Some years back, I was invited to speak to the executive team of a major bank in South America about business agility. Early in the conversation, someone asked a simple question:
“Where do we start?”
I answered without hesitation:
“With strategy.”
What followed wasn’t resistance, but something more telling. The room shifted. Executives began exchanging opinions with one another—about my style, about what strategy means, about whether it really belonged at the center of the conversation. I stayed quiet and observed.
Strategy, it seemed, was something they had, not something they used.
At the end of the session, I spoke privately with the executive who had sponsored my visit. I told them honestly:
“Your team doesn’t seem ready for this strategic conversation yet.”
That moment stayed with me.
Keeping Strategy Alive Amid Execution Pressure
Over the last few years, especially in recent engagements, I’ve noticed the pattern remains.
Leaders are not lacking intent.
They are not avoiding responsibility.
And they are certainly not ignoring execution.
In fact, the opposite is true.
Most executive teams today are under real pressure to execute better and faster.
They are being asked to:
Improve product–market fit
Reduce delivery times
Increase operational efficiency
Raise customer satisfaction
Respond faster to changing conditions
These are legitimate business demands.
Execution is not optional; it is essential.
And precisely because execution matters so much, it becomes the center of gravity.
When Execution Becomes the Only Lens
As pressure intensifies, execution naturally takes priority.
Decisions begin to optimize for speed.
Meetings focus on movement.
Action becomes the dominant signal of progress.
This is not a failure of leadership.
It is a very human response to urgency.
The risk is not execution itself.
The risk is getting lost in action.
Over time, it becomes easier to disconnect decisions from the strategic intent that originally gave them meaning. The focus shifts from why we are doing this to how fast we can move.
Execution continues.
Activity increases.
But clarity quietly erodes.
The Silent Shift Leaders Rarely Notice
At some point, the question subtly changes.
Instead of asking:
Are our decisions advancing the strategy?
Leaders begin asking:
Are we moving fast enough?
Are we reacting quickly?
Are we keeping up?
This is how the execution vortex forms.
Not because leaders don’t care about strategy, but because execution pressure replaces strategy as the primary decision filter.
And once that happens, alignment becomes accidental.
The Real Work Is Not More Execution
Here’s the uncomfortable truth I’ve learned through experience:
The real work is not executing more.
The real work becomes deliberately using strategy to guide execution decisions.
That connection does not happen automatically. And once achieved, the challenge becomes optimizing and sustaining it.
It requires leaders to:
Pause amid urgency
Re-anchor decisions to intent
Filter noise from signal
Maintain line of sight on what success means
This is not philosophical work.
It is a practical leadership discipline, a leadership skill.
And This Is Where Speed Truly Matters
Not in doing more.
But in how effectively executive teams guide execution decisions through a strategic lens while remaining competitive.
And how effective are they at enabling the rest of the organization to do the same.
Strategy Connection Is a Leadership Capability
Very few organizations treat this as what it truly is:
A business capability.
Remaining connected to strategy under execution pressure requires:
Cross-functional collaboration
Collective decision-making
Shared language around value and outcomes
Governance that guides, not just reacts
Building this capability is hard.
It exposes gaps in leadership maturity.
It demands collective accountability.
And because of that, it is often postponed or avoided altogether.
That is where the execution vortex is allowed to take over.
A Moment of Reflection
Pause for a moment and ask yourself:
What is guiding my execution right now?
Is it:
Strategic intent?
Clear outcomes?
Or simply urgency, habit, and momentum?
This question matters.
Because if it’s not being asked intentionally, the organization will answer it on its own.
And rarely in the way leadership intended.
In Pursuing Strategic Success
Execution matters.
Speed matters.
But without intentional connection to strategy, both can quietly work against the very success they’re meant to achieve.
Closing Reflection
What keeps your execution aligned when pressure intensifies?
That question is worth sitting with.
Comments