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The conclusion of the book hits on the key of every successful organization. It is all about the culture. The real heart of the execution process is all about making the team member commit long-term to the goal. For this to happen, employees have to become accountable to each other. Reviewing the scoreboard to see if the team is meeting the lead and lag goals to support the WIG creates accountability. From there, it becomes easier to plan for the upcoming weeks and set commitments to impact those measurements.

The Fourth Discipline of Execution: Establishing a Culture of Accountability.

Commitment to the overall goal can make or break a team. Making the big goal small makes the commitment more realistic. Every team member should be responsible for setting and meeting weekly commitments that have an impact on lead measures. Executing strategic goals requires changing people’s behaviors in the midst of a whirlwind of urgent daily tasks. But to execute their vision across the organization, company leaders should focus on just one or two strategic goals and useful measures. It becomes important to have leaders choose their commitments themselves so they are engaged. As a team leader, your role is to make sure that the commitments are specific and directly connected to the WIG. Installing a culture of accountability requires you to set an example for your team.

The culture of accountability can be scary and painful if handled poorly. It is easy to become negative if the goals are met, especially if they relate to profitability. If they don’t meet a commitment, make sure you handle it respectfully. Let the staffer know you value their work but explain that it’s critical for the sake of the whole team that everyone follows through on their WIG commitments. Make sure to give them a chance to catch up on their commitment. In the same way, it is always important to celebrate every success!

After identifying the WIG of your organization and stating the lead and lag measurements it is important to match it with what you are currently doing. Having conversations with both leaders and staff you gather as many ideas as possible then start to narrow them down and rank their importance to impact. Having a simple and clear definition of your goal will be beneficial to all. With the leads and lag measurements, start with a verb and follow with the lead or lag measurement then conclude with a deliverable and a deadline. Example: Reduce (verb) production costs (lag measure) from 20 to 15 million (deliverable) by December 31st (deadline). Constantly re-evaluate and test your measures, making sure they are predictive, precise and measurable. After defining and identifying the goals it then becomes critical to help the team reach the goal.

The Third Discipline of Execution: Motivate Your Team by Keeping Score of Their Performance.

Everyone loves the feeling of winning. Keeping score will naturally improve performance and creates a higher level of engagement. Showing everyone how they’re performing makes it easy for employees to manage and understand where the team should be and where it is in reality. Every team member must be able to tell at a glance whether they’re winning or losing. Scoreboards should show lag and lead measures related to this specific goal, so your team knows how they’re actually performing.

“When winners are given data that shows that they are losing, they figure out a way to win.”

The action step for the third discipline is creating a scoreboard for the team to see. Have this board include the essential information: goal, lead, and lag measures. Have it up and then update it regularly to see if the current behavior is supporting the big goal. Almost all goals of any organization can be broken down into monthly targets to even weekly and daily targets. Making sure you stay on track in the little moments will create big differences for the quarter and year mark. Having a scoreboard shows the progress and makes employees see if they are on track or not.  

The 4 Disciplines of Execution has already had an impact on our team meetings and has made us refocus on our goals. We took the opportunities to review our goals and identify the lead and lag measures within our team. These measures have to be realistic and must be measures to help us win, not measures that make us depressed when we come up short.

The second discipline of execution: Meet your goals by choosing measures that reflect current behavior.

Lead measures are those that reflect on current behavior and can still influence them to help meet your goal. Lag measures are those that reflect the past performance and show the position relative to the goal. For a simple example, losing weight, lead measures would be counting calories and exercises which lead to the lag measurement of the scale at the end of the month.

Concentrating on lag measures is a natural response. That being said, it does little help in actually achieving the goal. Lead measures you can monitoring and actually have control during the process. Indicators reflect past events you can no longer change. It’s too late to do anything with the lag measures. Knowing and doing are two very different things. You must focus on the things you can control and the little leading measures. Current actions directly influence your goal.

