Six Leadership Techniques To Help Teams Execute Their Game Plans, Avoid Mistakes, And Win
Wide receiver Andre Reed #83 of the Buffalo Biils jumps in the air to celebrate scoring as the referee signals a touchdown during their AFC East football game against the New York Jets on 21 October 1990 at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, Buffalo, New York, United States. Visions of Sport. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Allsport/Getty Images)
In football, as in business, success usually comes down to a matter of execution. The teams that win not only must have great game plans that they’ve practiced extensively, but they also understand that the biggest obstacle to winning is making mistakes. It sounds simple, but one of the biggest challenges for leaders in any field is building a team that avoids making mistakes. Own goals and dropped balls can be the difference between a win and a loss. However, there are specific tactics leaders can use to improve execution and behaviors they can avoid to help prevent mistakes.
The game plan must answer two key questions: Where do we want to be (strategy)? How do we get there (tactics)?
It also must account for various likely contingencies and risks that you may encounter along the way. Leaders set the tone for how teams will execute game plans, and execution problems are ultimately the responsibility of the leader. Execution normally begins with the strategy that will determine the direction of your organization long-term and the tactics that you think will help you achieve those objectives. These elements — strategy and the tactics required to accomplish it — should be part of your long-term planning. For most organizations, this sort of planning is realistically only on a two- to three-year horizon. (Ten-year planning is almost always BS, because it’s too far into the future to make really informed decisions.)
Execution comes once you’ve defined your strategy and tactics and it’s time to put them into action. It doesn’t matter if you have the best game plan and strategy ever devised if you don’t execute it. For many organizations, this is the hard part. It’s up to leaders to ensure they have the right players on their teams who will maximize their potential and put plans into action effectively and without mistakes. Regardless of whether you’re dealing with a football team or a Fortune 500 company, there are specific things that leaders must do to ensure good execution.
Simplify the plan so that people can understand and talk about it fluently. If your team can’t easily explain your strategy and tactics in a couple of minutes, they won’t be able to delegate effectively, and there will be mistakes and problems with execution. Make sure everyone understands exactly what the strategy and tactics are and how they will be impactful. Don’t just ask people if they understand (you’ll get a chorus of “yeahs”) or ask if there are any questions, since people may be embarrassed to speak up. Instead ask individuals to explain it back to you.
Know your audience. Often, CEOs are great at communicating a complex strategy and tactics to their board. However, the language and buzzwords that are appropriate for the board likely aren’t going to work with the broader team. Leaders need to tailor the message for their audience.
Vary your communication. If your team isn’t “getting it,” examine how you’re communicating. It’s on the leader to ensure that the team understands the strategy and tactics. Consider using a VAK test (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) to understand how they learn best, and then adjust accordingly. Is talking enough, or do you need to be using more visuals, handouts, or activities to engage them?
Prioritize effectively. This means defining your priorities clearly. Instead of having twelve priorities, narrow it down to the two or three things — max — that must happen for your organization to win. Having too many priorities is the same as having no priorities.
Clearly define what success looks like. If you have a good year — even a year with record profits — but you didn’t reach your full potential, adjust incentives and priorities accordingly. If conditions are terrible, but you exceed expectations, that’s great.
Evaluate your team’s performance. How are they doing on the field? Get feedback from your team, and if mistakes occur, focus on identifying exactly what caused those mistakes, so that you can fix the root problem. Is it an issue with how you’re communicating? Or a mismatch between what the team needs and the abilities of an individual player? This means eliciting clear information and potentially running back through the process again.
These techniques help guarantee strong execution in football and business. Ultimately, good execution boils down to leaders taking responsibility for their teams, delegating and communicating effectively, and being clear eyed about whether the team is maximizing its success.
In football, you can watch tape to quickly see whether players are progressing. In business, you have to wait for the numbers. How you react to this data, and how you guide your team to execute the plan, remains the same, however. If priorities and communication are simple and clear, your team can win.