Online Reporter
Rutendo Gwatidzo
Changing Perspectives
“Vision without execution is merely hallucination.” – Thomas Edison
Every last quarter of the year, boardrooms are filled with strategic planning sessions as they will be planning for the upcoming year.
Organisations develop impressive strategic plans, colourful presentations and ambitious targets. Teams spend days in workshops, consultants facilitate discussions, and everyone leaves meetings energised and start the new calendar year motivated.
Yet by the middle of the year, many of those plans are gathering dust on office shelves while little has changed in reality. The problem is rarely the quality of the strategy. More often, it is the lack of disciplined execution. Success does not come to those who produce the best plans. It comes to those who consistently turn plans into action.
The Farmer Who Never Planted!
I grew up farming a lot because my parents were farmers and I usually learn so much from the experiences. Allow me to share the story about two farmers who bought land in the same area.
The first one spent months researching the best seed, comparing fertilisers, studying weather patterns and designing the perfect farming calendar. Every decision had to be perfect before he could begin.
The second farmer also planned, but, briefly and after gathering some information, he planted his crop and decided to adjust along the way.
When the rainy season ended, one farmer had a notebook full of brilliant ideas while the other one had a harvest. In as much as planning is important, planning alone never produces results. At some point, every organisation must stop discussing and start doing.
The Execution Gap – Organisational Status!
Many organisations know what they should do. They know that customer service needs improvement and employees require training. They know that outdated systems should be replaced and communication must improve.
The challenge is not a lack of knowledge. It is the inability to execute consistently.
Meetings become substitutes for action. Reports replace accountability and discussions continue while opportunities quietly pass by.
As leadership expert Peter Drucker famously said; “Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.”
Progress Beats Perfection!
One of the greatest enemies of execution is the pursuit of perfection. Some leaders delay launching new products because everything is not yet perfect. Some employees postpone important tasks while waiting for ideal conditions. Some entrepreneurs spend years preparing to start businesses that never open. Perfection is admirable, but progress creates momentum. Organisations that succeed understand that improvement is a continuous journey. They implement, learn, adjust and improve as they go.
Accountability Drives Results!
Execution thrives where accountability exists. Every strategic objective should answer four simple questions:
What needs to be done? Who is responsible?
By when?
How will success be measured?
Without accountability, strategies become wish lists instead of business results. Great leaders do not merely assign work. They follow up, remove obstacles, coach their teams and celebrate progress. Execution is not about working harder. It is about ensuring that the right work gets done consistently. If not careful, you can be very good at doing the wrong thing.
Action Creates Confidence!
Many people believe confidence comes before action. Yet, in reality, confidence grows because of action. Allow me to share a bit of my story, after working for so many years in the same industry and after having been am employer for many years, I finally decided that backed by the academic qualifications, I had what it takes to start a consultancy company.
The qualifications and the experience gave me confidence. I went ahead to register the company and put in place everything I thought was good enough for me to start.
The challenge came when I got my first client, to be honest I lost all the confidence I had gathered and gave the client to someone else. I ended up getting a small amount out of the deal because instead of being the main service provider I became the minor. The same scenario went on like that for almost a year, losing big clients and income.
One of my mentors sat me down and encouraged me to start, then consult with him where I need help.
To my surprise, when I engaged with the client who came next after the conversation I did with my mentor, I did not realise how I managed to complete the task without calling for help. The better surprise was that I even exceeded the expectation of the client who then referred me to another and another.
Just like that, is how I took off and started growing from there. Do not wait to gather enough confidence, take action and confidence will catch up as you go. Each completed task creates momentum. Each milestone builds belief. One success inspires the next.
As the African proverb says, “Little by little, the bird builds its nest.” Great achievements are built through consistent daily actions, not occasional bursts of enthusiasm.
Leaders Must Model Execution!
Employees watch what leaders do more than what they say. Do not ask your team to perform when you are not performing as a leader. For instance, if leaders fail to honour deadlines, they lose meaning. If leaders focus only on planning meetings without reviewing implementation, execution becomes optional.
Leadership means demonstrating urgency, discipline and commitment. When leaders execute consistently, their teams follow.
Food For Thought!
The second half of the year presents every organisation with an opportunity to recover lost ground. Instead of asking, “What else should we plan?” Perhaps the better question is, “What have we already planned that we need to execute?” Strategies, budgets or meetings do not transform organisations. Execution does.
Remember the words of former Zimbabwean Olympic champion Kirsty Coventry: “Dreams only become reality when you are willing to put in the work.”
Planning gives direction, but execution delivers results. I wish you wise planning, but do not remain in the planning room forever. Step into the field, take action, learn from the journey and keep moving forward.
Because in the end, organisations are not remembered for the plans they wrote. They are remembered for the results they achieved. All the best in this second half of the year.
Rutendo Gwatidzo is a human capital executive and managing consultant at The HUB HR Consultancy. She is a multi-Award winning leader, transformational speaker and coach. She is also the author of Born to Fight and Breaking the Silence books. Contact details – 0714575805/ [email protected] / Rutendo Gwatidzo_Official FB public page.
