■ The Big Idea
Youve got the bright ideas and the smart people, and the market is just ready for you. But why hasnt your business taken off as you predicted? Maybe the problem is in your . What does it really take to get a business going? You need the right people combined with realistic strategies to create effective operating procedures. Let Larry Bossidy andRamCharan tell you how.

A business leaders most important job is the execution of plans, the “detail work,” making sure that the staff is getting results. This is the sort of responsibility that cannot be delegated. It is the leaders primary duty to see that every member of the team is carrying out his part of the big plan to ensure the whole companys success. There are no excuses for failure: the market will be tough. What spells the difference between successes and failures is the ability to execute plans.

Too often, too much intellectualizing and philosophy occurs at the planning level. The leaders are busy with their dreams and plans for success but there is little focus on implementation, thus the promised result is not delivered. The emphasis on execution as an integral part of the business process has not received enough attention in terms of accumulated knowledge and literature.

■ About the Author
Larry Bossidy draws upon his years of experience in various companies such as General Electric, Allied Sigma and Honeywell.

Upon his second retirement, Mr. Bossidy co-wrote the best-selling book, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, an international best-seller with more than 550,000 copies sold. His m a n a g e m e n t p h i l o s o p h y i s straightforward: “I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day you bet on people, not on strategies.”

Ram Charan is coauthor of the landmark Fortune article "Why CEOs Fail" and an adviser on corporate governance, CEO succession, and strategy implementation. He was named as Best Teacher by Northwesterns Kellogg School and as a top-rated executive educator by Business Week. He is author of Boards at Work coauthor of Every Business Is a Growth Business, and a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review. (6/2000).