As a law firm owner, meticulous planning is no stranger to you. Crafting strategic business plans that hold the promise of growth and prosperity is where many of us find excitement. But here lies a startling truth: 90% of businesses fail not because they lack a solid strategy but due to their inability to execute it effectively. This is the focal point of our latest episode on The Lawyer Millionaire Podcast, where we delve into the fourth part of our series on business planning – Relentless Execution.

Why Businesses Fail at Execution

Did you know that 90% of businesses fail to execute their strategic plans successfully? It’s not the strategy that’s the problem—it’s the follow-through. For your law firm to grow, planning alone isn’t enough. You need to execute consistently, effectively, and flawlessly.

Four Elements of Relentless Execution

To help your law firm transition from idea to impactful actions, let’s explore the four elements of relentless execution. These principles will ensure your firm doesn’t just survive, but thrives.

1. Vision: Crafting a Compelling Direction for Your Firm
   • Importance: Your vision acts as your North Star, guiding all business activities. Without it, your team will lack direction and motivation.
   • Tip: Regularly review and communicate your vision so it remains a driving force for your firm.
   • Example: Tesla’s vision to “create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles” is both clear and ambitious.
     
2. Alignment: Getting Everyone on the Same Page
   • Importance: When your team is aligned, they work towards common goals, reducing wasted effort and confusion.
   • Tip: Clearly define roles and ensure everyone understands how their work contributes to the firm’s overall success. Communicate your vision frequently and make sure it’s visible everywhere.
     
3. Accountability: Ensuring the Work Gets Done
   • Importance: Goals are meaningless without accountability. It’s not just about setting targets; it’s about meeting them.
   • Tip: Implement weekly check-ins and monthly progress reviews to keep everyone on track. Utilize a scorecard to measure performance in real time. Each metric should have an assigned owner to ensure accountability.
     
4. Rhythm: Creating Consistent Momentum
   • Importance: Regular meetings help maintain focus and track progress, preventing tasks from falling between the cracks.
   • Tip: Establish a rhythm of weekly, monthly, and quarterly meetings to keep your execution on track. Use these meetings to review key metrics and adjust strategies as needed.

Real-World Examples: Successes and Failures

Execution is the linchpin of success for many of the world’s most iconic companies. For example, Apple didn’t just innovate—they executed flawlessly. Similarly, Tesla’s bold vision has them at the forefront of transforming the automotive industry.

On the flip side, Kodak, despite inventing digital photography, failed to execute and align their teams with market shifts, leading to their downfall. Blockbuster’s failure to buy Netflix exemplifies missed execution opportunities.

Next Steps for Relentless Execution

If you’re wondering how to start, here’s a quick roadmap:

1. Define or Revisit Your Vision: Gather your leadership team and refine your firm’s vision.
2. Align Your Team: Communicate your vision clearly and ensure everyone understands their role in achieving it.
3. Establish Accountability: Set up a scorecard and hold weekly check-ins to measure progress.
4. Create a Meeting Rhythm: Schedule regular reviews to keep everyone aligned and focused.

Ask yourself honestly—are you executing on your business plan, or are you stuck in the planning phase? Execution, not just planning, is the key to real growth.

Conclusion

Relentless execution is the cornerstone for building long-term wealth and financial security. By focusing on vision, alignment, accountability, and rhythm, you can scale your practice effectively and enjoy the time and financial freedom you’re striving for.

Resources:

• Book a Call with Darren
• Wurz Financial Services
• The Lawyer Millionaire: The Complete Guide for Attorneys on Maximizing Wealth, Minimizing Taxes, and Retiring with Confidence by Darren Wurz
• LinkedIn: Darren P. Wurz

Transcript:

Darren Wurz [00:00:00]:
Most businesses fail not because they lack ideas, but because they fail to execute. Welcome to the Lawyer Millionaire podcast, where we deliver financial planning insights for ambitious law firm owners so you can enjoy more time, more abundance, and less stress, even if you’re still growing your practice. Today’s episode is all about execution. Relentless execution. Did you know that 90% of businesses fail to execute successfully and therefore fail to implement their strategic plans? It’s not the strategy that’s the problem. It’s the follow through. If you want to grow your law firm, it’s not enough to plan. You need to execute consistently, effectively, and flawlessly.

Darren Wurz [00:00:47]:
Stay tuned as we dive into the four elements of relentless execution to help you move from idea to action and ensure that your firm thrives.

Intro [00:01:00]:
We are on a mission to help lawyers and law firm owners maximize wealth and achieve financial independence. Welcome to the Lawyer Millionaire with Darren Wuertz from Wirtz Financial Services.

