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 One
of the recurring themes in Barry Wishner's thought-provoking programs
is the importance of business execution. See below to learn what
top business leaders are saying about this topic.
Also see a listing (by industry and company)
of some of the CEO's who have provided cutting-edge insights on
business execution that form the core of Barry's programs, articles
and upcoming book. Fortune Magazine says 70%
of CEOs Fail because they don't take action.
ABB Ltd., Percey Barnevik, Former
Chairman (Current GM Director): "Thinking - the strategies and designs
- only gets you 5-10% of the way. 90% is in the execution."
Accenture, Terry Neill, Former Chairman
of Global Board: "Winners out-execute rather than outstrategize,
their competitors."
Accenture, Walt Shill, Managing Partner,
Strategy Practice: "Today, successful CEOs operate more like they
are running white water rapids than sailing a great ship across
the ocean. They must intensely focus on executing in the face of
constant change. Successful teams are still very strategic, but
they have evolved to embrace strategies that are pragmatic and highly
focused on execution."
Accenture, George Shaheen, Former
CEO: "We better remember that in the end, it's all about execution.
You can be right on paper, but if you don't execute it, it's not
going to work."
Ace Hardware, Richard E. Laskowski,
Former Chairman: "The heart of success is discovering the correct
goal and then developing a plan of execution to reach it."
Aguila, Inc., Robert K. Green, Chairman:
"Focus and execution are mandatory. The only thing you can really
control, after all, is the performance of your company."
Albertson's, Larry Johnston, Former
CEO: "When you get the best people, you don't have to worry as much
about the execution, because they make it happen."
American General Financial Group,
Robert M. Devlin, Former Chairman and CEO, (Current Cooper Industries
Director): "Our ability to successfully execute our strategy has
produced results that met or exceeded our long-term financial objectives."
AMR Corporation, Robert Crandall,
Former CEO: "About half of the job of management is trying to figure
out where the company is going to be 5 to 10 years down the road,
and the second half is execution."
Assured Guaranty, Donald H. Layton,
Director, (Former Director J.P. Morgan Chase): "We intend to be
the provider of choice. That takes leveraging our leadership positions
and remaining ahead of the curve in new ideas and the means to execute
them."
ATT, Ed Whitacre, Former Chairman
and CEO (Director Anheuser-Busch and BNSF Railway): "We want
to be the only company for your entertainment and communications
needs. We have the parts to do it -- we just need to execute."
AXA, Andrew Penn, CEO: "It is good
execution more than strategy that separates leaders from players
in the market place. It is in the execution and delivery where you
succeed or fail. Ultimately, the role of the CEO is to provide a
clear vision and direction and ensure it is well executed."
Bain & Company, Chris Zook, Director
of Global Strategy: "The company that comes up with a formula to
find and execute adjacency moves can bury its competitors."
Borland Software, Dale Fuller, President
and CEO: "We just execute flawlessly over and over in a single direction."
Brinker Intl., Douglas Brooks, President
and CEO: "Any craftsman or artist will tell you, the success of
a vision is contingent upon its execution."
Business Objects, Bernard Liataud,
CEO: "We are proud that we have been able to establish this strong
leadership through our consistent and focused execution in the marketplace."
Canada Life Financial Corporation,
David A. Nield, Director and Former Chairman, President and CEO:
"Strategies do not implement themselves, people implement them."
Chief Executive, John Brandt, President
& Editorial Editor: "Your first 100 days are critical not to solve
the problems (years in the making) but to impress investors that
you have a plan and that you can execute."
Cisco, John Chambers, President and
CEO: "Besides the general market performance, we can always stumble
or be out-executed by our competition."
Citibank, Ed Horowitz, Corporate
Executive Vice President [Re: e-Citi]: "The overall execution has
gone slower than I had aspired to... People have to come up to speed
with the vision, embrace it, embed it in the business plan and get
it implemented in the individual business."
Colgate-Palmolive, James S. Figura,
VP, Colgate-US: "Execute with excellence and simply be everywhere
at once."
