The absolute key to effective execution is to keep a clear objective in front of you. If you lose sight of your desired outcome, you will end up doing things that have no relation to what you are trying to achieve. Consequently, you will lose a significant amount of time and energy and end up not having enough left to do the important things necessary for success. At the end of each day, ask yourself, "What will I do tomorrow that will move us closer to achieving this objective?" Identify the specific details you will accomplish that directly relate to your goal. Then cover those details at the beginning of the next day. If you stay disciplined on executing these details first, you will then have the time and energy to do other things. If you do it the other way around, you may never make meaningful progress toward your desired outcomes.

This is part of the grunt work. Take out a legal pad and write down all of the details that must be covered. Tom Monaghan, the CEO of Domino's Pizza, says that he has used this technique for many years with great results. As soon as you think of a detail, write it down. Always write it down. This has two benefits: first, you won't forget it, and, second, you won't have to waste time and energy worrying about forgetting it which allows you more time and energy to execute the details.

Here's a typical pattern. An executive starts an initiative, gets some momentum going and then shifts his or her focus to another initiative while the first one is still going. One person I coached described this phenomenon in the following way, "It was like sending a bowling ball down the lane. The first ball never hit the pins or went in the gutter, but I still sent another ball down the lane. Pretty soon we had several balls in the lane, but none of them ever hit the pins or fell into the gutter." This accurately describes the life of many executives. They have several projects going on simultaneously, but none of them are reaching a meaningful conclusion. I suggest you stick with one objective long enough to actually achieve it or remove it before adding others. If you must add something new to your plate, then courageously decide what you are going to take off of it. Trying to do too many things at once is a sure path to failure. Of course, some people want this built-in excuse to explain their failures. They can always say, "Well, how could you expect me to be successful with so many things on my plate?" One time I asked one of my clients, "If you were an artist, would you rather paint four pictures simultaneously or work on just one until it was finished?" She surprised me when she said, "I would rather work on all four paintings at the same time." When I asked why, she said, "That way I would have an excuse when none of them turned out very well." That was one of the most revealing insights that anyone has ever shared with me. From that point forward, she focused on one objective at a time and over the next six months she accomplished more than she had during the previous two years.

Here's another subtle technique. Keep a sheet of paper with you and every time you make a commitment to another person, write it down. Always write it down. Write down the person's name, what you have committed to do, the date you made the commitment and your deadline for doing it. At the end of every day, review your commitments. Two things will happen: first, you will follow-through on more of your commitments, and, second, you will make fewer commitments. Too often executives will commit to doing something just to end a discussion with the other person. In other words, they are trying to save time by ending the conversation, but they are actually losing time by making a commitment to do more work or losing credibility by committing to do something they won't do.

Dr. Harry Davis of the University of Chicago said, "Leaders define themselves by what they do, but they define themselves even more so by what they don't do." Tom Peters said, "Make a 'To Do List' everyday, and then make a 'To Don't List.'" The only way you will have the time to accomplish the details necessary for success is to not do everything. Every decision you make defines what you believe is important. If you say yes to every request, then you have not defined what is important. Peter Drucker said, "An executive is a person who makes decisions." Therefore, an effective executive makes decisions that lead to better results in the highest priorities. This includes deciding what to do and what not to do.

There is no glamour in executing details that no one else sees. There are no headlines about the executive who takes the time to write down each detail that must be attended to the next day. You must get excited about the little things without any fanfare. Walt Disney stayed excited about the details throughout his career. Early on, he redid an entire film so that he could change it from black and white to color. The night he died he was discussing the details of Walt Disney World with his executive team. He brought a stopwatch to the opening day of Disneyland to time the rides. Bill Marriott, Sr. read every single customer complaint for more than thirty years. Get excited about doing the little details and you will have the opportunity to accomplish extraordinary achievements.