Darren Wurz [00:01:14]:
All right. Hey, law firm owners. Today we’re talking about relentless execution as part four of our series on business planning for law firm owners. Grow your firm. And this is so critical because business planning is useless without execution. Did you know that 90% of businesses fail to execute their strategic plans successfully? That’s right, 90%. Most businesses don’t fail because they have a bad strategy. They fail because they can’t follow through on the strategy.

Darren Wurz [00:01:45]:
And so today, that’s what we’re talking about, the follow through. The reality is that many law firms will never realize their growth potential. 90%. 90% will not realize their growth potential because they will fail to execute. Will you be one of those, or will you be the one who executes? You know, I talk with law firm owners all day long who are struggling with the same exact issues, delegation, moving the business forward. I’m still doing all the work. No one does it like me. I’m working 10 hours a day.

Darren Wurz [00:02:22]:
Well, here’s the deal, folks. Other law firm owners, other business owners have figured it out, and they didn’t figure it out because they were smarter than you. They didn’t figure it out because they had some magic formula, or they hired the right person, or they got lucky. They figured it out because they followed the steps and they implemented, and they executed. Here’s another startling statistic for you. Poor execution is cited as one of the top reasons for business failure. In fact, 49% of business failures are attributed to a lack of execution, not the strategy itself. That’s from a study by Maricon and Associates.

Darren Wurz [00:03:01]:
So let’s talk about what is relentless execution. I like that word. Relentless. It’s relentless. What is it? Well, relentless execution is the process of ensuring that your business plan doesn’t just sit on a shelf collecting dust, but it’s happening day in and day out with no excuses. Get ready to leave the excuses behind. Relentless execution is taking action consistently, holding yourself and your team accountable and ensuring that every part of the plan is implemented. And notice I said, the team and yourself.

Darren Wurz [00:03:38]:
Uh oh, yeah. Hi, law firm owner. Are you ready to hold yourself accountable? Are you ready to hold yourself accountable to your team for executing the things that you’re supposed to execute? Hmm. That’s a tough cookie to swallow sometimes. Relentless execution is also about creating a culture of execution. Building a culture where the business plan is not just some business plan that sits in a Google Doc, in your Google Drive, but it’s a part of your firm’s DNA. It’s how you operate. It becomes the way you do work every single day.

Darren Wurz [00:04:17]:
It’s not just something you sit down and look at occasionally, but it’s something that you do all the time. The business plan begins to define the way you operate, the way you operate every single day. This ensures that everyone is aligned with the vision and stays focused on the goals. Finally, a great business plan without relentless execution. We have to say, this is worthless. And that’s why we need to talk about this today. Your plan is your roadmap, but it’s pointless and useless unless you actually execute. It’s the same thing with financial planning, by the way.

Darren Wurz [00:04:54]:
Okay? Which is why we do things the way we do things, which is we meet with our clients on a consistent basis. We are the coaches, holding our clients accountable for getting the work done, for doing the things they need to do, because a financial plan is pointless and worthless unless it’s put into action. The same thing with a business plan. Without execution, the best business plans will not get you anywhere. In a recent study by Booze and company, they found that businesses that excel in execution are two and a half times more likely to be considered industry leaders. Where do you want to go with your law firm? Do you want to become an industry leader and some of you don’t? That’s okay, but I think this just speaks to success. It’s the execution that makes you two and a half times more likely to exceed and to excel. All right? The most successful businesses are not the ones that always have the most innovative ideas.

Darren Wurz [00:06:00]:
They’re the ones that execute consistently. I can give you some great examples. Anyone ever have a palm pilot? Did you ever have a palm pilot? I had a palm pilot, maybe that’s showing my age, but I wasn’t that old when I had one. But anyway, I had a palm pilot back in the day. It was the first touchscreen device, the iPad prototype. Well, the palm pilot went the way of the dinosaur, and they’re gone because they couldn’t execute. But other companies could execute. And one of them was Apple, by the way.

Darren Wurz [00:06:38]:
Let’s talk about Apple. Apple’s execution is exemplary. It was especially exemplary under Steve Jobs. They didn’t just have innovative ideas, which they did, but, you know, also their ideas were not their own, were not original. It’s just that they took ideas and they took them to a whole nother level and executed flawlessly. The development of the iPod, the iPhone, the MacBook weren’t just breakthroughs in design and technology. But of course, they weren’t their original ideas either, by the way. They were capitalizing on ideas and taking them to the next level.