Comforce, John Fanning, Chairman
and CEO: "Integrity, competency and innovation don't mean a thing
without execution."
Cornell International, Alan Guarino,
CEO: "It takes the perseverance to stay the course, and the ability
to execute."
Crosspoint Venture Partners, Steve
Foster, Associate: "There's no shortage of capital or necessary
ideas, but it's incredibly difficult to find the people to execute."
Dell, Inc., Kevin Rollins, Former
CEO: "We have a strategy which is a Dell Direct business model,
but then the key to its success is how well we implement it day
in and day out. Anytime we fail to execute it is the biggest risk
by far."
Dell Online, Richard Owen, Vice President:
"Customer service is still the basis of loyalty. Outstanding execution
is still as important as a good strategy."
The Denver Newspaper Agency, Kirk
MacDonald, CEO: "Adoption of a fitness-focused lifestyle helped
me become more innovative and get better at execution."
Disney, Robert Iger, President and
CEO: "Executives must free up resources to execute new ideas and
have the courage to take risks rather than just talk about their
importance."
Do It Best Corp., Mike McClelland,
Former President and CEO: "You can xerox anything that stands still.
You can't copy anything moving."
eBay, about Meg Whitman, CEO, (by
Tim Bajarin, Creative Marketing Strategies): "Vision is one thing
and there's a lot of that in Silicon Valley. Execution is another.
She's remarkable at actually getting things done."
E*Trade, Christos Cotsakos, Former
CEO: "It's always been about building the right technology and executing
on that idea so that we could use that for a variety of different
areas and make it a disruptive technology."
Eclipsys, Harvey Wilson, Chairman
Emeritus: "We have the proven ability to execute the strategy. If
we don't continue to demonstrate that we can execute it, it just
becomes words on paper."
EDB, Teo Ming Kian, Chairman: "If
we know what Motorola or HP is going to do over the next three to
five years globally, we can shape our policies so that we have everything
they need in place to quickly implement their plans."
Electronic Data Systems, Les Alberthal,
Jr., Former President and CEO: "Our livelihood depends on our ability
to execute the soft stuff."
Ethan Allen, Edward Teplitz, EVP:
"It's up to leadership to initiate the beginnings of change, and
then it's up to us and those below us to implement it. Once we decide
the direction we need to come up with an implementation plan and
just push it through."
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things
Done, Ram Charan, leading U.S. Management Consultant and
Author: "The emergence of world-class companies from developing
nations is a shift that portends a new global game. Their leaders
are good executors who see niches in the global economy and can
tap world intellectual capital and financial markets to consolidate
control across their industries."
Fifth Third Bancorp, George Schaefer,
President: "The main difference between us and 225 different banks
in Ohio, 125 to 150 thrifts and 570 credit unions is the human-service
element. We focus on daily execution."
Fortune, Peter Lewis, Writer: "To
stay atop, you need not only flawless execution but also a blockbuster."
GE Global Exchange Services, Harvey
Seegars, President and CEO: "In every case, the distinguishing factor
between successful implementations and unsuccessful implementations
is the involvement of the CEO."
General Electric, Jack Welch, Former
Chairman and CEO: "Just worry about coming up with great ideas,
getting the best people, and delivering a terrific execution. A
leader is someone who can develop a vision of what he or she wants
their business unit to be...and then can relentlessly drive implementation
of that vision to a successful conclusion. I believe the desire
and the ability, of an organization to continuously learn from any
source, anywhere, and to rapidly convert this learning into action,
is its ultimate competitive advantage. Information technology is
the key to both the learning, as well as the rapid execution of
the fruits of that learning."
General Electric, Jeff Immelt, CEO: "Everyone has a decent
strategy, but how many have leaders at all levels of the organization
who have the understanding, drive and skills to execute it in ways
others cannot?"
George Mason University, Robin Hanson,
Associate Professor of Economics: "We don't need more suggestion
boxes or more street mimes to fill people with a spirit of creativity.
We instead need to better manage the flood of ideas we already have
and to reward managers for executing them."
