Women at Work - How to Manage: Executing Strategy

Episode Date: June 10, 2024

Strategist Andrea Belk Olson spells out how to make the most of the latest corporate master plan that’s now your job to put into action. She suggests important questions to ask yourself before hitting the ground running, ways to handle resistance from team members, what to do when the plan isn’t working well, and points to include in progress updates.

Over 40,000 businesses have future-proofed their business with NetSuite by Oracle, the number one cloud ERP, bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, and HR into one platform. Download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free at netsuite.com slash womenatwork. You're listening to Women at Work from Harvard Business Review. I'm Amy Bernstein. When I think of what I do every single day in my work, it really comes down to moving the teams I oversee toward our strategic goals. You know, I make decisions about priorities and about how people are spending their time. I give guidance on which direction to take on any given project.

But everything is really always about making sure everyone knows where we're going and that we're all in sync getting there. Getting teams to move in sync, as you probably know, can be super challenging. And my personal style was meet with the team weekly. And it was a big whiteboard of what's going right and what's not. And what do you need?

Andrea Belk Olson is a strategy consultant who's written for HBR about the challenges executing a strategy presents for mid-level managers. Like when the plan seems vague or uninspired or unattainable. She's also written about the opportunities carrying out the master plan can present, which she and I'll cover from the beginning to the end of our conversation. She'll advise on how to get clarity when there isn't enough and how to address employees' skepticism. She'll also suggest ways to get people to pay attention to and care about your progress updates.

Mid-level managers are the ones who, as Andrea writes, can make or break the plan. So let's make the plan, okay? Because being proactive and deliberate instead of simply going through the motions is the right and frankly more interesting thing to do. And it's what the company expects of us. Andrea, it's always seemed to me that strategy execution is where mid-level managers can shine. You know, it's where you can demonstrate that you as a mid-level leader really grok the goals and the vision of the organization's leadership and that you are able to mobilize and inspire a team to achieve those goals. How do you see that particular role in strategy execution, the role of the mid-level manager? You know, I think it's often underutilized

and that strategy execution really is kind of this bigger, greater opportunity, especially for women to elevate their business acumen, like diving into actually how the broader business operates on a higher level. And I think this means really learning the economics behind, let's say, any corporate strategy, understanding why certain decisions were made and how they drive that bigger picture success. And I mean, oftentimes as a mid-level manager, that longer, bigger arc is hard to see because you don't have transparency and insight to some of the details behind those decisions. Maybe it's the macroeconomic climate or competitor inroads or things along those lines. But really successfully understanding strategy and successful strategy execution really requires mid-level managers to start thinking and speaking, I think, in the mindset and language of a business leader.

And that's not just focusing on execution solely and the tactics and initiatives thereof, but taking more of a business decision mindset and thinking strategically yourself on how to drive key choices. So you said that this is an opportunity, especially for women, because they get to demonstrate or to hone their business acumen. Is that a particularly troublesome area for women in this role? I think it crosses both genders, but I think traditionally it does fall kind of in a women's camp because, you know, stereotypes abound, you know, women tend to execute very, very effectively and efficiently. And that can be kind of a trap because once you are the one that's seen as getting it done, you're not seen as the one that's thinking strategically. And I think that there's kind of three big traps that women especially fall into in this arena. And really one is hyper-focusing on the deliverables and not the outcomes, right? So we get stuck in tactical mode. And once that strategy is delivered,

we immediately devise initiatives and plans. And that just positions us as the doer and not the visionary in the eyes of leadership. I think number two is really not having an understanding of the strategic goals and objectives within your sphere of influence's context. Meaning those objectives are often broad, abstract, obscure, and they don't really provide direction. And I'll give you a good example. When I was a mid-level manager back, gosh, 15, 20 years ago now at a multinational corporation, our organization developed a strategic goal that focused on 15% revenue growth across the board. And so this goal insinuated that growth could come from anywhere, but growth actually couldn't come from anywhere. There were some areas of the business that we had great succession that were quite saturated

