One of my prior bosses purchased Execution -- The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan to help focus our efforts on executing the business plan.  I loved the book and found it to be inspirational.  I thought that I would provide some excerpts of the next few days of the thoughts that I liked the best.

Everybody talks about change.  In recent years, a small industry of changemeisters has preached revolution, reinvention....  But unless you translate big thoughts into concrete steps for action, they're pointless.  Without execution, the breakthrough thinks breaks down, learning adds no value, people don't meet stretch goals, and the revolution stops dead in its tracks.  What you get is change for the worse, because failure drains the energy from your organization.  Repeated failure destroys it.

No company can deliver on its commitments or adapt well to change unless all leaders practice the discipline of execution on all levels.  Execution has to be a part of a company's strategy and its goals.  It is the missing link between aspirations and results.  As such it is a major of a business leader.