Giant Leap Consulting, Bill Treasurer,
Founder: "When leaders make plans in a vacuum, they end up with
no buy-in from the lower ranks. With no upfront buy-in, your ability
to execute at the unit level is DOA."
GM, Noel Tichy, Advisor: "Execution
for a dinosaur bureaucracy is rocket science."
GM, Rich Wagoner, CEO: "We're executing
the turnaround plan at a pace that's faster than we thought we could."
Golden Corral, Ted Fowler, CEO: "You
have to have a plan of where to go, how to approach a hunt in a
particular field or area and then execute it."
Good to Great, Jim Collins, Author:
(on building enduring great companies and their executives response
to change)"They respond -always- with a calm and penetrating search
for understanding, followed by deliberate, thoughtful action. It's
really a stream of decisions over time, brilliantly executed that
accounts for great outcomes."
Hammer and Co., Dr. Michael Hammer,
President: "Execution is extremely hard, and you need very careful
metrics and instrumentation to know what you're talking about."
Harrah's Entertainment, Gary Loveman,
CEO: "Flawlessly executing today's strategy is a paramount concern."
Harvard School of Business, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Professor:
"Execution means having the mental and organizational flexibility
to put new business models into practice, even if they counter what
you're currently doing."
Hay Group, Mel Stark, Vice President:
"In today's environment, true leaders must do far more than merely
meet the numbers. To effectively implement strategy, they must put
people first and continually connect with and motivate their human
capital."
HCA, Thomas F. Frist, Jr., MD, Former
Chairman and CEO, Current Director [Strategy Statement]: "We would
not now be articulating a vision based on local focus and responsibility
if we did not believe in the capability and commitment of the people
who run our hospitals. Therefore, we ask you to join us by taking
local ownership of this strategy and its successful execution in
your hospital and community."
Hewlett-Packard, Carly S. Fiorina,
Former CEO (Current Cybertrust Director): "You'd have the most brilliant
deal in the world, and if you don't execute, it's worth nothing.
Sharpen your vision, focus and execution. Re-imagine what you can
be."
Hewlett-Packard, Mark Hurd, Chairman,
CEO & President: "Execution trumps vision, especially in a turnaround."
Home Depot, Inc., Dennis Donovan,
Former Executive Vice President, HR: "The success of the strategy
rests in people's execution."
Honeywell Intl., Larry Bossidy, Former
CEO: "Success today is not simply about leading anymore. It must
be about implementing, not just announcing, strategies."
HSBC Holdings, Sir John R. H. Bond,
Chairman: "There are few original strategies in banking. There's
only execution."
Hummer Winblad Venture Partners,
Ann Winblad, Co-founding Partner: "The most important thing we learned
is that optimism cannot outweigh execution." IBM, Louis V. Gerstner,
Jr., Former Chairman and CEO (Current Sloan-Kettering Director):
"This technology stuff is hard. And if I'm a company, what I really
want is somebody who can help me implement it."
IBM, Samuel J. Palmisano, CEO: "As
the Internet and globalization widen the pool of new ideas, it's
about selecting and executing the right ideas and bringing them
to market in record time. The company's own execution problems were
mostly to blame for first quarter earnings shortfall, adding that
IBM was 'taking aggressive action' to remedy them."
Ideo Inc., Tim Brown, President and
CEO: "Innovation is only valuable when you implement it beautifully
and elegantly."
Inc Magazine, George Gendron, Editor-In-Chief:
"It's easy for us to inadvertently convey the impression that innovative
approaches to management can take care of everything. They can't.
They're certainly no substitute for good, solid business execution."
Intuit, Bill Harris, Former CEO:
"We always thought of ourselves as fast . . . But suddenly everyone
was fast . . . The question we had was, Can we execute? Adapting
to new business cycles meant rethinking certain processes we had
grown comfortable with."
J.C. Penney, Allen Questrom, Chairman
and CEO: "The bigger the company, the more you have to sell the
strategy to the organization. The more people who understand the
strategy the more likely it will get executed."
John H. Harland Company, Robert J.