when there were other areas that were untapped and had bigger potential. And so we kind of lose sight of that when we want to just jump into action without looking back at the context. The third thing I think is a trap that we fall into is being stuck in the proverbial, this is the way we've always done it mindset. And we're all susceptible to status quo bias, but a new strategy might require us to have new activities and perspectives that the old strategies or the old approaches really aren't suitable for this new situation. And it might require a new way of thinking or entirely different approach. And sometimes that fear of change, that fear of the new can really put us in a state of inertia. So one of the questions I always ask myself when I am trying to mobilize a team that I oversee to execute on a strategy, particularly a new strategy, is do I really understand what's shaping this strategy? Because I haven't always, and it has always led to tears. What other questions should a mid-level manager ask herself as she's thinking

about executing on a strategy? You know, to your point, and what we alluded to before, is the first thing you shouldn't do is hit the ground running. After that, you know, big town hall presentation where everybody gets excited and they've kind of got this elevation and motivation and you want to start going and doing. The first thing you have to understand is I don't have enough information. I have a very high level overview of a bunch of generalities. So I'd say the first step is to take that strategy and read it in detail many times over. Start thinking about questions you have. Start thinking about questions you have. Start thinking about gaps that you think are there. I'd say the next step is to really

try to fully understand the motivations and objectives behind the strategy. As you alluded to, not just the numbers, but the why. What is driving this change? And then determine what data and insights you need to provide clarity, right? So for instance, if let's say going back to, again, the strategy talks about growth and aggregate, where should that growth come from? What would be considered good growth versus bad growth, right? Profitable growth versus growth that might not be profitable. And what information do you need to really determine that? And of course, you need to identify where you can source

that information. And that may be research, that might be studies, that might be internal resources, or even different departments within the organization. organization? So one thing that I have found as a mid-level manager is that when the strategy is either vague or too high level for me to know exactly how to implement, how to execute on it, I have thought it through, done some of the work that you just described. And then I always play back my plan to my boss before I do anything and ask, how does this sound? Because I find that that, well, A, my boss is closer to the strategy making than I am often. But also, it helps to get that insight from him, honestly. So I wonder if you have other advice for our listeners who are trying to absorb the strategy, understand what it means for the team, and plot a road forward. It's very important to not assume certain things. So your approach of kind of getting a litmus test from your boss of this is how I interpret this. What do you think about this? I'm looking for feedback

is fantastic. I also think it's very important to start with questions showing that you've read it, you understand it, and that those questions are, again, very business-minded. You're looking at the bigger picture, not just solely your department or your department's position within the organization, or even what assumptions you might be making on what the strategy has and how it impacts your department. You're looking at the bigger picture. So, for example, you might have questions about what success looks like. And let's say you're heading a marketing team and you say, okay, great. We could put together a few campaigns. We can do some tactical things and really get growth up. But a strategic question would be, how would this impact other departments? If we had a huge

influx of new customers, would finance or customer service be able to manage that? Has the strategic team taken a look at that and give me some insight on how that's being addressed? So you're looking at it from a broader operational perspective and not solely your own. What does the future hold for business? Can someone please invent a crystal ball? Until then, over 40,000 businesses have future-proofed their business with NetSuite by Oracle, the number one cloud ERP, bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, and HR into one platform. Thank you. www.womenatwork.com claim my leadership power, then you should listen to TED Business, hosted by Columbia Business School professor, Madhupe Akinnola. The show features TED Talks about everything

from setting smart goals to the latest on DEI in business, followed up with a mini lesson from Madhupe on how to apply these lessons in your own life. Listen to TED Business wherever you get your podcasts. You know, when we have published, HBR has published a lot on the importance of buy-in when you're executing on a strategy. And sometimes I have felt, and I know other mid-level managers have felt, that it's hard to buy into something

that you don't understand because you weren't part of it. You know, you weren't part of the strategy making. How do you advise mid-level managers to get involved if they're not invited into the conversation? Any thoughts there? Yeah. It's hard because this really all depends on your organizational culture. I mean, I've worked in environments in the past where mid-level managers were just intentionally left out of the strategic development process. And then there were cases where strategy design was a very immersive and collaborative process. So it's important to consider what your organizational culture will tolerate. But I think there's a few things you can do this as a learning opportunity, especially if there's certain internal limitations in regards to organizational culture. Two, you could ask to participate and emphasize that you can bring to the table internal historical and operational insights and help the organization really identify unforeseen risks. So you're kind of positioning yourself

