Engaging Employees In The Strategy Execution Journey

The conference room buzzed with excitement. A Big 4 consulting firm had just unveiled their masterpiece: a flawless transformation strategy. Fast forward six months. Crickets. The brilliant plan was gathering dust. That's when it hit me: We'd crafted the perfect solution to the wrong problem. Here's what I learnt: 💡 Companies are not machines. They are living, breathing ecosystems of human emotion. 💡 And humans don't run on strategy and KPIs alone. We operate on a complex interplay of thoughts and feelings. And the dominant feeling during change? Fear. It's primal. And it's paralyzing our best-laid plans. Every employee facing change is grappling with an ancient part of their brain. One that keeps asking questions like: 😨 "Can I adapt fast enough?" 😨 "Will my skills become obsolete?" 😨 "What if I'm not good enough for this big, bad, new world?" No wonder action stalls. Fear turns the most brilliant plans into expensive paperweights. Why? Because we're asking people to sprint while they're emotionally frozen in place. When I guide transformation projects, I focus on two parallel tracks: 🧠 The intellectual blueprint ➕ The emotional odyssey 💙 Here's what this looks like in practice: 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠: We identify the core fears and aspirations driving key players. 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬: We create environments where vulnerabilities can be voiced without judgment. 𝐂𝐨-𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: We involve employees in designing their own transformation paths. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: We regularly check the emotional temperature and adjust our approach. Real transformation occurs when people feel safe enough to leap into the unknown. When anxiety shifts to agency, you turn bystanders into architects of change. That's when you see change materialize—not just on paper, but in the very DNA of your organization. To the leaders reading this: As you plan your next big change, pause and reflect. Are you accounting for the full spectrum of human experience in your strategy? Your people—with all their hopes and fears—are the true engines of change. Engage their emotions, not just their minds, and you'll unlock potential you never knew existed. Ever seen emotions derail a "perfect" strategy? Or fuel an unlikely success? Share your war story. Let's build our collective playbook. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Struggling with the human side of transformation? Let's connect. Together, we can turn messy realities into thriving change.

Why don’t organizations place a greater emphasis on creating meaningful engagement in the workplace? Given the pivotal role that connection plays in fulfilling our fundamental human need for social interaction, I believe it’s warranted. Is there any ‘downside’ in doing something as simple as; regularly meeting with the people on your team, building relationships, discuss performance, and identify developmental needs? You know, being real with people, true engagement. Knowing and understanding your team is a "strategy execution principle." It’s importance spans well beyond effective team building and crosses over into on-the-job happiness, productivity, and belonging while also helping to drive your organization’s success. Sure, I agree that no one likes wasting time with useless gatherings; however, an every 30-day individual check-in or "progress meeting" can provide significant value for every manager and their direct reports. Taking the time to solely focus on an individual's performance and working to proactively understand their needs and develop their potential is a model for engagement with a high rate of return. Organizations that execute well make these meetings mandatory scheduling them with the expectation that they be held. I’m talking about an allocation of 45-60 minutes each month, using the time to listen to and focus on each team member.   These are not a series of monthly performance reviews, they are coaching, guiding, and leadership development sessions. The outcomes your organization receives from these efforts are three-fold: 1) You leaders grow by making a personal investment in the relationships they have with their people, 2) The space is being created for consistent conversations of consequence to occur, 3) You're guaranteeing that every team member knows their role and what is expected from them. This is where the execution occurs. Both parties build trust and respect, work collaboratively, and invest themselves in the success of the business. Believe it or not, this connection drives results. The organization gains a quality understanding of every team member's capabilities from each session. They know what each team member does best, who they work well with, and how to lead and challenge them. THIS IS NOT AN EXERCISE IN DOCUMENTING PERFORMANCE. It's about creating a partnership, based on mutual benefit, where two parties are committed to each other’s success. A bond is established that says when a team member fails at something, their leaders recognize they have also failed. They work together to improve. This is true engagement. "Is dedicating just 60 minutes each month to focus on your team's individual performance too high a price for a more engaged, happy, and productive workforce? Think about it. What commitment is your organization making for your team members? Your organization's success? #leadership #progress #employeeengagement #execution

I just wrapped up a call with a new client in the education space, and one thing became crystal clear: no matter how innovative the technology, adoption hinges on people, communication, and alignment. The district is rolling out Promethean boards, moving away from Smart Boards to enhance the classroom experience. But here's the challenge: faculty and staff weren’t looped into the "why" behind the shift, the broader technology strategy, or even how this change benefits them. No wonder the training sessions are going unattended! In less than an hour, we tackled the root issues: 👥 People First: Ensuring faculty and staff feel seen, heard, and valued. 📢 Clarity in Communication: Why the change? How does it fit into the district’s vision? 🤝 Alignment Through Engagement: Involving faculty and staff in the conversation to understand their concerns and needs. And then we established actionable next steps: A clear plan to identify impacted employees, what their needs are and ideas to engage them in the change; and of course, how they're going to communicate the strategy, including what, when, why, and how it's happening to ensure training feels meaningful and accessible. Promethean boards have incredible potential to transform the classroom, and as with any innovation, success depends on how well people are brought along for the journey. Technology is a tool, but it’s the people who make transformation happen. When leadership takes the time to connect the dots, change starts to feel less like something done to employees and more like something built with them. Have you ever seen a promising change falter because people weren’t on board? How did you turn things around? #Leadership #Change #EmployeeEngagement #Technology #TrainingIsNotChangeManagement

