In my experience, most leaders of small and midsized organizations do not have a clear understanding of the relationship between strategy, execution, and business excellence.

This is easy for me to believe because, as a CEO of a successful company for twenty years, I didn’t understand these principles myself. Most business leaders are so consumed by their businesses they don’t take the time to develop such perspectives.

So, let’s define strategy, execution, and their relationship to business excellence, which will provide a common framework for a meaningful dialogue about where you are in terms of your business, how you got there, and how to develop a vision of where you’d like to go.

What is business excellence?  Whenever I meet business leaders, I take the opportunity to ask them two questions: 1) What does excellence mean to you? and 2) Do you think you’ve achieved it?

Two truths emerge. First, no two people define excellence exactly the same way. Their definition evolves as they learn and as circumstances change. Second, nearly everyone agrees that excellence is a journey, not a destination. As a result, no one who’s serious about excellence believes he or she is “there” yet.

After many years, I’ve finally come to see that excellence requires on-going balance between strategy and execution. Strategy requires choosing what promises to make to all stakeholders and a roadmap for delivering on those promises. Execution requires getting there while overcoming an unending number of surprises.  Of the two, execution is far more difficult to achieve, but it is impossible without solid strategy.  Learning how to continually balance these two is the key to excellence. This is why excellence is a journey that never ends.

The conclusion is that business excellence is an enduring pursuit and, therefore, requires an enduring approach.

In the next post, I’ll be introducing The Business Excellence Model™, which I’ll use as a common model to understand the relationship between strategy, execution, and business excellence.