again as looking at the bigger picture. And this could be things that are resource-based, infrastructure-based, culturally-based. It really spreads the gamut. Thirdly, another way to do it is you can ask to participate at key times. So maybe there's points in the strategic development process where leadership really wants to keep this amongst themselves, but there's surely certain milestones where they've crossed a threshold that maybe you can attend and provide the opportunity to give key observations and insights. But worst case, you could ask your boss, you can ask your superior for a quick meeting debrief on the strategy process at select times. So you can kind of get that feedback maybe indirectly if no other avenues are open. Right. You've got nothing to

lose by going to your boss and saying, I bet the strategy conversations are going to hit this part of the organization or this part of the operation. And I'd be very happy to help you understand it at the ground level if that would be helpful to you, you know? Right. Articulate the value you think you could bring. Exactly. And it has to be at that same strategic level. from the old strategy, whatever. You're having a little trouble feeling enthusiastic about it. How do you then sell it to your team? I can't tell you how many times I've personally and even indirectly faced that challenge of proverbially putting lipstick on a pig. They've changed the name, they've changed the logo or the tagline, and now it's a new strategy when really it fundamentally is no different than before.

But it's true that some strategies actually aren't focused on differentiation, and that's okay. I mean, a strategy can be designed for a wide variety of reasons. Anything from gaining market share in, let's say, certain business segments to maybe shifting organizational focus to certain operational or technical risks within the company. So even if you think that strategy isn't all that great, it's really important to communicate to your team and understand yourself that underlying thought process behind it. So it's what are those specific business challenges that it's meant to address? What is the why behind it?

And that's a great conversation to have with someone who was closer to the strategy making. I mean, I've been there in the past and I've learned that if you're not super enthusiastic about it, chances are you've missed something and it's up to you to figure it out. Right. Right. this dissatisfaction, get underneath the strategy. Talk to someone on your executive committee about it and just ask constructive questions with the assumption that you've missed something before you give up on it. Right, right. Because oftentimes that strategy document, whatever form it takes, can be an oversimplification of what the strategy really means. And so people tend to try to fill in the gaps with their own assumptions. And there were big decisions made behind the scenes because really the best strategy is not just about what you're choosing to do, but what you're choosing not to do. And so it's very

important to understand why those decisions were made and really what those bigger objectives are. Yeah, yeah, 100%. Now, there's another thing that I think happens. I'd love to get your view on this. So you yourself, the mid-level manager, you're buying in. You get it. You think it's right, but you're having a lot of commitment to digest it, ask questions, think about it. So you have this deeper understanding of it much more than they do. And so the important thing is to identify the historical baggage that probably resides within your team and within the company. And what I mean by this is there's been strategies before. Things have happened either successfully or unsuccessfully.

And this all influences their acceptance of change. So these are cognitive obstacles that definitely stall any new strategy implementation. So it's important, whether you feel they're illogical or petty, to really identify what those are and proactively address them. It's important to give those concerns and perceptions legitimacy and not just, yep, yep, I understand, I hear you, because that's really just lip service. It's about finding specific things you can do to genuinely address

what they perceive as a potential risk concern, and sometimes even a concern for the future of their job, if some of these strategies, you know, may have a personal impact on them. So it sounds as if, you know, you need to have the deeper conversation to understand where the resistance is coming from, if it's in fact resistance and not simply apathy. Right. Or just simply fear of change. Well, which we all have. We are human beings. So I was talking to a colleague a little while ago Her feeling that women feel a particular responsibility to sell, to persuade their teams, their direct reports, that the strategy is sound. Does that comport with your experience? You know, personally, yes. I worked in an environment many years ago. I was the only female on an

all-male executive team. So there was a very different atmosphere to contend with. And I think that the question you pose is really partially driven by this antiquated perception that women are less assertive. I think that there might be a perception that we need to be pressured to ensure our team is backing us. And maybe this ties to the fact that we're seen as more empathetic, and that can be misconstrued as folding to pushback. But men, at least from my experience, not all their team members were on board sometimes. And what I found was the difference in acceptance was the confidence your team had in your ability to go to bat for them. They didn't have to accept the entire strategy.

