Success Thought of the Day – 7/6/18: Controlling Execution

Leading and controlling execution is key to your success.  Earlier in my career when I was head of HR Service Delivery for North America at JPMorgan Chase, I would typically get into my Delaware office around 6:30 AM or so.  I really enjoyed the morning time.  So, I would pop up like clockwork to be at the gym around 4:30 AM, work out, grab some Dunkin Donuts coffee (sorry Starbucks fans) and head into the office. I enjoyed that quiet time until …. just about 7:15 AM. LOL.  It seemed like something broke almost every day.

In fairness, we were responsible for approximately 200,000 employees (if I remember correctly), with nearly 30 functions covering everything from immigration services through retirement services.  Naturally, something is bound to happen.

I recall when Tornados hit, and we literally had payroll checks in FedEx Trucks that were on their way to employees literally vanished, when half of the East Coast lost electricity, not to even mention the major catastrophic events such as 9/11, and Hurricane Katrina, etc., where we served to help locate employees, get funds to people, etc.

Lesson Learned

The enemy of a good operation is variability and that enemy will always show up to challenge you.  That means your plan need to contemplate it.  Your plan needs to anticipate risks and how you will mitigate them.  To the storyline above, we got much better!

By the way, if you thought “the world should just lie down and make way for your plan and by nice to you,” sorry, it doesn’t work that way, I really wish I had better news.  If you’re looking for a great book to get your head around this, I would advise grabbing Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win.

Have a great day!

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