What if your next growth strategy isn’t a product launch, but your people? A few years ago, I had the honor of working with a healthcare CEO who was convinced innovation wouldn’t come from the boardroom, but from the people closest to our patients. His vision was simple and powerful: “My goal is to build a community strategy that gives every employee, regardless of role, the chance to innovate and create opportunities that wouldn’t exist otherwise.” There was a problem: our employee resource groups were passionate, but treated as “engagement activities,” disconnected from patients, revenue, and strategy. I’ve always believed people strategy should accelerate growth, not sit on the sidelines. So we ran my RIDE framework: Review, Imagine, Design, Execute. - Review: We evaluated every employee resource group and how they spent time and dollars. They were passionate but disconnected from the mission and from patients. - Imagine: We envisioned employees working across roles and backgrounds to serve communities in new ways, especially those with specialized care needs that varied by culture, language, and access. - Design: We created a funding model that gave each group seed money and a clear goal: identify unmet community health needs and design engagement strategies to meet them. - Execute: The teams launched health events, outreach programs, and a specialized care program to meet the needs of underserved communities. The impact: stronger community trust, higher patient retention, and $2M in new revenue, all driven by employees. What began as “engagement” turned into innovation. What began inside the organization reached deep into the community. Healthcare CEOs, how are you unlocking innovation from the people closest to your patients?

One of the hardest founder lessons isn’t setting the vision. It’s watching that vision slowly blur as the company grows. Not because people don’t care. But because strategy wasn’t translated into the day-to-day. ➡️ Mission inspires. ➡️ Vision points forward. ➡️ Strategy makes choices. ➡️ Execution reveals the truth. When those layers aren’t connected, execution becomes noise. I often say execution teams, especially PMs, “don’t understand the why.” That they get brought in too late. But translation isn’t only the execution team’s job. They can’t translate what they’re never given. If founders want strategy to be realized, not just discussed, they have to bring teams into the conversation earlier, before plans harden and decisions are already made. That responsibility looks like: - Letting execution leaders sit in on strategic discussions - Using all-hands to explain direction, not just updates - Connecting new priorities to business survival and trade-offs - Explaining what changes, and what no longer matters - Creating space for teams to ask questions and shape outcomes This isn’t about consensus. It’s about context. Because when teams understand: - Why the strategy exists - What bets the company is making - What risks are being managed - What success actually looks like Execution accelerates. The fix isn’t more process. It’s shared understanding. That’s how mission becomes real. That’s how vision survives scale. That’s how strategy shows up in execution, sooner, not later. Riddle me this: How can you expect alignment without giving context? Agree? __ ♻️ Repost if you have experienced the strategy to execution gap 🔔 Follow Elizabeth Dworkin for more on strategic operations and strategic positioning 📥 DM me if you or your company needs help bridging this gap 🔔 Follow or Join PM Career Growth if you are a project manager that is ready to accelerate their career and bbecome a strategic partner

Do your project teams and employees truly understand your organization’s strategy and the why behind it? This entire experience reminded me that you never forget how someone makes you feel. Jaycee did more than serve. He translated strategy. I had just stepped off a British Airways flight from London Heathrow, and I met one of the most exceptional inflight managers. While the inbound flight was more comfortable, Jaycee took the edge off with leadership that cannot be overlooked. Organizations talk about profitability, market share, customer satisfaction, and competitive advantage. Those things matter however, there is a silent engine underneath all of it. How employees are treated that translates into how employees treat clients and customers Jaycee made us feel welcomed. He took responsibility. He understood the company strategy and translated it. When we raised concerns, he did not hide behind excuses. ➟ He explained the why. ➟ He explained the context. ➟ He even shared how he had escalated those issues to senior management in the past and they are being looked into. That is what happens when strategy is not trapped in boardrooms. That is what happens when strategy is translated, communicated, and lived at every level of an organization. ➡️When employees understand the bigger picture, they show up differently. ➡️When they feel heard, they serve differently. ➡️When they see how their role connects to the strategy, they act with ownership. Leaders often ask why customer experience suffers. Here is the simple truth: customers feel what employees feel. 🪀If your people are confused, your customers will feel confusion. 🪀If your people are burnt out, your customers will feel tension. 🪀If your people feel valued and empowered, your customers will feel excellence. Jaycee reminded me that leadership is not a title. It is a transfer of energy, clarity, and purpose. So leaders, here is your real litmus test: Are you creating an environment where your people understand the strategy, feel safe to contribute, and are excited to show up and execute it every day? Because strategy dies where employees are ignored. Strategy and execution thrives where employees are empowered. Shout out to Jaycee for embodying what leadership looks like in motion. Let this be a reminder that excellence is not an event. It is a behavior you build into your culture. #FolaElevates #Strategicleadership #EmployeeExperience #strategiclifestyle