They knew that there were going to be challenges, but they wanted the confidence that if faced with that challenge, you would be the one to say, I'm going to help overcome that for you and clear the roadway. And I believe that that's really the big difference. How do you communicate that message that you're there as their champion, that you're going to clear the roadway, whatever is needed in that moment? I think the first thing is you have to prove it through action. And that can start with small wins, things that start building that confidence and trust, and move all the way to those big things that maybe seem to be immovable objects. And so you have to have some creativity on how you approach that. And then have that two-way communication of saying, maybe there

is an immovable object, but there's a lot of ways to handle it. Maybe it's a timing issue. Maybe it's something where we have to shuffle people around into different roles to kind of get rid of this obstacle and have transparency to what that process looks like and how you're approaching it. So they're going to have a lot of trust in you when they feel that they're not only involved with the process, but they're heard and they understand that you're actively taking the steps to clear that pathway for them. So I have sometimes veered a little too far into taking on my team's upset, their fear. I get why people are resistant to change. I have felt it myself. And one thing I've kind of learned to do

was before I make a serious commitment one way or the other, I give myself a chance to walk away and think about it and think about the implications. I don't agree to push back immediately if I can identify that that agreement is coming from a place of empathy and not something more strategic. Is this the right thing to do for the organization? I try to identify a better way to handle the upset. But that takes, for me, it takes walking out of the room and taking a breath. Any thoughts about that approach? I think it's a fantastic approach. And I mean this in the best possible way, but I almost perceive it in the sense of raising a child. So if you have a child that's upset, you want them to stop and try to think about and articulate why they're

upset. And sometimes we want to react and try to make things better immediately. But that exercise in truly sitting down and articulating what is bothering you and why, and working through that mental logic applies to adults just as well. And it starts with ensuring that they can explicitly state what their concern is and then what impact they think that problem may have. So now they're kind of working through that process. And that opens the door for discussing a variety of different solutions for it. But if you're emotionally wound up into it, I fully agree that you need to stop, take a moment, and really think about the context and think about how you want to approach that conversation. Then I want to

explore this with you. What happens when someone on your team really, I mean, you've talked this through, you've tried to get underneath the fear, the anxiety. I know you're not supposed to say, suck it up. What comes before suck it up? You know, I think that what comes before suck it up is, what do you think we should do? Put the onus on the other person to say, I feel your concerns, I understand them. I can even articulate them back to you. So you truly understand that I know what you mean, but I'm not the sole person with all the answers. I really do need your participation inside experience to provide me some suggestions that maybe we even can collaborate on. But I think the important thing is that with frustration,

some people want instant gratification. And so no matter how a solution is found, that there sometimes requires some patience. And it's important to, if that process is going to be long, to check back in with them, help them understand that this isn't an overnight deal, really. And that as long as they're respected and heard, and they're not hopefully ignored, you know, and it gets pushed under the rug, you're actively engaging with them

and haven't forgotten, I believe that that confidence and respect will retain. I sure hope so. So I got to read your article, Three Reasons Why Every Department Needs Its Own Strategy. And yes, yes, I wanted to stand up and cheer. You're absolutely right. And I wonder if you could just show us how this has played out in real life. Can you give us some examples of women who have taken their company's strategy and brought it down to their team's level, spelled out what it means, and made that work? Oh, yes. Yes. And I'm shocked as well that many organizations don't do this. They may have business plans for specific departments and, of course, budgets, but they're not strategies. They're just a list of initiatives and tactics and projects. They haven't really translated that corporate strategy into something that

their department can really design their own supporting strategy around. I mean, a great example is a client we had had a corporate strategy that said, we will differentiate through superior customer service. But the question for every single department is, what is superior customer service? What should be done differently that's not done today? Or what should be eliminated, continued, or expanded. And that ambiguity leads to every department's efforts just becoming that grab bag of initiatives or just repackaging the old things that they've always done. So really a supporting strategy is that translation. And we had a client, a mid-level manager, large multi-billion dollar

financial institution, and a new corporate strategy had just been rolled out. They wanted to focus on a set of specific products and services as their opportunity to grow. And so what happened is this department head, she was in a service area that was a series of supplemental services that complemented these products. And she actually took the initiative to develop a supporting strategy with her entire team. times a week and identified ways to streamline and enhance the customer experience surrounding the purchase and use of these products. That really helped them uncover specific operational and process things that where if she took an action that touched another department, oftentimes there was a hiccup or a gap. So because they worked through their strategy, they could identify those things, bring that to customer service or maybe product development and say, this is what we'd like to achieve, but we need your help here too.

