever 1 wrap up here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/lever-1-leadership-trust-foundation-strategy-execution-rebecca-reti-rg87c