Amman, Former President and CEO: "While extremely important, the
development of a strategy is not effective without the means to
execute."
Johns Hopkins Medicine, C. Michael
Armstrong, Chairman: "We had a strong quarter... it represents the
execution and operation strengths of a company that's learning to
[meet] its commitments."
Johnstone Supply, Gary Daniels, President
and CEO: "Vision is nothing without action. Reaching the billion
dollar sales mark is a tribute to everyone, our Independent Members,
employees and corporate support people, who committed to a goal
and executed through hard work and diligence."
Kellogg Company, Carlos M. Gutierrez,
Chairman and CEO: "The entire organization is intensely focused
on executing our plans, earning our stripes each and every day."
Kohl's, John Herma, Former COO: "We
do twenty simple things that have impact when taken together. The
key is the consistency of execution."
LeapFrog Enterprises, Michael Wood,
Vice Chairman, President and CEO: "You need to ...assemble a management
team with the skills to execute."
Lend Lease Corporate Solutions, Ann
McCallum, Executive: "The only limits to growth are those of imagination
and execution."
Levi Strauss & Co., Philip Marineau,
President and CEO: "Market to the greatest share of opportunity
and then execute those ideas flawlessly."
Lightsurf Technologies, Philippe
Kahn, Chairman and CEO: "In the real world, the toughest challenge
is 'The Business Model and Its Execution.' An MBA provides a solid
foundation. Yet, it must be coupled with innovation, teamwork and
commitment."
McDonalds, Michael R. Quinlan, Former
Chairman (Current Dunn & Bradstreet Director): "Our Execution Strategy
identifies seven initiatives that will provide a 100% experience:
hot and tasty food, fast service, food safety, accurate orders,
friendliness, employee satisfaction and merchandising."
McGraw-Hill, Terry McGraw, CEO: "The
greatest challenge for tomorrow's CEO lies in their ability to teach.
The impact they can have is being able to take their experience
and relate it in a way that people can better understand how to
go about doing things - how to think more broadly, how an organization
achieves - and what teamwork really means."
Mellon Financial, David Lamere, Chairman
and CEO: "We are extremely well positioned to produce results for
our clients and shareholders by having built a team of talented
people who are not only excellent in their execution but are also
people of integrity."
MindShare, Mark Mooradian, VP and
Senior Analyst: "As companies find the Internet profoundly affecting
the way they do business, they must take the time to develop a long-term
strategy that a highly qualified leader and team can execute."
Morgan Stanley, Judy Warrick, Senior
Advisor, Investment Banking: "Now execution and humility are in."
Motorola, Mike Zafirovski, President
and COO: "Execution is clearly ahead of us."
MSCO, Mark Stevens, CEO: "Self doubt
is what drives you to a conclusion. Is it the right conclusion?
You don't know until you begin to execute, but you've got to start
somewhere."
MTV, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Costar: "Don't
forget the importance of execution. Even the most farfetched schemes
can become huge successes if executed correctly."
NBC Entertainment, Kevin Reilly,
President: "We've gotten the public comfortable with very high quality
of execution."
Neo Pet, Carla Miraldi, President:
"Strategy execution goes to the fabric of a company. All the threads
have to be woven together just the right way for the process to
work."
New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg:
"Hire lieutenants who can get the job done. Let's just do it."
New York City Public Schools, Joel
Klein, Chancellor: "I'm not especially thin-skinned, but the things
that really bug me are when we execute poorly."
Nike, Chris Zook, Head Global Strategy
Practice, Bain & Co.: "The company that comes up with a formula
to find and execute adjacency moves can bury its competitors. Nike
is a case in-point."
OneWorld Health, William A. Haseltine,
Ph.D., Director: There must be a shared vision, strong leadership,
fully capable management and finally, superb execution."
Palm Computing, Ed Colligan, President
and CEO: "Sure, we're part of a big company. But if we keep executing
the way we have been, I can't imagine anyone wanting to screw around
with us."
Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, Founder:
"The point was not to focus on making money: focus on doing things
right, and the profits would come."