And that department may say, yeah, that's been a problem for us for quite some time. Gave them the opportunity to work together and solve something that wasn't just a superficial fix to make things better and grow and achieve the corporate strategy, but actually really address the infrastructure that was impacting that greater success goal. What does the future hold for business? infrastructure that was impacting that greater success goal. one cloud ERP, bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, and HR into one platform. With real-time insights and forecasting, you're able to peer into the future and seize new opportunities. Download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning for free at netsuite.com slash women at work. That's netsuite.com slash women at work. So you've been given a new strategy.

You've really done the work to understand it. You've gotten your team to help articulate what the strategy means for their work, buy-in all around, enthusiasm even. And six months, a year into it, it's not working. What do you do then? I mean, I, because I'm built the way I am, would immediately blame myself. But maybe that's not the right way and not the most constructive way forward. What do you do? Well, it's possible it might be your problem. It's possible it might not be your problem. I believe that at the end of the day, it is because when a strategy isn't getting traction, the blame game comes into play. Mm-hmm. Another client we worked with had churned through a bunch of strategies over, you know, a six-month year period with little success. And what naturally happened?

Departments pointed the finger at each other saying, that department's the reason, this department's the reason. It caused a lot of internal turmoil. It amplified posturing and internal competition. So you can say, well, it wasn't us. We've checked all our boxes. But it doesn't mean that that is not going to impact overall organizational culture and organizational success at the end of the day. So I think it's important for mid-level managers to see if something is not working,

six months a year is a long time. That's a lot of energy, resources, and money. Speak up early. If something's not hitting the mark, I mean, think about and try to identify what those possible causes are. What are possible proposed solutions? What can change that trajectory? Because I believe that if someone isn't actively engaging and communicating what they're doing in

regards to strategy, communicating positive outcomes or causes for concern that really you may become the fall guy, depending on the organization's politics. All right. So no one likes to communicate bad news. How do I, as a mid-level manager, tell my manager that this isn't working? What do I say? Well, I think you have to put yourself in the shoes of that upper level manager. And so it's important first to try to identify the problem as early on as possible before it becomes a massive problem. Now your communication is, oh, you know, this isn't working that great, but it's not the end of the world. Right. The second thing is that you have to present the fact that you have thought

this through, you've really identified root cause, you're taking corrective action. What's the timeline on that corrective action? What is your next step in transparency to if that doesn't work, then what? It shows that you've had not only insight, but foresight as to what is going on with your department, what is not working. You have your finger on the pulse and you're proactively addressing the issue. So I think that sometimes when you have to deliver bad news, it does not have to be so bad if you can effectively mitigate that. I just want to press on one thing you said, because it seems so important. You really have to diagnose what's going on. And that's a great opportunity to bring the team in, because they have insight you don't have. So you'll learn and

you'll get to a better answer. But it also says very clearly to them, I'm not pointing fingers, we're figuring this out together. Exactly. To assume that you have all the answers just because you're the manager or the department leader is very presumptuous. So when we talk about communication, my personal style was meet with the team weekly, a big whiteboard of what's going right and what's not. What do you need to make it right? Because hiccups happen. Things slow down. Something is not delivered on time.

