CREATIVE EXECUTION

Published by John Wiley & Sons
Creative Execution reveals the strategies and execution formula of uniquely successful leaders—from Alexander the Great to the founders of Google and Four Seasons.

In the hyper-competitive and ever-changing reality of the 21st century, ordinary solutions and conventional wisdom frequently fall short of what’s needed to achieve outstanding results. Creativity, boldness and innovation have to be added to the mix—in a way that makes executing a strategy an invigorating challenge for everyone in the organization, rather than an exercise in fruitless toiling and mutual blaming.

The central premise of the book is that every leader, at every level of any organization, has the inner capacity to unleash the passion and energy required for creative execution.

THE CREATIVE EXECUTION FORMULA

While researching the success of leaders who mastered strategy execution and changed the rules of the game in their industry, author Eric Beaudan discovered five common themes that anchor the Creative Execution formula:

• A unique, compelling strategy

• Candid dialogue

• Clear roles and accountabilities

• Bold action

• Visible leadership

THE PRINCIPLES OF CREATIVE EXECUTION

Any leader or executive can use the principles of Creative Execution to:

• Build a sustainable growth agenda

• Win the hearts and minds of their team

• Create a high-trust, high-performing culture

• Avoid the disappointment of failed strategies

• Drive employee engagement to new heights

IF THAT COINCIDES WITH YOUR OBJECTIVES,
YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT CREATIVE EXECUTION THROUGH THIS WEBSITE, OR PURCHASE THE BOOK NOW.

A UNIQUE STRATEGY

The first step toward creative execution indeed, the first step of any execution–is the creation of a simple, unambiguous strategy.

There are plenty of smart people in consulting firms and corporations who insist on developing competitive strategies that fit inside volumes of three-ring binders, replete with data since the founding of the Roman Empire. For the most part, these strategies contain some good information and analyses but are not sufficiently tangible or crunchy to inspire people to action. In contrast, a crystal-clear strategy that can be explained on a single page is an indispensable starting point for seamless execution.

CANDID DIALOGUE

In his book Winning, Jack Welch calls lack of candor “the biggest dirty little secret in business.”

As CEO of General Electric, he made a point of letting people know exactly how he felt about them and their performance. Welch was blunt and direct with his staff and colleagues to such an extent that he told one of his GMs at a company dinner that if he underperformed the following year, he would have to fire him. Welch created a culture of candor at GE that became part of the company’s high-performance DNA.

CREATIVE EXECUTION

  • Over 50% of senior leaders indicate that Strategic Thinking is lacking in their organization.
  • Proven Ability to Execute Strategy is ranked as 3rd highest “most difficult to find quality” in executive talent.
  • Over 90% of CEOs see increased Leadership Development as the single most important human capital issue they face.