S2  E9 - Leadership, Bandwidth, and the Brutal Truth About Strategy Execution - featuring: Karen Martin

🎙️ Episode Description:

In this episode of Improvement Nerds, we’re joined by renowned improvement expert Karen Martin to dive deep into what really makes strategy deployment work. Forget the pretty posters and endless dashboards—Karen shares hard-earned lessons about how real strategy gets deployed: through leadership habits, managing bandwidth, and building momentum with early wins.

Whether you're new to strategic planning or looking to sharpen your deployment approach, this conversation is packed with actionable insights, real talk, and the kind of "tough love" coaching that leaders need to succeed.

Tune in if you’re ready to stop drowning in projects, fix what’s painful first, and finally make your improvement plans stick.

👉 Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review if you enjoy the show!

📍 Topics and Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction to Strategy Deployment

02:30 - Why Starting with "Fix the Pain" Builds Early Momentum

06:45 - Connecting Improvement Efforts to Organizational Strategy Over Time

11:20 - How to Tell if Strategy Deployment is Actually Sticking

15:00 - The Discipline of Managing the Strategy Deployment Plan

21:10 - Why Most Organizations Need Bi-Weekly Check-Ins

26:00 - The Game-Changing Power of an "Extra Effort Inventory"

32:30 - Facing the Brutal Truth About Bandwidth and Capacity

38:00 - Leadership Habits That Make or Break Deployment Success

44:20 - Final Thoughts: Being Honest About Priorities and Change Capacity

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#LeadershipTips