Taking your seat in the captain’s chair

Strategy execution is about more than steering the ship: it is about inspiration, persuasion and the ability to create and hold a vision over the long term

Aligning minds into working towards the same goal is often the most difficult thing to achieve

Often when we talk about strategy and execution, we talk of the leader as steering a ship. This is the wrong analogy. On a ship, the person steering is a helmsman. We need to talk about how to be a captain.

The captain will persuade, cajole, discipline and inspire all those around them. They will work with the chef to ensure the crew are well fed; they will liaise with the quartermaster to ...