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It's nothing new that implementing strategy is one of the biggest organizational challenges.
The reasons why they fail have been amply described - the reasons range from unsuitable strategic specifications to dysfunctions in the organization and wrong prioritization.
However, there is at least one other reason why strategies fail.
And that lies in the bosses themselves.
It is certainly no surprise that the personality of executives influences corporate culture.
However, in our experience, some personality traits have such a negative impact on the quality and execution of strategic decisions that it is advisable to work on them.
We find that leaders get in their own way when they need to do their best.
Perhaps it is tension and anxiety that limit their ability to analyze.
Instead of thinking clearly, they fall into patterns of action that prevent good solutions rather than promote them.
Based on our 60 years of experience, we have identified the personality traits of executives and their impact on the success of corporate strategies.
We distinguish between four basic types.
For each, we have developed actions that bosses can use to reduce their negative impact.
The overconfident leader
A high-confidence leader tends to make more promises than they can keep and develop unrealistic strategies.
This leads to fear among the employees who are supposed to implement the strategy.
Such a boss often thinks short-term and overlooks or underestimates the impact of longer-term trends and complex dynamics.
He also often fails to notice changes caused by new market participants.
If he then recognizes what is happening, it is often too late to take countermeasures.
John, a client of co-author David Lancefield, was the CEO of a medium-sized company.
He made bold, provocative statements about the future, ignoring the judgments and views of others.
Instead of motivating his team, he drove it further and further into resignation.
David suggested a measure to his coachee that would increase his awareness of the environment without forcing him to make a dramatic change: David brought on board an experienced industry consultant as a mentor and sparring partner for John.
Stimulated by the exchange with the expert he respected, John began to question the validity of his assumptions and to adjust the plans based on them.
The following measures will help you as a manager to assess yourself more realistically:
Encourage debate, encourage dissenting opinions to be openly communicated.
At meetings, always emphasize that you value a lively exchange in the team - and that it is perfectly okay to have different opinions.
Feel free to go one step further: put together different discussion groups whose members bring different backgrounds and expertise to the table.
Ask the teams to pitch their ideas to each other and choose the one that is likely to best solve the challenge at hand.
Surround yourself with people who challenge you.
Beware of the temptation to work with people who will say yes to anything they propose.
It is better to look for an environment that consists of colleagues and employees who know what they can do and who believe in themselves.
Encourage them to tell you what they think - especially if they disagree with you.
Show them that their views and opinions are heard and respected.
Watch out for external developments.
Invest time to identify environmental signals that indicate changes in consumer behavior or technological innovations.
Talk to your stakeholders regularly to understand their wants and needs.
Talk to professionals.
Keep in touch with consultants and former executives.
Ideal are discussion partners who have enough experience and the necessary distance to refute limiting or false assumptions or to question goals and measures.
The impulsive leader
We all know executives who chase after every management trend.
They crave the adrenaline rush that comes from being among the first to adopt a brand new idea, technology or method.
In their enthusiasm, they overwhelm their organizations, tie up too many resources and make unrealistic promises to customers and shareholders.
They tend to make gimmicky announcements that elicit audience storms.
However, its euphoria subsides as soon as it recognizes the pattern behind it: The method just celebrated is buried without hesitation when the next promising approach appears.
In other words, the leader is unable to focus on one thing or strategy long enough to actually follow it through to the goal.
Eduardo, a client of co-author Ron Carucci, was a department head at a global apparel company.
He was proud of his success in launching new products and creating fashion trends.
But his inability to control his impulsiveness and execute strategies proved costly: his employer's warehouses were full of pants, sweaters, coats, and other clothing items no retailer wanted.
Eduardo's erratic behavior had frightened them - they had lost faith in Eduardo's brands.
The more desperate he became, the more impulsive he acted.
In the end, Eduardo successfully moved to another area of the company where he could better use his creative strengths.
If you find it difficult to resist new ideas or trends and you constantly change your mind, here are a few approaches to consider:
Force yourself to stop.
Create a process that prevents you from getting excited about something too quickly.
Consciously build in time for reflection loops.
Encourage others to look for counter-arguments.
Above all: Leave enough room for intensive debates in the strategic decision-making process.
This allows you to test your ideas before putting them into action.
Ask others to guide the strategy process.
Acknowledge that while your instincts may generate many creative ideas, you are not the best person to lead the strategy process.
Surround yourself with disciplined people who are able to develop, question and test strategic opportunities in ways you would actually rather avoid.
While this may be uncomfortable, it helps you question your judgments and gain the trust of those around you.
Assess risk factors and the use of resources realistically.
Think very carefully in advance about the risks associated with your new project.
Determine what worst-case skills and resources they need to execute your strategy.
Listen to the naysayers a little more closely than you normally would.
This gives you the chance to better weigh the pros and cons.
Get to the bottom of your euphoria.
The rush you feel when you pursue a new idea is triggered, among other things, by the release of dopamine in the brain.