Darren Wurz [00:07:15]:
They are also examples of how vision alignment and accountability can transform an entire industry because they made everybody else step up their game. Steve Jobs had a very inspiring and clear vision, which was consistently communicated and executed through Apple’s meticulous attention to detail, seamless product launches, and unparalleled customer experience. When you think of Apple, you think of a certain level of quality, right? Don’t you think of that? That’s because that’s a part of their DNA. How about an example of terrible execution? Well, so many. So many examples, right? One great example is Kodak. Anybody remember Kodak? Did you ever have a camera that took film? Kodak film, and you had to print out the pictures, right? Kodak actually did have innovation. They actually invented digital photography. Did you know that? But they failed to execute.

Darren Wurz [00:08:19]:
This is another example of how it’s not always the people who come up with the ideas first that are the best. It’s the ones that can execute that are the best. They stuck with their traditional film business for the most part. They were unable to align their teams or hold themselves accountable to shift with the market. As a result, they fell behind, while companies like Canon and Nikon surged ahead in the digital age. And there are so many examples. Another great example is Blockbuster. Blockbuster had the opportunity actually at one time to buy Netflix.

Darren Wurz [00:08:49]:
Oh, boy. Don’t they wish they had done that? But they didn’t. Failure to execute. So there are four elements to relentless execution. I mentioned this in the beginning. If you can master these four elements, you will have a company that executes relentlessly. What are they? Okay, number one, vision. We have talked a lot over the last few episodes about Vision and how drastically important vision is.

Darren Wurz [00:09:21]:
Vision is your big, hairy, audacious goal. It’s the big, huge thing. It’s where you want to go as a company. It’s big, it’s compelling, it’s out there. It’s unusual. What is your law firm generating right now? A million dollars? Your vision should be ten x that, $10 million. That’s your vision. But it’s more than just revenue.

Darren Wurz [00:09:46]:
There is a lot more to it. Your vision is the foundation of relentless execution. Without a clear, compelling vision, your team has no idea what they’re working toward. The vision should tell them what they’re working toward. Vision gives you direction for growth. Here’s a tip. Regularly review and communicate your vision so that it remains a guiding force for your firm. And plaster it up everywhere we want to be.

Darren Wurz [00:10:13]:
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Right. What is your company aiming to be? What is your business aiming to be and become as an organization? It’s not about you. It’s about the entity, the Business. Where does the business want to be? Communicate that with everyone. Get everybody on the same page. And that leads us to number two, which is alignment. Alignment means everyone in your firm is on the same page.

Darren Wurz [00:10:38]:
When your team is aligned, they’re working together towards common goals, reducing wasted effort and confusion. You’ve got to get everybody on the same page. You got to get everybody aligned with the vision. And there’s a way that you do that. I’ll explain how you do that in a minute. But everybody’s got to be in alignment. Everybody’s got to be on the same page. They got to agree with the vision.

Darren Wurz [00:11:02]:
They’ve got to be wanting to work towards the vision, and they’ve got to have the same core values. They need to embody the core values of your organization. Here’s a tip. Make sure that your roles are clearly defined, that each team member understands how their work contributes to the firm’s overall success. We’ll talk more about alignment in a second. A big part of alignment is accountability. That’s number three, the third element. So we have, number one, vision.

Darren Wurz [00:11:35]:
Number two, alignment. Number three, accountability. Accountability ensures that the work is getting done. That’s execution. It’s easy to set goals, but without accountability, those goals will never be met. And there’s a way to do accountability. Accountability doesn’t mean you check in at the end and make sure the work’s done. And if it’s not done, oh, crap.

Darren Wurz [00:11:54]:
I talked with a law firm owner recently who was struggling with delegation. And he said, you know what? I have tried handing. He works with really high end clients. And so he’s like, well, I can’t hand off the client work, struggling to scale his practice. I can’t hand off the client work because the client, these are big, important clients. And I’ve tried this. I’ve tried to hand off the client work to others and they just fail. And then the client comes to me and says, you know, by the way, if you’re ever going to have someone else do the work, just count me out.

Darren Wurz [00:12:25]:
I said, well, what did you do? How did you delegate? Did you have steps along the way or did you just check in at the end to make sure the work was done? Did you have points at which you checked in? Right. If you have a month goal, like, I want to get, you get, I want you to get this thing done by the end of the month. How did you support that person in getting that work done? Did you have a mid month check in with that person? Did you have weekly meetings with that person to see what the progress was, to answer any questions, to give them feedback? No. Okay, so there’s your problem. The problem wasn’t that you’re. That no one can do it like you. The problem was that you didn’t know how to delegate and you didn’t know how to hold people accountable. Holding people accountable isn’t negative.

Darren Wurz [00:13:11]:
It isn’t at the end. You know, here, do this thing, and then here’s the deadline. And then did you get it done? Oh, if not, you’re a bad person. That’s not accountability. Accountability is collaboration. If they’re not getting it done, you’re also accountable. Because if you’re their manager, if your team is not executing, yeah, they’re accountable for not executing, but so are you. Because what did you do or not do that contributed to or did not contribute to their success? So that’s, that.