And that's going to be the way business operates sometimes. Right. So let's talk about the other side of this communication. Your team is just firing on all cylinders. The plan is working. And you're achieving the growth. You've penetrated the new market or whatever your team's piece of the new strategy is. How do you communicate that in a way that, well, there's peril there. And I wonder if you'd sort of talk

about the peril and then how to avoid the peril. Oh, I, you know, I can tell you from firsthand experience as a 20 something year old, that's eager to try to accomplish so many things that, you know, I overstepped my bounds. So give us an example. What'd you say? There was times where I was in a broader management meeting and I wanted to share all the accomplishments my team had done. And so it was my turn to speak. And I had this very long laundry list of, we got this, we got this, we did this on time, this came under budget, you know, and you're expecting that big attaboy. When culturally speaking, to be totally honest, whether it's legitimate or not, it can make others look bad. And so there's that undercurrent of, oh, now I don't look like I'm doing as well. And then that

kind of can build resentment. So I think you have to make sure that you're not positioning your accomplishments in a way that's about solely you or the team. We launched this campaign. It had X number of likes, et cetera, et cetera. These are things that only that department is going to appreciate. Other departments want to know how that impacts me. How does that impact what I'm trying to achieve? Again, it's about the business overall. It's about growing the organization. And those report outs, those discussions of what you're accomplishing, it needs to show what you've accomplished in the framework, in the context of the strategy. It needs to show you what are potential risks that you see coming down the line. And then also,

it gives you the opportunity to say, we're collaborating with customer service to make sure that that speed and pace of, let's say, a specific initiative is not going to overwhelm them, that we can sustain the highest level of service while continuing to grow. It's that consideration. And I think the more visual, the better. Something that's graphically oriented, something that's easy to skim, something that, you know, what you call an executive memo, right? If you treat other department leaders like executives,

they're going to really appreciate the fact that you're respecting their time by not giving them a 20-page document on all the things you've gotten done. Andrea, you're fabulous. Thank you so much. This was a real pleasure. Of course. Thank you. Anytime. My colleagues Jennifer Long and Gabriela Spatolizano are back after their Women at Work debut last episode. Welcome back. Great to be here. Thank you for having me. Can we start by talking about what happens when you actually doubt the strategy? What do you do,

Jen? How do you even raise that? How do you talk to your manager, your stakeholders about it? I mean, I've been on the receiving end of your argument. Yes, you have. I have a very current story, actually. I mean, I've been on the receiving end of your argument. Yes, you have. I have a very current story, actually. I mean, I've been on a project executing a strategy that I am really excited about, you know, really new learning approach, very, very excited about it. And we've been working on it for about a year. And in the course of working on it, new things happened in the market. We learned what it would actually take to execute on this strategy. We did some more research and realized we wanted to get something to market more quickly.

And so there's an effort to sort of not throw the strategy out, but reshape it. Reshape it in a way that would allow us to go faster and still maintain. But when this new strategy was first presented to me, I was not on board with it because I was so excited about the original, the original vision. I just felt like we were losing, losing some of the specialness, losing some of the exciting, differentiating ideas that we were working on. And what I had to do was less, less about convincing the leadership team and more almost convincing myself and then being able to come back with some specific things that I thought we could tweak that wouldn't work. But I remember you're bringing up some user testing we had done to argue for one particular

feature of this product. Yes, I did come back and make some arguments to maintain some of the features. I also went away and actually I had to get into the weeds. We were talking at this sort of conceptual level and I was skeptical. And so I had to go, I went away for a week and actually built out a model of what this new vision could look like. Like spent time designing. I'm being a learning designer. Like what might this look like and what could work of this new idea? I sort of forced myself. And then what happened is I started to get really excited

about the new idea because there was some flexibility. There were some things that being proposed that I was even more convinced wouldn't work. And I was able to go back and say, I don't think this will work, but we could do it this way. And that was very powerful because I heard part of that conversation.

And to me, that was a form of really hands-on analysis, you know, where you broke down the original concept and you rebuilt it to see if, given what you know about how to do this and what our learners want, would this work? And then I thought, I felt that you were bought in. Totally bought in. Now I'm actually more excited about the new strategy.

And what was good about taking the time to step back and sell myself and dig into it is that now I'm in a much better position to help my team pivot. Because they've been running on the same track I was running on, and now I've got to help them shift to a new track. Okay, let's talk about that. So any change is going to prompt skepticism, right? Any kind of strategic change. It can run the gamut from,

oh, great, another strategic shift, that kind of skepticism, to the deep objection based on experience, data, whatever. Well, it did happen to me that an entire team reacted violently against my strategy. And I knew, as you say, I mean, the obstacle was the uncomfortable or changing.

