🚀 The Problem: Strategy Brainstorms Are Free. Execution Is Expensive.
Businesses don’t fail because the idea was bad. They fail because good ideas never get executed well enough to survive.
The early-stage adrenaline rush of a new idea is addictive—ideas flow, pivots happen, everyone’s jazzed about what’s next. But when it comes to actually moving things forward? Suddenly, you’re on round 12 of “we should really define our go-to-market strategy” and nothing has actually shipped to customers. Or, the loudest voice in the room pivots direction on a whim.
I once worked with a business that was doing well commercially but had zero clear execution strategy. They knew they needed to invest in digital but were waiting for a top-down strategy from leadership that was never going to come - because the C-suite was distracted by fundraising. So instead of waiting, I got the digital leadership team to build it from the bottom up.
We didn’t show up to exec meetings with problems or complaints they hadn't done their job. Yikes. We showed up with a plan—clear, decisive recommendations, a list of what we needed to execute, and multiple options that aligned with company values and growth strategy as we saw best for customers. Done is better than perfect, and in the time it took leadership to finally approve it, we had already started testing and delivering.
Why Execution Falls Apart (Even for Smart, Experienced Leaders)
Too Many Priorities = No Priorities
A founder once told me, “We have 10 priorities this quarter.” That’s 7 too many. Execution suffers when teams don’t know what to focus on, and more importantly, what to ignore. You have to kill your darlings and be relentlessly focused on the customer.Decisions Are Bottlenecked at the Top
A founder personally approved every single hiring decision—even for entry-level roles and ever line of spend. The result? A 6-month hiring backlog and a team working at half capacity. A fight for every tool that caused stagnation. If you trust your leadership team, let them lead. If you don't let them go. And if you don't trust ANY of them? That's a you problem. You need exec coaching to figure out your part in that.Waiting for the "Perfect" Plan Instead of Just Starting
A company I worked with spent a year debating their digital strategy before bringing us in to do it all over again. Their competitors didn’t wait. By the time they launched, they had lost market share that could’ve been theirs.
How a Fractional Chief of Staff Fixes This
Execution Prioritisation: Cut the noise. 3 company-wide objectives per quarter, max.
Decision-Making Frameworks: Who actually needs to be involved? Founders shouldn’t be signing off on everything.
Strategy Days: I'll come in as facilitator and a neutral party. We'll get to the right idea for your customer and business goals - not just whoever talks the loudest.
Scrappy, Not Crappy: Test & learn. Build while you strategise. No one cares about your 3-year plan if you run out of money or lose market share before then. Release small and quickly and experiment. If you can't trust your leaders to come up with viable tests, you have the wrong team or there's something in your need to control that is blocking progress.
Actionable Takeaway:
Kill Your Darlings: Build a 90-Day Execution Plan
Write down the 3 most important priorities for your business this quarter. Assign clear owners, deadlines, and decision-making authority. Then, cut everything else—seriously. Even that. It can wait.
Reflective Question:
Where in your business is momentum stalling because there’s no clear next step or owner? Where do you jump back in and fail to see who on your team can execute?