From QBR
Reflection to
Real-World
Results
Blog Contents
July 10, 2025
Every executive knows that winning in the marketplace isn’t just about having the right strategy—it’s about ensuring what is planned is actually delivered.
During a recent Quarterly Business Review (QBR) with an executive team, the performance gap versus their fiercest competitor wasn’t just a number on a slide—it was a looming barrier to owning the Christmas season.
The
Reality Check:
When Execution
Meets Truth?
In a city central hotel, we ran a simulation designed to test the team’s ability to commit to clear intent, prioritize, allocate resources, commit to clear intent, and collaborate across silos.
The outcome? Complete breakdown.
Here’s what “failing” actually looked like:
- Mission Failure: The team failed to deliver despite having all necessary resources
- Role Confusion: Team members stepped on each other’s responsibilities while critical tasks went unowned
- Resource Waste: Materials and time were scattered across competing priorities with no clear rationale
- No Shared Reality: Critical information arrived late or not all, leaving people operating in the dark
- Alignment Gaps: Each function had a different understanding of what success looked like
Due to the pressure of the situation some members voiced their frustration:
Why are we wasting time on this meeting when Q4 is already upon us?
The tension was raw, honest, and frankly, uncomfortable. But here’s the truth:
At MR, we would rather see you fail a simulation than lose ground in the real battleground.
The exercise held up a mirror to their execution gap—the chasm between strategy, alignment, and real-world delivery. It revealed the uncomfortable reality that this team, despite their individual expertise, were struggling to execute under pressure.
From Breakdown to Breakthrough
The real value of the QBR isn’t to look in the rearview mirror and dissect what went wrong—it’s to ensure the team is always learning and is ready to win the next period.
That afternoon, we got to the root of the problem. We clarified intent, integrated plans both horizontally (across functions) and vertically (from leadership to frontline). Most importantly, they exhibited the courage to anticipate challenges and identify opportunities with brutal honesty.
The
Result?
This team not only delivered their Q4 plan but created necessary momentum in the new fiscal year, achieving measurable market share gains and reestablishing category leadership.
How to Own the Execution Gap
Closing the execution gap isn’t about micro-managing every move or endlessly reviewing past performance. It’s about creating the conditions for consistent delivery:
Focus
on Clear Intent
Leaders must articulate what needs to be achieved and why, giving teams the freedom and responsibility to decide how. Ambiguous objectives create the role confusion and resource waste we witnessed in the simulation.
Enable
Decentralized Execution
Push decision making authority to where the information is—empowering teams to act fast and adapt, not wait for permission. The best-performing organizations make decisions at the speed of business, not at the speed of hierarchy.
Create
Real-Time Feedback Loops
Make after-action reviews and continuous learning central to your culture, so plans adapt as circumstances change. The teams that win are those that learn fastest, not necessarily those that plan best.
Maintain
Continuous Alignment
Build a shared narrative linking strategy to daily actions, ensuring every function and level is moving in the same direction. When everyone understands not just their role but how it connects to the bigger picture, execution accelerates.
The Catalyst: Behavior Drives Performance
The breakthrough happened when we moved beyond reviewing plans to uncovering default behaviors that only surface under pressure. High-performing teams don’t just have better strategies—they have better execution habits.
This approach becomes even more critical as we navigate the increasing current market uncertainty and geo-political flux. Organizations that can close their execution gaps will outperform those that can’t, regardless of strategic sophistication.
Ready to
Own Your
Execution
Gap?
Your Next Steps:
- Audit your current gaps:
Run your own pressure test. Where do communication, clarity, and leadership behavior or coordination break down when stakes are high?
- Define crystal-clear intent:
Ensure every team member can articulate not just what they’re doing, but why it matters and how it connects to winning.
- Empower decision-making:
Identify where your teams are waiting for permission instead of taking action, and then ruthlessly remove those barriers.
The lesson is clear…
Mission Leadership® is about building trust, clarity, and empowered action at every level—not controlling every detail. When leaders successfully close the execution gap, organizations move faster, adapt better, and deliver results that matter.
The question isn’t whether you have the right strategy. The question is:
…can you execute when it counts?
Experience the difference of a mission-first mindset.
About the author: Will Casselton
