A new survey reveals that past failures and bad habits often get in the way of executing successful strategies. The April Leadership Pulse sampled more than 4,000 executives, focusing on how they execute strategies. In the report, 308 worldwide professionals indicated that the top items mostly likely to get in the way of executing strategies were:

• Past and habits (35%)
• Economic climate or budget (29%)
• Company culture (23%)
• Way they work together (20%)
• Senior management team (18%)
• Customers (14%)
• CEO/president lack of confidence (13%)
• Technology (11%)
• Middle management (9%)
• Reputation, human resource management or employees (7%)

Respondents indicated that the most important things to ensure successful strategy execution include creating a clear strategy, adding a specific plan, communicating what the plan is, rewarding employees for following the plan and continuing employee communication. However, even when companies do the alignment process well, their past and culture can derail execution, as the alignment of people and strategy isn’t enough for long-term success.

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