Execute a Winning Strategy: Top 4 Tips

To Execute a Winning Strategy Is Hard Work
Business success requires more than a well-crafted strategic plan — it demands disciplined, relentless execution. Designing a strategy during an executive retreat is only the beginning; the true challenge lies in translating that strategic vision into action across every level of your organization. Success comes from:

• Sustained focus.
• Coordinated effort.
• Aligned and committed teams.

Strategy Execution Is the Hardest Part
Think about how many New Year’s resolutions or diets start with the best intentions — only to falter within weeks. Change management consulting experts know that change is difficult on an individual level, and organizational change is exponentially more complex. Successfully executing a strategy means aligning multiple teams, processes, and priorities — often under high stakes — where every misstep can impact not only results but the people driving them. The challenge isn’t in creating the plan — it’s in bringing it to life across the entire organization.

Four Experience-based Tips to Ensure You Fully Execute a Winning Strategy

After thirty years of helping clients create strategic clarity and execute bold plans for success, we can offer four experience-based tips to help ensure you execute a winning strategy and follow through on your strategic intent:

1. Ruthlessly Focus on What Matters Most
   Most organizations can effectively drive only two to three major strategic initiatives at a time. Yet many leadership teams overload their agendas with too many goals and workstreams, diluting focus and leaving employees unsure where to invest their energy.

   Without clear strategic priorities, even the most well-intentioned strategies can stumble. To execute successfully, identify what truly matters and establish goals and accountabilities that are worth the effort. Every initiative should command full attention — if it isn’t important and urgent enough to energize your team, it doesn’t belong on the list.

2. Ensure Your Strategic Plan Is Ambitious — but Achievable
   A winning strategy should stretch your organization without breaking it. It needs to be challenging enough to demand excellence, yet grounded enough to be realistically achievable given your market conditions and organizational culture. Plans that are too easy or purely aspirational risk eroding focus, commitment, and momentum.

   You’ve found the right balance when key stakeholders align behind the strategy and have confidence that your organization possesses the talent, mindset, and capability to bring it to life. True strategic ambition tests collective resolve — and thrives on the shared belief that success is not just a vision, but an attainable outcome.

3. Look Boldly Toward the Future
   Give your team a clear and compelling vision of the future — what success looks like, why it matters, the plan to get there, and the role each individual plays in making it happen. Don’t let past setbacks or entrenched habits limit what’s possible. High-performance cultures, like those at the Olympic Games, thrive on resilience and relentless forward motion.

   Take Michael Phelps as an example. Despite setbacks and personal challenges, he channeled every experience into the next opportunity for greatness. Today, he is the most decorated Olympian of all time — defined not by past failures, but by his ability to plan, pivot, and persevere. Leaders must do the same for their teams: inspire them to redefine their potential, focus on the path ahead, and commit fully to a shared vision of success.

4. Explicitly Identify and Remove Barriers
   Some try to ignore those resistant to change. A far more effective approach is to actively engage your organization in identifying and dismantling the most critical barriers. Pinpoint obstacles early, act decisively, and remove them — ensuring nothing stalls progress.

   The true key is sustaining active dialogue, engagement, and forward momentum. Keep your teams aligned and energized so your strategy doesn’t just exist on paper, but comes alive in practice, driving tangible results across the organization.

The Bottom Line
To execute a winning strategy, ruthlessly focus on what truly matters, leverage your organization’s unique strengths, cast a bold vision for the future, and actively remove barriers that could slow progress. Then commit fully — move decisively, while remaining ready to learn, adapt, and course-correct as you go.

If you want to learn if your strategy is clear enough to implement, download 7 Ways to Stress Test Your Strategy

by Tristam Brown: CEO

Tristam Brown is an executive business consultant and organizational development expert with more than three decades of experience helping organizations accelerate performance, build high-impact teams, and turn strategy into execution. As CEO of LSA Global, he works with leaders to get and stay aligned™ through research-backed strategy, culture, and talent solutions that produce measurable, business-critical results. See full bio.