The 4 Disciplines of Execution are strategies for all leaders and teams to make real changes for better results. 4DX is the process that organization use to keep up with craziness in the business world. Getting people to change is the real challenge of most leaders and the reason majority of goals are not achieved. From a business standpoint, change is good and necessary. You need to always be improving. Lasting changes require that people change their behavior. Through the month of July our team is reading through this book and diving into the four disciplines:

• Focusing on the Wildly Important Goals (WIG)

• Acting on Lead Measures

• Keeping a Compelling Scoreboard

• Creating a Cadence of Accountability

The first discipline is focusing on the wildly important goals (WIG). This is a very specific goal that is ranked higher than all other and it is so important that nothing else matters. It is natural to want to do more but the more you try to do, the less you’ll be able to focus on and put effort into individual tasks. If you want to achieve something truly excellent, you have to concentrate on it. Prioritize the one or two goals that will have an impact on your team’s performance and can come from within the whirlwind. Whirlwinds are daily tasks that take up your time and drain your creative energy. The purpose is to see improvement. WIG should not function like a vision or a mission statement. It’s about outlining a clear goal that the whole team will work towards. Each WIG must have a beginning and end goal by a specific time and date. Gain buy-in from the team and focus on the WIG.

What is your Wildly Important Goal?

Despite all the support of those around them, Charlie’s strength continued to decrease. The everyday tasks now became a whole routine. They were often late to practices because it took longer and longer to get ready. The frustrations continued to increase as well and Charlie didn’t have enough left to keep going. Lucy continually reminded him that having him even with the adjustments they had to make was better than not having him at all. With that and the joy of coaching football, he kept fighting.

The football team still was the top and performing really well. Throughout the season they gained momentum and quite a bit of media attention. Producers created a movie called Quiet Victory. They all wanted to capture Charlie’s story and the success of the team. Charlie wanted the focus to be on the boys, not him, they were the talented ones making the effort to get to the top. With the media surrounding them, they entered the semifinals. By California rules of breaking a tie, their season came to an end that night. “While winning isn’t everything, it certainly beats losing.” Charlie’s attitude despite his health and everyone else's opinion was to start preparing for the next season.

Soon after one of the best seasons for the Los Gatos Charlie’s health took a turn. He was having more trouble with simply breathing. They had to put him on life support with a breathing tube and a ventilator. It was at this low point where his perspective on life changed. Charlie and Lucy were not getting the support from doctors to keep pushing the limits of what he was doing, like coaching football. It was slowly becoming more apparent that his time was soon going to come to an end. While in the hospitals with some of the nurses who had been caring for him the past few years, Charlie believed a miracle could happen. He accepted Christ in that moment and believe he was going to become the miracle.

The made yet another trip back to Hawaii to see their family. Charlie and Lucy continued to use humor to get through the hard moments and took each day as a gift. Coming back to California, Charlie wanted and needed to coach another football season. Media was there to capture it, they created a documentary, “One More Season”. Again Charlie only agreed to the special attention in hopes that it might just help one person. Even though Charlie was still on life support the team continued to fight with him. In 1985, they became the California Coast Sectional Champions!

After that season the school did not let Charlie continue coaching despite his desires. Through that year he was still engulfed in football watching his son Kale play. More and more people hear of their story and the Wedemeyer's popularity and respect grew throughout the community. They received many different awards and honors. The support and encouragement from the community was overwhelming for the family. They began to share their story offering hope. It was during this time they traveled and Lucy, reading Charlie’s lips, gave motivational speeches to keep fighting the good fight. It was in this phase when speaking at a church a man spoke up and made Charlie realized that a whole new game had begun.

“Charlie, you may not be the head coach at Los Gatos High School anymore. But you’re still coaching -- on a higher level, with more players. And you’re coaching them in the most important game of all, the game of life”

Lucy and Charlie wanted to encourage others going through similar struggles. Their faith made a difference in their perspective of this illness. Faith made a difference in not only their life, but their kids, and others who heard their story. The sad truth is that 7/10 people eventually get a divorce when a spouse is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Lucy demonstrated and upheld her marriage vows. Charlie kept fighting even being attached to a ventilator and having to communicate through his wife reading his lips. Offering hope to others gave them him. They were no longer just surviving through life; they were now living, learning and growing each day.

