Execution Is the Strategy ― How Leaders Achieve Maximum Results in Minimum Time

Once upon a time, executives would go to an off-site brainstorming session, come back with a multiyear strategic plan, and hand it off to their employees to dutifully execute. But in today's world of rapid, disruptive change, it’s hard enough to come up with a five-month plan, let alone a five-year plan. As one executive interviewed by author Laura Stack put it, “You prepare a strategic plan and then put it on the shelf while the real world passes you by.”

Nowadays, strategy can’t be separate from execution—it has to emerge from execution. New technologies, sudden changes in global markets, and viral customer reactions to new products require quick, nimble responses—sometimes even a complete strategic 180. But if your organization isn’t set up to be fast on its feet, you could easily go the way of Blockbuster or Borders.

Stack shows you how to make sure your organization is ready for on-the-spot strategic execution. Her LEAD formula explains how to Leverage the people and resources you need to create an agile organization, establish an Environment where your employees are confident and capable enough to take the initiative and make on-the-fly changes, ensure that your team is in Alignment with the organization’s goals so they’ll make the right strategic choices, and remove obstacles so they can Drive the organization forward quickly.

Of course, you’ll still need to have a great strategy in place, but your goals must be subject to constant readjustment and revision. You have to work with your team to build effective business strategies in real time, not be bound by a plan that may be out of date as soon as it rolls off the printer. Execution really is the strategy that will propel your organization forward, and Laura Stack can help you build an organization ready to meet the challenge of constant change.

Laura Stack is America’s Premier Expert in Productivity?. For over 20 years, her seminars and speeches have helped professionals, leaders, and teams accelerate individual and team performance, execute efficiently, and improve output in the workplace. Her company, The Productivity Pro, Inc., provides productivity workshops around the globe to help attendees achieve Maximum Results in Minimum TimeR. Laura is a bestselling author of five productivity books published by Random House, Wiley, and Berrett-Koehler, most recently What to Do When There’s Too Much to Do. Her books have been published in more than 20 foreign editions. Laura has been featured nationally on the CBS Early Show, CNN, NPR, Bloomberg, the New York Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, and Forbes magazine. Laura has been a spokesperson for Microsoft, 3M, Skillsoft, Office Depot, Day-Timer, and Xerox. Her client list includes top Fortune 500 companies, including Starbucks, Wal-Mart, Aramark, Bank of America, GM, Wells Fargo, and Time Warner.