Nothing is more motivating than belonging to a team of people who know the goal and are determined to get there.

When it comes to setting goals, focus all your attention on one wildly important goal at a time. In doing so, you will execute better than if you spread yourself too thinly.  Choosing the right WIG:<ul><li>Brainstorm possible WIGs.</li><li>Rank them by the impact on the organisation.</li><li>Test the top ideas to see if they are measurable and aligned with your overall WIG.</li><li>Define the WIG. Use the formula: X & Y by Z. Focus on what, not how.</li></ul>

Discipline 1: Focus on a wildly important goal (WIG)

It is important to create a consistent cycle of accounting for past performance and plan for the future. This can be done with weekly WIG sessions. There are three parts to a WIG section:<ol><li>Account: Report on commitments. Identify the commitments reached during the week in review.</li><li>Review the scoreboard: Learn from successes and failures. Identify all the things you’ve been able to achieve so far regarding the lead and lag measures. Celebrate your successes.</li><li>Plan: Clear the path and make commitments for the next week.</li></ol>

Discipline 4: Create A Cadence Of Accountability

You should apply most of your energy, time and resources only to the tasks and actions that drive your lead measure (the tasks directly related to achieving the goal.)  Lead measures will inform you of the likelihood of reaching the goal. If you’re unlikely to reach it, you can do something about it. For example, a car breaking down is out of your control (a lag measure). However, you can maintain your car regularly to lessen a breakdown (a lead measure). If the lead measure changes, the lag measure will also change.

Discipline 2: Act on the lead measures

A leader can influence two key things when it comes to producing results:<ul><li>The strategy</li><li>The ability to execute that strategy.</li></ul> If a strategy is clear and you as the leader are driving it, your team won’t naturally engage to achieve it. However, a set of disciplines can enable you to produce exceptional results.

A team won't naturally engage with a strategy

A visible scoreboard ensures that everyone knows whether they are on the right track. It keeps the team motivated. The scoreboard needs to clearly and simply outline the data. <ul><li>Only have necessary data on display so that everyone can understand it at a glance.</li><li>Ensure it is visible to everyone.</li><li>Show lead and lag measures.</li><li>It can tell at a glance if you’re winning or losing.</li></ul>

Discipline 3: Keep A Compelling Scoreboard

BUSINESS STRATEGY. "The 4 Disciplines of Execution "offers the what but also how effective execution is achieved. They share numerous examples of companies that have done just that, not once, but over and over again. This is a book that every leader should read! (Clayton Christensen, Professor, Harvard Business School, and author of "The Innovator s Dilemma)." Do you remember the last major initiative you watched die in your organization? Did it go down with a loud crash? Or was it slowly and quietly suffocated by other competing priorities? By the time it finally disappeared, it s likely no one even noticed. What happened? The whirlwind of urgent activity required to keep things running day-to-day devoured all the time and energy you needed to invest in executing your strategy for tomorrow. "The 4 Disciplines of Execution" can change all that forever.

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“The 4 Disciplines of Execution is a book every leader should read.” —Clayton Christensen, Professor, Harvard Business School, and author of The Innovator’s Dilemma For fans of Good to Great and The First 90 Days, The Four Disciplines of Execution is the foundational text for creating lasting organizational change. A #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller with more than 500,000 copies sold, The Four Disciplines of Execution will radically change your business. Do you remember the last major initiative you watched die in your organization? Did it go down with a loud crash? Or was it slowly and quietly suffocated by other competing priorities? By the time it finally disappeared, it’s likely no one even noticed. What happened? Often, the answer is that the “whirlwind” of urgent activity required to keep things running day-to-day devoured all the time and energy you needed to invest in executing your strategy for tomorrow. The 4 Disciplines of Execution can change that forever. The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) is a simple, repeatable, and proven formula for executing your most important strategic priorities in the midst of the whirlwind. By following the 4 Disciplines—Focus on the Wildly Important; Act on Lead Measures; Keep a Compelling Scoreboard; Create a Cadence of Accountability—leaders can produce breakthrough results, even when executing the strategy requires a significant change in behavior from their teams. 4DX is not theory. It is a proven set of practices that have been tested and refined by hundreds of organizations and thousands of teams over many years. When a company or an individual adheres to these disciplines, they achieve superb results, regardless of the goal. 4DX represents a new way to think and work that is essential to thriving in today’s competitive climate. The 4 Disciplines of Execution is one book that no business leader can afford to miss.

Sean Covey was the starting quarterback for Brigham Young University during the 1987 and 1988 seasons. He was benched due to an ankle sprain. Following his college football career wrote a book called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. It is a book based on the principles of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, which was written by his father, Stephen R. Covey, but directed towards the life of a teen. A more recent book he has written is The 6 Most Important Decisions You Will Ever Make. The book directs the six big choices teenagers will make in their teenage years. The six decisions are: School, Friends, Parents, Dating and Sex, Addictions, and Self Worth.

CHRIS MCCHESNEY

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