Ruthless Consistency: How Committed Leaders Execute Strategy, Implement Change, and Build Organizations That Win

by Michael Canic

Overview

When all is said and done, a lot more gets said than done. What is the antidote to this? Ruthless Consistency.

According to Harvard Business Review, “most studies still show a 60-70% failure rate for organizational change projects—a statistic that has stayed constant from the 1970s to the present.” Drawing on his 20+ years of experience as a strategy and execution consultant specializing in midsize companies, Michael Canic helps committed leaders drive the odds in their favor. In Ruthless Consistency, he identifies the three surprising reasons most strategic change initiatives fail:

• Leaders unwittingly send mixed messages that demotivate their people and undermine those initiatives.
• Leaders focus on what they do instead of what their people experience.
• Leaders are not as committed as they think they are or need to be.

The book then introduces an intuitive yet comprehensive model for success. Simply put, leaders who develop the right focus, create the right environment, and build the right team—consistently—are leaders whose organizations win. Finally, it details each element of the model and offers ready-to-apply processes, practices, techniques, and tools to make it happen. It’s a must-read for every leader who wants to implement change successfully.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781260459814
Publisher:	McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date:	09/01/2020
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Michael Canic, PhD, is the president of Making Strategy Happen, which specializes in helping committed leaders of midsize companies turn ambition into strategy, and strategy into reality. Canic originated his strategy model while working as a corporate leader for FedEx, during which time his district became the most recognized in the Americas for service quality. A Certified Speaking Professional, he has delivered more than 600 presentations on ruthless consistency to audiences on four continents, many through Vistage Worldwide which, with over 23,000 members in 20 countries, is the world’s largest organization of CEOs, business owners, and key executives.

Table of Contents

Preface 

Introduction: When All Is Said and Done,
a Lot More Gets Said Than Done 

PART I
THE REALITY
1 First Principle: What Matters More Than
Anything You Do Is Everything You Do 
2 Second Principle: What You Do Is Not as
Important as What Your People Experience 
3 Third Principle: You’re Not as Committed as
You Need to Be . . . Yet 

PART II
THE RIGHT FOCUS
4 Stop Strategic Planning 
5 Embrace the Joy of Pain 
6 Climb the Right Mountain 
7 Do Less, Use More Resources . . . No, Really 
8 Put the “Exec” in Execute 

PART III
THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT
9 Everything Starts with Heads and Hearts 
10 Equip Them to Succeed, Not to Fail 
11 You’re Not a Manager; You’re a Coach 
12 Heroic Processes, Positive Policies, and the Space
Between the Boxes 
13 The Value of Feeling Valued 

PART IV
THE RIGHT TEAM
14 Don’t Just Recruit; Compete 
15 Hire for What You’re Likely to Overlook 
16 Be Selective in How You Select 

PART V
THE RIGHT COMMITMENT
17 The First Enemy You Must Defeat 
18 The Enemy That Grows Stronger by the Day 
19 The Enemy That Poses as a Friend 
20 There’s Commitment; Then There’s Commitment 
 Reflections: In the End, It’s You Versus You 
 
Acknowledgments 
 Appendix 
 Notes 
 Index