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TL;DR: To succeed in 2023, we must define and apply disproportionate energy to the behaviors that have the most impact on our Wildly Important Goal.

TIME FOR SOME ACTION

Acting on Lead Measures = The Secret of Execution

In our last issue, we discussed the discipline of focus and how important it is for us to give our teams something wildly important to focus on if we want to lead motivated and engaged teams that execute at a high level.

Today, we discuss why identifying and applying disproportionate energy to the behaviors that have the most impact on our goals provides the leverage necessary to achieve our Wildly Important Goals (WIGs).

Success is based on lead and lag measures

Lag measures are the tracking measurements of our goals. They let us know if we've achieved our goals.

The performance that drives these measures is in the past. We can't control the past. We can only learn from it.

Revenue, profit, and customer satisfaction are examples of lag measures.

Lead measures are the tracking measurements of the behaviors that drive our goals. They let us know if we are likely to achieve our goals.

Unlike lag measures, lead measures are predictive and influenceable.

The number of online form submissions received, sales calls made, and quotes given are examples of lead measures.

Leverage is the key principle behind lead measures

Most leaders spend too much time focusing on lag measures and battling the whirlwinds of the daily grind.

Here's the problem: those activities don't drive results. They burn too many calories and produce little, if any, leverage beyond sustaining your current whirlwind.

If you enjoy putting out fires, continue focusing on lag measures.

If you prefer avoiding fires, focus on improving lead measures instead.

Focusing on lead measures is the most productive use of our time and energy because lead measures act as a lever.

A lever is something we can move and influence.

A lever is also predictive. When we consistently move the right lever (our lead measure), the rock (our lag measure) moves.

Defining your lead measures

Defining your lead measures is about selecting the activities that have the greatest impact on achieving your wildly important goals.

We can achieve more by doing less. It just has to be the right less.

According to Richard Koch, the mass of our daily activity is mostly pointless, poorly conceived, badly directed, wastefully executed, and largely beside the point.

A small portion of activity is usually the most effective. Twenty percent of what we do has as much or more leverage on our goals than 80% of what we do.

Identifying the right 20% amongst countless possibilities (i.e., determining which lead measures are both predictive and influenceable) can seem like a daunting challenge.

Tracking lead measure data

The reassuring part is that your lead measures are already there in your business. You're probably just not tracking them.

You're probably swimming in a sea of data and having a difficult time figuring out how to track the right data, the data that makes a big difference.

Look around you. Reason from first principles. Conduct some research. Who else has already achieved a goal similar to yours? What did they do differently? Use your imagination. What haven't you thought of that could make a big difference?

Lead measure data is often more difficult to acquire than lag measure data, which is why most leaders default to lag measures instead.

Avoid this trap. If you're serious about achieving your Wildly Important Goal, you must pay the price of tracking lead measure data.

You can't improve what you don't measure. Without data, you can't drive performance on your lead measures. When you don't drive performance on your lead measures, you have no leverage.

And when the mission is achieving a Wildly Important Goal, you NEED LEVERAGE.

Lead measures increase engagement

Once a team is clear about its lead measures, their view of the Wildly Important Goal changes. Everything starts making sense.

When a team defines its lead measures they are making a strategic bet. They're saying, "We're betting that by driving these lead measures we are going to achieve our Wildly Important Goal".

Focusing on lead measures becomes a game your team believes it can win. They believe the lever is going to move the rock, so they engage.

And when team members engage, departments align. And when departments align, everyone connects to the achievement of the Wildly Important Goal.

In Closing

The principle of leverage is timeless and self-evident.

It is a natural law like gravity. Whether you understand it or even agree with it doesn't matter. It still applies.

The challenge for leaders and entrepreneurs is finding a way to identify it and implement it when the whirlwinds of the daily grind are constantly raging.

Sounds like we have some work to do. Let's get active!

As always, stay aware, stay educated...but most importantly, stay cool.

Talk soon, 
Old Man Winter

Source: The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey & Jim Huling

THE MORE YOU KNOW

Is an Outdoor Walk-in Cooler Right for You?

Deciding whether an indoor or outdoor walk in cooler is right for you is a personal decision.

What works for you might not work for another business and vice versa.

Both offer pros and cons. The right one for you depends on space availability, accessibility, upfront costs, and ongoing costs.

Asking yourself the right questions and answering them honestly is a great first step in the right direction.

Keep Reading →

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