“Tomorrow is not promised to anyone. We’re all terminal. Every day is a gift. It’s up to us to make the most of it.”

Continuing through learning about Charlie’s story it is about the discipline he had instilled in his life from a young age. Charlie always looked up to his father who had a foundation of a positive attitude no matter what. He faced every circumstance not as barriers but as challenges to overcome. They were always focused on family and sport. Lucy fit right into this foundation and their background supported them and encouraged them to do the same with facing ALS. She became his solid rock to encourage Charlie to keep pushing forward.

They learned how to enjoy the beauty around them and to appreciate the blessings they have. The Wedemeyer’s realized fast they can not stop living or celebrating life. They learned how to keep laughing. With that attitude, they faced ALS and started to try everything no matter what it took. Charlie quickly figured out that life seemed worth living for and continued to teach and coach football. He focused on something other than his illness to keep pushing forward. Perspective matters, the words and thoughts you have create the world around you.

The main challenge Charlie faced as he continued to get worse was not the adjustment but he resented how everything affected the lives of the people around him. It was more of an embarrassment of needing and having to ask for help. This especially was hard because he used to rely on and got reactions from what he physically was able to do through football.

With the regression of his health, Lucy had to step forward. Charlie could no longer teach but continued to coach despite the challenges. The assistant coaches were on board with it and Lucy joined the team as well. She would attend practices, learned the plays, and help Charlie communicate and move around the field. Others saw this as a burden that she had to take on but again her perspective pushed through. She saw this as an opportunity to learn more about his world and share in the passion of football with him in a whole new way, something that would have never of happened if it was not for ALS. The coaching staff and players respected him and showed their affection year after year by keeping him a part of the team. He was their head coach, no questions asked.

Facing the challenges and pushing through led to them eventually going public and being featured on a TV. At first, they were hesitant on moving forward and opening the door to their life to the public but figured it would be worth it. The teacher heart in him saw the opportunity to help at least one person which made it all worth wild. They saw the positive reaction and was overwhelmed but what their story meant to others. This gave them a new purpose of helping others through challenging situations. They had to daily push themselves to get more out of life, to step outside of their comfort zone. They became apart of others lives.

This is an incredible story of the discipline and determination that Charlie faced each day with. The first part of this book explained their life before and during the diagnosis. They were just a normal couple that fell in love at a young age and lived life to the fullest. When Charlie was diagnosed with ALS that foundation of love and pursuing life was put to the full test. It was because this foundation that they were able to overcome the day to day struggles.

Lucy was a steady rock for Charlie. The day when they found out Charlie had ALS and was only given one year to live forced them to have a brand new perspective. Lucy realized, “the whole world doesn’t stop when they tell you your husband is dying.” This came as another challenge where they wanted and needed to be successful in overcoming this diagnosis of ALS.

Reading their story makes you realize the basic things you take for granted day to day. When the ALS progressed so did the challenges for normal activities. Just to get out of the house it would take 2 to 3 hours. That is with the experiences and a great system for doing everything. The little things such as shaving his face now became a long process. Lucy was there with him and caring for him every step of the way.

Through the challenges, they saw the importance of appreciating the things you have rather than on what is lost. It would be easy for them in those daily moments to get angry and bitter but they decided early on that this was not going to let their life stop. For that reason, Charlie continued to coach. Everyone could see the joy that coaching football brought to Charlie’s life and that it gave him purpose. Instead of focusing on what he was unable to do he focused on what brought him joy and celebrated how he could still do what he loved, even if there had to be modifications.

Lucy and Charlie have such a positive perspective that became contagious. Everyone could learn something from their attitude and approach to each daily struggle. Everything around you does not stop when something bad happens. It is at that time you need to figure out how to keep moving forward, hopefully, that answer comes fast. Tackle each day as they come and make life what you want it to be.