All our tests was manual, so I needed to completely change the strategy to introduce automation. And automation is a big challenge because it requires a different set of mind for tests, but it requires also to learn a computer programming skill, to write code. And for them, it was a challenge.

They need to go back and learning and doing differently what they've been very comfortable doing all along. So I was pretty desperate because how can you do automation when people don't learn how to write the code? But then one element that I think is human that I play with is everybody think, okay, that's the strategy that Gabriella wanted, but what's in for me?

What does he get me? Right? I have to do all this. So I got the job description in the market from HR, also salary range, or what is a manual QA, I suppose as an automation QA, demonstrated that for their career was a step up, also for the salary. Because it's true. Now there is the trend in this industry that there is a more and more demand for automation QA.

So that was the argument that I used. I said, it's good for you. It's not only good for the company, it's good for you. Two of them, when they started to write the code and see how it works, they get actually into. And one of them went to take a semester class in the university. Oh, I want to do programming.

The passion, and I'm also like this, I drive a lot of argument with data, but also with passion because we are human. We are no machine. So let the team buy in and the strategy for me means also an emotional aspect. 100%.

Oh, wow. That's exciting. I'm going to do something fun. And then we can buy in any strategy. Well, that's what happened to me. I had to get excited about it and then conveying that excitement to the team and hoping they. So what if you don't get excited about the strategy and you still have to mobilize your team? What do you do then?

That's harder. I try to find something to get excited about. Because there's a business reality sometimes. Maybe it's not as exciting or sexy or fun, but there's sometimes just a business mandate. And honestly, in the spirit of transparency, sometimes I share that with my team. I mean, I won't say I don't agree with this, but I will say I understand this isn't the most exciting project. But the reality is we need to do it. And again, it's about the benefits. And here's why. Here's how it's going to benefit the company, us, you, short-term, long-term.

And there will be other more exciting pieces coming down the road. So sometimes, to me, there's just a reality. Well, you're right. Even if it's not exciting, but if there is a success. So we are success-driven, right? What is more exciting? I think there will be a success, the company make more money, so my salary or my bonuses. So I think if we are success-driven,

the excitement will come. Yeah, because for me, sometimes, you know, it's not even about excitement or lack of excitement. Sometimes it's just, I'm just skeptical. I'm not sure this will work out the way we hope it'll work out. And so what I find very tricky is when I get that same skepticism from my team, you know, they're casting a skeptical eye on the new articulated strategy and you kind of share their view. I don't know. I'm sort of with you, Jen. I feel like I can't lie. I can't pretend that I'm just jazzed about this new idea. But what I will say is, you know, I hear you. I get it. Let's do what we're supposed to do until we see a better way to do it. Absolutely. And even if I understand the rationale behind it, sometimes I can go there.

I get it. I share some of your concerns. Here's where the leadership team is coming from. But I can't be, I can't pretend. You guys are such naturals. Thank you for joining me again. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. For more advice from experts like Andrea, check out the HBR Guide to Executing Your Strategy. It's filled with tips for communicating the plan, maintaining momentum, and course correcting when necessary. For more podcast episodes like this one, search whatever app you're using for

HBR on Strategy. It's curated listening from the archives of other HBR shows like IdeaCast. The feed is currently about 60 episodes long and growing. Women at Work's editorial and production team is Amanda Kersey, Maureen Hoke, Tina Tobi Mack, Rob Eckhart, Ian Fox, and Hannah Bates, who's producing this season. Robin Moore composed our theme music. Next week, is there an idea you have for changing how your company does business or an idea for bringing in business? Have you struggled to get senior executives to buy into it or even pay attention? Michigan Ross professor Sue Ashford knows how to get the boss to buy in. It's a skill she calls issue selling.

She'll lay out not only the steps, but also the frames of mind that'll keep you going. At some point, if the issue is important enough, you have to be willing to risk being annoying. My colleague and friend, Ellen Bailey, who directs business and culture transformation here at Harvard Business Publishing, will also be part of the conversation. Ellen has successfully sold a lot of issues in her career, and she'll recount those experiences. I've seen her in action, and trust me, you're in for a treat. I'm Amy Bernstein. Get in touch with me and the rest of the show team by emailing womenatworkathbr.org.