1. The leadership challenges are significant and diverse in managing the strategy process.
2. For the most part, leading the strategy-execution process has to be top-down and driven by mandates to get things done and show good results.
3. In general, leading the drive for good strategy execution and operating excellence calls for several actions on the part of the manager in charge:

• Staying on top of what is happening, closely monitoring progress, ferreting out issues, and learning what obstacles lie in the path of good execution
• Putting constructive pressure on the organization to achieve good results
• Keeping the organization focused on operating excellence
• Leading the development of stronger core competencies and competitive capabilities
• Displaying ethical integrity and leading social responsibility
• Pushing corrective actions to improve strategy execution and achieve targeted results