Dopamine is considered the messenger of happiness.
It causes us to repeat actions that induce such exhilaration—even if they ultimately harm us.
In Eduardo's case, we learned that his identity and happiness depended so much on his role as a fashion pioneer that he shied away from building on existing ideas.
The rigid controlling leader
Some leaders feel that they need to be in constant and constant control of their team.
They expect everything and everyone to work in the prescribed way.
No wonder they find it difficult to try new things or accept unconventional perspectives.
The crux: Due to the rigid management, the employees also lose their fun in new things.
To avoid criticism from their boss, they confine themselves to developing low-risk strategies and proposing incremental innovations at most.
In such frightened teams and organizations, even much-needed change comes with great difficulty—if at all.
Sarah, one of David's clients, had all the hallmarks of a controlling leader.
Meetings were orchestrated with precision, her schedule was tight, and the people she spoke to were carefully chosen.
Maintaining this level of control was extremely taxing not only for those around her, but for Sarah as well - and ultimately made her ill.
When Sarah returned to work after a long illness, she found that her employees had done a good job in the meantime, even without constant monitoring.
This encouraged her to check where she could delegate responsibility and make better use of her time.
These measures will help you if you tend to be overly controlling those around you:
More transparency.
Do not keep information about company achievements, performance and progress to yourself.
This gives your employees confidence in their own skills and reduces their feeling of insecurity.
And it helps you realize that you can trust your team more.
Take calculated risks.
Identify situations in which your employees can take responsibility without major risks.
In this way you will learn to delegate and gradually hand over other tasks to your team members.
Test your ideas.
Learn to share your thoughts and ideas with the people you respect.
As you gradually expand this circle, you will find that dialogue increases both the quality of ideas and acceptance.
Find out why you reject new things.
Get to the bottom of your need for control and your dislike of surprises.
Have you adopted the style of your old and strict boss?
Was control your reaction to feeling like an outsider?
Have you been turned away when you showed curiosity?
Ask yourself to what extent these experiences and experiences prevent you from being more open.
And above all: Find out which thoughts and memories you want to leave behind.
The insecure leader
Quite a few executives are plagued by constant self-doubt.
They constantly think about what other people think of them.
And expect every day that they will fail.
Many bosses find ways to conceal these fears with a self-confident appearance.
Some are overly accommodating and nice.
By buying the respect of others with goodwill, they reduce the likelihood of being rejected.
In our opinion, insecure managers pose the greatest risk to the successful implementation of projects and strategies. Such managers are often exploited by more aggressive managers who persuade them to agree to their ideas.
In addition, many of them are so afraid of failure that they fall into "analysis paralysis".
They are constantly striving to minimize risks that only they can see.
Anxious bosses like to justify their concerns, often with failures in the past.
And this regardless of how long ago the failures were and how much you and the company have learned from them in the meantime.
Linda, a former client of co-author Ron, is a case in point.
She was Chief Marketing Officer for a growing clean energy company.
Her job was to reposition her employer's brand and serve a variety of new markets.
Actually, she was well qualified for this task - but her fear of failure undermined the trust of the others in her.
The CEO expected her to come to him with well-developed ideas and recommendations.
However, she repeatedly presented him with "rough drafts".
She justified this by saying that she first wanted to involve her team in order to get them to cooperate.
Her employees interpreted this behavior for what it really was: an insatiable need for approval and validation.
Linda's uncertainty led to numerous launch delays and an unclear brand message.
Luckily, Ron was able to help her understand the source of her fears and regain lost ground in the company.
If you're suffering from self-doubt, the following actions will help you lessen its impact on strategy:
Get to the bottom of your fears.
Whether with the help of a coach or therapist, realize that the ever-present insecurity is a sign of deeper unresolved issues.
Linda was able to identify the root causes of her need for approval and thereby gained a better sense of her own abilities.
Create worst-case and best-case scenarios.
Rather than fret over impending failure, uncertain leaders should use reliable data to create realistic scenarios of the possible outcomes of a considered strategy.
Focus the conversation on the opportunities.
Don't focus on what could go wrong or that others might see you in a negative light.
Force yourself to see the benefits of the opportunities you're exploring.
What is the best possible result?
How could the organization benefit from this?
How might that put you in a positive light?
Remember past achievements.
Sometimes it is extremely helpful to take a look at past achievements.
Where have you made similar decisions - and where did they turn out well?
Is there a lesson from these experiences that is helping you now?
It can also be a good idea to ask a trusted third party to describe how they perceive you.
Conclusion
Every manager struggles with some of their personal characteristics to a greater or lesser extent.
Instead of quarreling with them, see them as a part of your humanity that makes you vulnerable, but also allows you to connect more with others.
However, if you have the impression that certain feelings and behaviors are preventing you from achieving your goals, you should take action: There are many obstacles that cause projects to fail - it is all the more important that you do not stand in your own way.