Pitney Bowes, Murray Martin, COO:
"Innovation without implementation is of no value."
PNC Financial Services Group, Thomas
O'Brien, Director: "The key to our success will be execution."
PSS/World Medical, Patrick Kelly,
Co-Founder: "It's not how smart you are, it's how you apply yourself
that determines your success."
RCCL, Harri Kulovaara, EVP Maritime:
"I've been involved in the building of 35 ships. Execution is relatively
easy, compared with finding talent."
The Reader's Digest Association,
Eric W. Schrier, President and CEO: "We must operate beyond individual
comfort zones to ensure that we don't lose focus on first-rate innovation
and execution to keep our traditional print and direct mail businesses
thriving."
Reengineering The Corporation, James
Champy, Co-Author: "High achievers recognize the connection between
quality and value. They see that social and economic value is created
through effective execution."
R.R. Donnelley, Direct, Tim Stratman,
CEO: "A good execution plan is an invisible hand that moves the
unimportant stuff out of the way so that people can focus on what
really needs to happen."
Russell Reynolds Associates, Andrea
Redmond, Co-Leader, CEO and Board Services Practice: "We energized
the people, who then brought that energy to implementing the strategies."
Russell Reynolds Associates, Charles
Tribbett III, Co-Leader, CEO/ and Board Services Practice: "It's
one thing to sit around the table and be passionate and excited
about diversity, but it's another to actually roll up your sleeves
and execute it."
Silver Lake Partners, Dave Roux,
General Partner: "Money and ideas are easy to come by. In fact,
there's a surplus of money in Silicon Valley. What's missing is
execution."
Southern Company, David Ratcliffe,
CEO: "We have a good strategy and a good implementation plan, with
the right people to get it done."
Spencer Stuart, Tom Neff, Chairman:
"The board should consider giving a vote of support to the CEO and
giving him or her a chance to execute a viable strategy that may
require more time to implement. CEOs must understand both business
strategy and the process of implementation."
Sprint, William T. Esrey, Former
Chairman (Current General Mills Director): "The biggest hurdles
are execution - We're working with a number of key vendors - and
marketing."
The Stanley Works, John M. Trani,
Former Chairman and CE: , "Those who learn the art of execution
win, and those who do not fail."
Staples, Thomas Stemburg, Former
Chairman and CEO (current Nasdaq Director): "Execution and detail
are everything."
Starbucks, Howard Schultz, Chairman:
"Experience has taught me that it's easy to talk about values, hard
to implement them, and even harder for an outsider to determine
which values are heartfelt and which are window-dressing."
Steelcase, Jim P. Hackett, President
and CEO: "You won't have the respect of your peers if you're allowed
to sit back and theorize about a problem without having to do it."
Stephen Sondheim: "Everything depends
on execution, having just a vision is no solution."
SunTrust Banks, Annual Report: "At
SunTrust...success is equally dependent on execution, and execution
is dependent on a good team working together to put plans into action."
Sunrise Senior Living, Paul Klassen,
Chairman and CEO: "A promise to develop and successfully execute
a business strategy that delivers strong results."
Symantec, John W. Thompson, Chairman, CEO: "We have a very
motivated and excited team that has the capability to execute well
against the goals that we've set for ourselves."
Symbol Technologies, William R. (Bill)
Nuti, President, CEO, COO, Director: "We're confident of the vision.
We're confident in what we need to do operationally, from a strategy
point of view. We've executed Corporate America's best practices
with respect to organizational and cultural change programs."
Symbol Technologies, Todd Abbott,
Senior Vice President World Wide Operations: "With our strategy,
Symbol Technologies has the opportunity to define the enterprise
mobility reference architecture in the market. Now it is up to each
one of us to execute."
Synopsys, Aart de Geus, CEO: Defines
the Synopsys culture or employer brand, first as being a technology
leader and second as "an ethical, high-quality company that executes
well."
Target, Robert Ulrich, Chairman and
CEO: "It's not rocket science, but people need to be motivated.
