Now it all comes together. Everything we have discussed so far—defining the values of the organization, putting the right people in place, setting a clear direction, communicating effectively, and building and motivating a team—culminates in execution and implementation. Although this stage should be easy, even to the point of being automatic, for some reason many organizations drop the ball. No matter that they are “ready” and “set,” they just can't seem to “go.” A disconnect occurs somewhere, which derails this final stage.

It seems impossible that after all the preparation, things don't just fall in place. When execution fails, organizations often look externally for answers. Did circumstances change? Was the timing off? Did the planets somehow fail to align? Do we need to hire consultants to figure out what went wrong? Before we chase after the usual suspects, we need to start back at the drawing board with self-reflection. What could we have done differently to execute and implement successfully?

In my experience, execution and implementation go awry for a number of reasons that have more to do with the individual leader than with the organization or any outside influence. Simply put, execution gets lost because no one really owns the process. In these cases, the leader doesn't want to get that close to the ground level where things happen. His attitude is, “Hey, I'm not going to get into all those details. I'm the leader. That's why I delegate. Handling the execution myself would mean getting my hands dirty, and I'm above all the day-to-day details.”

After being promoted a few times and now occupying a corner office, leaders may see their role as being a “visionary.” Theirs is the realm of the big picture, the long-term view. The drawback to this attitude, however, is that by getting so high up in the clouds, they can't even see the ground, let alone remain grounded. The team says, “Okay, we're ready for you to lead us on the march.” The leader, however, responds that although he'd love to be involved, he needs to go back up the mountain and get a few more tablets.

Leaders can easily become disconnected because there is always so much going on. The temptation is to delegate, which in itself is a good thing, but not when it gets to the point that the leader has lost touch with what is happening day to day. As always, the idea of balance comes into play, this time between delegation and involvement. To put it another way, you should develop a great team to whom you can delegate, and you must still involve yourself enough to be aware of what is going on in case there is a necessary change in direction. Good leadership requires both. The better you delegate, the more you guard against micromanaging, which demotivates your team. The more you stay involved, the more grounded you'll be in what is happening around you. In short, you must become a leader while continuing to be a manager.