Chris McChesney
Sr. Leader, Franklin Covey
One of (if not THE) greatest challenges for every franchise, or small business owner can be explained in one sentence, and it usually sounds like this:
“We are spending so much time running the operation that we are not getting to the important things we need to do to grow the business”!
This is the execution dilemma! Chris McChesney is the lead author of the best-selling book in the world on this topic, The 4 Disciplines of Execution. For 15 years Chris and his team have led over 3,000 organizations (over 200,000 teams) through a simple, but powerful, formula for executing on their most important goals in the midst of a whirlwind of competing priorities.
His upbeat, engaging speaking style, paired with proven, valuable content, create a game changer for franchise audiences!
The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Chris McChesney is the Global Practice Leader of Execution for FranklinCovey Co. and one of the primary developers of The 4 Disciplines of Execution. For more than a decade, he has led FranklinCovey’s ongoing design and development of these principles, as well as the consulting organization that has achieved extraordinary growth in many countries around the globe and impacted hundreds of organizations. Chris has personally led many of the most noted implementations of the 4 Disciplines, including the State of Georgia, Marriott® International, Shaw Industries, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company®, The Kroger® Co., The Coca-Cola Co.®, Comcast, Lockheed Martin Corporation, and Gaylord Entertainment. This practical experience has enabled him to test and refine the principles contained in The 4 Disciplines of Execution from the boardroom to the front line of these and many other organizations.
Chris’s career with FranklinCovey began by working directly with Dr. Stephen R. Covey and has continued for more than two decades to include roles as a consultant, managing director, and general manager within the organization. Chris launched the first 4 Disciplines of Execution Practice in FranklinCovey’s Southeast Region, and today has seen it expand around the globe. Throughout this period of significant growth and expansion, Chris has maintained a single focus: to help organizations get results through improved execution.
Chris and his wife Constance are the proud parents of five daughters and two sons. His love of family is combined with his passion for boating, water sports, coaching, and trying to keep up with his children.
Known for his high energy and engaging message, Chris has become a highly sought-after speaker, consultant, and advisor on strategy execution. He regularly deliver’s keynote speeches and executive presentations to leaders in audiences ranging from the hundreds to several thousand. The 4 Disciplines of Execution message is something that fits into every theme. Every leader has a goal that they want to achieve, but how do you focus and leverage organizational behavior to accomplish an extremely important goal despite the whirlwind of competing priorities?
Invite Chris to be your next keynote speaker or lead your people through a workshop/breakout session. However you format your event, everyone should walk away with the ability to immediately implement 4DX into their teams and start playing a winnable game.
Partial Client List:
- Aflac
- Ameriprise Financial
- Anytime Fitness
- Ashley Furniture
- Bridgestone
- Caterpillar
- Chick-fil-A, Inc.
- Christian Brothers Automotive
- Edward Jones
- Focus Brands
- H&R Block
- Investment Planning Council
- Jacuzzi
- Proctor and Gamble
- Regis Corporation
- Service Master
- ServPro
- Towne Park
Do you remember the last major initiative you watched die in your organization? Did it go down with a loud crash? Or was it slowly and quietly suffocated by other competing priorities?
By the time it finally disappeared, it’s likely no one even noticed.
What happened? The “whirlwind” of urgent activity required to keep things running day-to-day devoured all the time and energy you needed to invest in executing your strategy for tomorrow! The 4 Disciplines of Execution can change all that forever.
The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) is a simple, repeatable, and proven formula for executing on your most important strategic priorities in the midst of the whirlwind. By following The 4 Disciplines:
- Focusing on the Wildly Important
- Acting on Lead Measures
- Keeping a Compelling Scoreboard
- Creating a Cadence of Accountability
Leaders can produce breakthrough results, even when executing the strategy requires a significant change in behavior from their teams.
4DX is not theory. It is a proven set of practices that have been tested and refined by hundreds of organizations and thousands of teams over many years. When a company or an individual adheres to these disciplines, they achieve superb results—regardless of the goal. 4DX represents a new way of thinking and working that is essential to thriving in today’s competitive climate. Simply put, this is one book that no business leader can afford to miss.
The Execution Challenge
- Why is this harder than it ought to be? For most leaders, the hardest aspect of their career will be the challenge of driving a key initiative or objective that requires a change in people’s behavior.
- The Whirlwind: Understanding the inherent difficulty of executing on strategic priorities in the face of a whirlwind of distractions and the urgency of “day-to-day” operation.
The Strategy Map
- Execution doesn’t like complexity: Before diving into the disciplines, this gives participants a framework for organizing their strategic direction.
- Where should you apply the 4 Disciplines? This exercise gives participants a contextual model for knowing where to, and where not to, apply the 4 disciplines of execution.
Discipline 1: Focus on the Wildly Important
- Less is more: How the law of diminishing returns effects any leader and why this discipline is easy to understand, but difficult to apply.
- From Concept to Target: The rules for translating strategic intent into the fewest executable targets at the front-line of the organization.
- Exercise: Creating wildly important goals.
Discipline 2: Act on the Lead Measures
- Leverage: How to identify those measures that can be “influenced” by your team AND are also “predictive” of goal achievement.
- Progress: How to use Lead Measures to unlock the power of progress.
Discipline 3: Keep a Compelling Scoreboard
- Engagement: People play different when they are keeping score. How to use the scoreboard to move FROM targets (lead and lag measures) TO a winnable game.
- Player Scoreboard: Leaders are used to “coaches” scoreboards, and those have a value. In discipline 3 they learn the power of creating “players” scoreboards”.
Discipline 4: Create a Cadence of Accountability
- Game On: Discipline 1, 2 and 3 give you a formula for creating a winnable game. Discipline is how you play it. This is the weekly process that allows the team to put force against leverage.
- High-Stake Game: The higher the stakes, the higher the engagement. Creating a high-stakes game has more to do with how the game is played, than how it’s launched. In Discipline 4 the leader learns how to keep the accountability and intensity high.
The Engagement Effect: Nothing drives engagement more than creating a high-stakes, winnable game!