So many businesses fail to live up their full potential.

They suffer from the gap between what they promise and what they actually deliver. Closing this gap is the most important job of the Executive Team.

To do so the Top Team must create clarity for the rest of the organisation. They must be laser focussed on the strategy and highest priority goals of the organisation.

It doesn’t end there though.

In fact that’s just the beginning.

To close the gap the next job is to overcommunicate the clarity to the rest of the organisation.

The intent now is threefold.

  1. To translate the high level (often abstract) strategy into daily work so that people know what they must do to contribute.
  2. To instil belief, excitement and confidence in the organisations plans for the year ahead.
  3. To create the platform for teams and people to collaborate with one another.

Doing all 3 of these well are vital to closing the gap. Working together they create what every organisation wants but so seldom achieves … focus, alignment, buy in and engagement.

None of these are guaranteed. Nor can they be mandated. They come from hard work and staying involved long after the strategy has been formulated.

To make this practical I have listed 12 statements below.

Each statement is a key input into closing the ‘promise – delivery gap’. The statements are also divided into 3 sections, Organisation, Team and Individual. It’s vital that at every level the clarity resonates loudly.

To kick off please respond YES or NO to the 12 clarity statements below.

Organisation

  1. My organisation’s strategy and key goals are precisely understood.
  2. The measures of success on the key goals are precisely understood.
  3. These goals (and measures) are clearly, simply and consistently over communicated and reinforced at every level of my organisation.
  4. Everyone, at all levels of my business, clearly understands the logic and rationale of my organisation’s business model, including how the business makes money.
  5. The core values of my organisation are honoured and upheld at every touchpoint in the organisation.

Team

  1. The goals and key measures of my team clearly support the high-level strategy, goals and key measures of my organisation.
  2. I am fired up and excited about my team’s goals.
  3. Teams across my organisation work well together and there is smooth cross functional collaboration throughout the business.

Individual

  1. My personal work goals are clear, written down and tied to specific measures of performance.
  2. I take time at the beginning of each work week to specifically identify, schedule and plan my activities for the week around the most important goals of my team.
  3. I meet weekly with my boss for 15 minutes to discuss what I am working on in the week and what help I need?
  4. I feel a deep sense of ownership to take action on my goals.

Now, having marked all 12 statements above what is your main insight about your organisation?

Which of the 12 did you mark as NO and do you suffer from the symptoms of the Execution Gap?

Next Step.

As a next step, share these 12 statements with your team and discuss your insights with one another. You will be surprised at what you discover.

Final thoughts …

Closing the ‘promise – delivery gap’ in your business is not a nice to have. It’s much more profound than that.

Making a promise and keeping it builds trust. Failing to do so erodes trust.

Just like mine, your customers have choices.

If you can’t deliver what you’ve promised at the quality and standard they expect, they will quickly and happily go elsewhere to have their needs met.

So, please CLOSE THE GAP … your relevance and indeed right to exist depends upon it!

Download the 12 Clarity Statements here.

We love hearing from you. Please comment below or email me at

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