It's a more difficult strategy to executive if you're not."
TBWA\Worldwide, Jean-Marie Dru, President
and CEO: "Disruption has always been there. The only difference
is people used to talk about it but didn't implement."
Teoco, Atul Jain, CEO: "First to
market doesn't always win. It's all about execution."
Thomas Edison: "Vision without execution
is a hallucination."
Tom Peters Group, Tom Peters, CEO:
"The reality in most organizations is that execution too often turns
into talking about execution. It becomes talking instead of doing.
You must build a unified organization that is quick, bold and knows
how to execute."
Tornante Company, Michael Eisner,
CEO: "In addition to having valuable ideas, you must have an organization
that can follow through and execute that good idea. A lot of people
have good ideas, but not that many do anything about them."
Trendspotting, Robyn Waters, Speaker
and Author (The Hummer and the Mini), "I have a mantra that I use
for implementing great ideas: Make it real. Keep it simple. Make
it happen. Too many great ideas fall by the wayside for lack of
execution."
Tyler Perry Studios, Roger Bobb,
Producer: "You've got to get it right, whatever it takes, for our
vision to be implemented efficiently and instantaneously."
Unisys, Lawrence A. Weinback, Former
Chairman, President, and CEO (Current UBS Director): "Vision and
strategy are important, but the key to success is execution. What's
behind this success? At Unisys, it comes down to two key factors:
focus and execution. Execution is what will distinguish the winners
from the losers. We've also spent a lot of time communicating and
educating people about the importance of execution."
UPS, Tom Weidemeyer, Former COO (Current
Goodyear Director): "When we've had challenges executing, it's primarily
been because we didn't truly understand the full nature of the undertaking
and what it would take to be successful."
USAA, Robert T. Herres, Former Chairman
and CEO: "It's easy to recognize the need for strategic planning:
getting it right is the hard part."
Virgin, Sir Richard Branson, Founder
and Chairman: "I can have an idea in the morning and have it implemented
in the evening."
Volvo Financial Services, Sal Mauro,
President and CEO: "The 'Big 5' tool, our appreciation for speed
in decision making and our distaste for bureaucracy are advantageous
to executing our plans decisively."
Walker Dental, Jay S. Walker, Former
Chairman and CEO: "Execution is what keeps you up at night."
Wall Street Journal, Holman W. Jenkins,
Jr.: [Regarding Michael Eisner, Disney's CEO] "Disney under Mr.
Eisner has proved the military wisdom that, more than a perfect
plan, what counts is energetic, opportunistic execution."
Walt Disney's Four Pillars Of Success:
"I dream, I test my dreams against my beliefs, I dare to take risks,
and I execute my vision to make those dreams come true." Warnaco,
Linda Wachner, Former CEO: "There are a few people in life who know
how to think, and in our economy, the rewards are sensational for
those people who can make things happen."
Washington Mutual, Kerry Killinger,
Chairman, President and CEO: "Washington Mutual will continue to
execute the business plan that it has had in place for nearly a
decade and hat has helped place our company among the industry leaders
in total shareholder return."
WebMD, Jeffrey Arnold, Former Chairman
and CEO (Current Premier Global Services Director): "What keeps
me up at night is that we've made big promises to big companies,
and now we have to execute on them all."
Weiner, Edrich, Brown, Arnold Brown,
Chairman: "If knowledge was power, college professors would rule
the world. Execution is power. Execution is everything."
Wells Fargo, Richard M. Kovacevich,
Chairman, President, CEO, (On Distribution Strategy): "A vision
and a strategy aren't enough. The long term key to success is execution.
Each day. Everyday. The employees of your company continue to execute
very well. Our success has nothing to do with planning, it has to
do with execution."
Westpac, David Morgan, CEO: "The
most common reason CEOs fail is due to failures of execution, by
getting too far away from the business. Execution was, is and always
remains the number one priority, the 'must do' part of the job."
Yahoo! Inc., Jerry Yang, Chief Yahoo
CEO and Director: "The execution of our business plan has been key
to the company's success.
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