Learn more about their story here: https://youtu.be/ZwX2jdMSPD8

The book for the month of June hits close to home for James. Charlie’s Victory is an autobiography of his high school football coach! This book overflows with Charlie slogan, “I live to give others hope.” Charlie Wedemeyer was an incredible football player from Hawaii who ended up playing at Michigan State. After his college career, he became a high school football coach in California. In the 80’s Charlie Wedemeyer was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Meaning the nerve cells that controlled all his muscles were slowing dying. The life expectancy of ALS patients is around three years, the doctors gave Charlie one year to live, but that never stopped him.

Charlie never let ALS take over his life and he, along with his wife Lucy, decided to make the most of it. Even with the terminal illness slowing taking over he continued to coach and live life to the fullest. At the age of 40, Charlie coached his last football game at Los Gatos High School. At that point, years after the diagnoses, Charlie could no longer walk, so Lucy drove him in a golf cart; he could no longer talk. so Lucy read his lips and shared with the players. When he eventually had to go on life support, his team took the California’s Central Coast Championship. 

“Death is but the conclusion. It doesn’t really matter when or how it comes. What counts is the living we squeeze in until then.”

Charlie lived a full life and traveled the world as a motivational and inspirational speaker, the majority of the time with Lucy reading his lips. There have been movies and documentaries sharing their story. This book continues those stories from their perspective. It redefines marriage and commitment and shows hope. This is a story directly from Charlie and Lucy that shows how committed they were to embrace the challenges that came their way.

The Energy Bus has been a great, easy read with principles that are easy to apply within our team. Through this process, we can see that it is more fun on the bus together. The last three rules really drive home the point. Joy plays a key role in George being successful and finding his purpose. With a strong team, you can accomplish just about anything.

Rule #8 Love your Passengers

This rule is critical because you can’t fake it. You must be genuine in how you love and lead the people around you. Looking at any successful team you see athletes who love their teammates so much that they would do anything for them. Creating this environment comes from selfless love towards one another. It starts from the leader creating that safe culture.

Rule #9 Drive with Purpose

Can you honestly say you are living with purpose? Purpose is often found through service. George and his team worth their purpose statement to keep that in focus when they are doing the day to day tasks. For our team, as you may already know, we are partnered with 1Mission and donate towards their organization with every closing. Then we also travel to Rocky Point, Mexico in November to build a house a family living in poverty. Even though the physical work is exhausting, it brings such joy knowing we are helping a family in need. Focusing on that joy and remembering that we are doing something more than just paperwork and emails makes it all worthwhile.  

Rule #10 Have Fun and Enjoy the Ride

Growing up we have all heard the quote, “Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.” Can you say that about your current role? The perfect illustration is about kids playing outside all day long. They never get tired because they are energized by what they are doing and who they are with. Is your work environment energizing for you, the actual work you are doing and the people you are doing it with?

The Energy Bus can be applied to more than just business. How did this book affect you and what rule resonated with you the most? Integrating these rules and surround yourself with people who will support you.

Leaning into the lessons from last week with keeping negativity away rule 6 repeats the same principle. You are either move forward or backward. You are either being energized or drained. The more you worry about it the more control it will have over you.

Rule # 6 Post a sign that says “No Energy Vampires Allowed” on your bus.

No Energy Vampires are those who are draining your energy. Negativity will spread fast from a team. It is time to have the support and create positive influences. The majority of the time that will take a very intentional action to reset focus on what truly matters instead of getting worn down by the negative energy.

Rule #7 Enthusiasm attracts more passengers and energizes them during the ride.

Isn’t it amazing how much our attitude and mindset will affect the day? It often spreads to the people you are with as well. Be the CEO - Chief Energy Officer - lead through being excited, positive and optimistic about the day ahead. People notice your attitude and presence more than the product most times. A positive culture will create success and outperform negative cultures any day of the week.

Individuals, especially in our culture, are striving to be successful and want to be associated with those who are. There is something attractive about the confidence and culture that success brings. The same could be true with your team and the company. People will naturally want to become a part of the what is happening. Having enthusiasm and others that buy into the culture will drive you further than anything else.

Are you enjoying your job and attracting others through enthusiasm?