Elain Tse

99 percent perspiration

 

As a business leader, you’re likely full of ideas. You’ve got big plans, grand visions, and innovative strategies that you’re excited to put into motion. And while having great ideas is essential, it’s not enough. At the end of the day, it’s all about execution. As Scott Belsky once said, “It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.”

Thomas Edison, the famous inventor, once said, “Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” This quote emphasizes the importance of hard work, discipline, and a willingness to put in the effort required to turn your ideas into reality. In other words, it’s not just about having a great idea; it’s about putting in the work to make that idea a success.

Building a Culture of Collaboration and Growth

As an experienced SaaS leader and COO, I know firsthand how important good execution is. In my management philosophy, I believe that people power results. This means that while having great ideas is essential, it’s equally important to build an organization with a culture of open collaboration and leader/talent development that scales with business growth. By constantly enriching the leadership team’s tool belt and styles to match business growth and customer needs, you can achieve long-term maximum success.

But how do you make sure your ideas turn into action? It starts with breaking down your ideas into actionable steps. Radical prioritization and the ability to connect a vision with to-dos are critical to breaking down complexity into a simple framework that everyone can understand and act upon.

As a business leader, you need to be able to balance the core business tensions such as leveraging “universally true” best practices in an 80:20 way, except for organizational values that should be adhered to (almost) 100%. Intrinsic motivation is a belief that I hold dear. It connects individual and organizational success for real and is a critical factor in achieving meaningful impact.

Take Action: Executing Your Ideas for Maximum Impact

But execution doesn’t just happen by accident. It takes hard work, discipline, and a willingness to put in the effort required to turn your ideas into reality. You need to be able to anticipate organizational problems and pre-solve them organically, hire people with a strong ikigai match (skills, culture, and aspirations), and build teams that perform at their peak with grit.

So, how can you take action and turn your ideas into reality? It starts with breaking your ideas down into actionable steps, prioritizing those steps, and executing on them with discipline and hard work. Don’t let your ideas sit on the shelf gathering dust. Put in the effort required to turn those ideas into reality, and you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Remember, as a business leader, you have the power to make your ideas happen. So don’t wait; start taking action today.