Reflections
Mission Leadership : Achieve The Extraordinary
By Fawzia Ali-Kimanthi
I am an avid student of leadership . I look for any opportunity to learn about leadership . I endeavour to pick lessons in the ordinary events of our lives , from reading , learning from other leaders , or actually experiencing different leadership approaches . Whether I am watching a soccer match with my son , or reflecting on very encouraging words of wisdom my mother has said to one of her grandchildren to reflecting on lessons from a movie ( I can name many but for now will recommend two : ‘ The Gladiator ’ and ‘ The Playbook ’).
In 2020 when we were setting up the five-year strategy to 2025 , McKinney Rogers were our partner consultant . They introduced us to mission leadership . Over the last four years I have experienced mission leadership philosophy from McKinney Rogers and have seen the power of strategic execution in delivering outstanding results .
So what is mission leadership ?
On their website , McKinney Rogers define mission leaders as follows : mission leadership is a holistic approach to strategy execution .
Where is the genesis of mission leadership as designed by McKinney Rogers ?
Damian McKinney , co-founder of the firm , was born in Kenya . He moved to the UK when he was 10 for school . After school he joined the Royal Marines and after years of service , left as a Lieutenant Colonel . He spent most of his time in the marines in the Gulf War , Central America and Bosnia . He also worked for the Ministry of Defence running the global operations for the navy . After 18 years in the military , he left and he worked for Barclays . After he helped Barclays exceed their expectations , he set up McKinney Rogers . He found a great correlation between the military and business . He founded McKinney Rogers round three things : helping leaders overcome operational challenges focusing on results .
I know most of you are wondering , so what is new . Most if not all organisations have a solid strategy that is backed by insights from market . However , where it
Mission leadership ensures leaders accept the external macro conditions for what they are but strongly endeavor to deliver mission by being creative in finding solutions . Anything else is seen as an excuse . Tough times do not last forever , tough teams do . And tough teams deliver extraordinary results . breaks is … on strategy execution . This is where McKinney Rogers comes in . After reviewing various organizations , they identified three gaps of execution :
Knowledge Gap : What we are supposed to know vs what we know . Leaders therefore must champion execution . A strategy fails or succeeds on the back of leaders . However , teams cannot execute what they are not clear on .
Let us take a simple example of a new tool for sales introduced to market before all the sales teams have been trained . When an assessment is done on the adoption of the tool , it is seen to be low . Stepping back , it is clear that the sales team needed to be made aware of the change , why the change was necessary and then be taken through a comprehensive training on the new tool . This way , the team feels empowered and involved and adoption levels grow . Leaders must invest in their teams . Leaders must aim to provide the skills set and tools for success .
Alignment Gap : What we expect people to do and what they actually do . It is said that if the strategy is not clear , to the whole organisation , including the role of each person in the delivery of the said strategy , then it will not matter how much resources are provided , the strategy execution is likely to fall below expectations . Leaders must spend a significant amount of time communicating the strategy . This role cannot be delegated .
Effects Gap : What we expect vs what we achieve . Teams can be very busy everyday focussed on the wrong priority and as a result not delivering as per expectations . For example , the objective of a products team could be delivery of seamless
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