Darren Wurz [00:13:44]:
That’s a big pill to swallow. Okay. Number four is rhythm. And this is a big part of it. It goes with accountability. It goes with alignment. Rhythm is creating consistent momentum for your execution. It’s regular meetings.

Darren Wurz [00:13:58]:
It’s regular check ins, it’s regular reviews to make sure that everything is moving forward and keep things from falling between the cracks. Set up a regular rhythm of weekly, monthly, quarterly meetings to maintain focus and track progress. I know no one wants more meetings, but these meetings are about productivity. These meetings are not just our Monday morning meeting. No, these meetings are. Okay. At this meeting, we’re going to review X, Y and Z and see what the progress is. You’re going to report.

Darren Wurz [00:14:26]:
Each person is going to report on their deliverable. Each person’s going to report on their monthly rock and what their progress is and ask for help in whatever areas they need help in. That’s rhythm. Weekly check ins, monthly meetings, quarterly business reviews, business strategy reviews. Yes. Rhythm is how you execute now. And it has to be regular. Right.

Darren Wurz [00:14:52]:
It’s got to be set in stone. Right. Every Monday at X time, we’re going to meet and do this thing because otherwise it doesn’t happen. Otherwise, like, oh, we’re supposed to have a quarterly meeting. When are we going to do it? Let’s just skip it. Do it next quarter. That doesn’t work. That’ll get you NOWHERE.

Darren Wurz [00:15:10]:
Okay, let’s go deeper. Let’s talk about these things. So let’s go back to vision. And let’s talk about Vision. You’re not going to create the vision. Your team is going to create the vision. You need to have the leadership team create it. You need to get their feedback and their input.

Darren Wurz [00:15:26]:
Remember, it’s not about you. It’s about getting their BUY in. I’ll give you an example of a great company vision. And that’s Tesla. Tesla’s vision is this to create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles. Wow, that’s big. They’re not just saying, you know, we want to sell electric cars. They’re saying, we want to drive the world’s transition to electric vehicles.

Darren Wurz [00:15:59]:
The world, folks, we don’t just want to make cars. We want to be the most compelling car company of the 21st century and drive the entire world’s transition to electric vehicles. That’s a big vision. That’s compelling. Now, whether or not, whether or not Tesla has executed on that vision could be up to debate. But here are some things I like about Tesla’s vision. Number one, it’s clear and compelling. It is simple.

Darren Wurz [00:16:31]:
It’s easy to understand. It’s not just about making cars. It’s about transforming the world’s energy use. I mean, wow, that’s huge. That’s ambitious. It’s about creating a whole different future. It is bold and ambitious. It’s not just about aiming to be a successful car company.

Darren Wurz [00:16:49]:
It’s solving environmental challenges. It’s big picture. And that’s the kind of thing that’s going to attract employees, customers and investors who believe in that sustainable future. Number three, it gives us a guiding principle. It gives tesla a guiding principle. Everything that Tesla does from its innovations in electric vehicles and renewable energy products to energy storage is going to align with this vision. It’s going to guide everything that happens in the company. That’s alignment.

Darren Wurz [00:17:22]:
And lastly, it’s inspiring. YOUr vision should be inspiring. It should inspire you most of all. But it should also, definitely, maybe also most of all, inspire your people. A vision that is ambitious, inspires employees and partners to push boundaries and think beyond immediate challenges. It’s also going to attract people. It’s going to attract customers. It’s going to attract employees who are great.

Darren Wurz [00:17:49]:
You want to attract really great, wonderful people to your team, have a great, inspiring VisioN. So that’s an example. How could you do that? Think about that for yourself. How can your vision be clear and compelling, bold and ambitious, a guiding principle, inspirational for you and for your team. The second part was alignment and a big how do you align your team? Let’s talk about that. The biggest thing you can do to align your team is to communicate with your team, communicate your vision, and make sure that every team member understands their job in achieving it, their role in achieving it, how they connect to that vision. Plaster your vision up everywhere. On the walls, on your pens, on your mugs, on your zoom background.

Darren Wurz [00:18:40]:
Put it everywhere. Put it on your website. Your vision should be everywhere. It should be visible. It should be communicated at every team meeting. It should be communicated at every workshop, at every strategy meeting, at every leadership meeting. It should be, you should get up and say it together. It should be the pledge of allegiance at every meeting.

Darren Wurz [00:19:02]:
Basically, that’s how you align the team. You get everybody on board with the vision and then have really well defined job descriptions. Basically. I mean, better than job descriptions, right? Let’s come up with a better word for that. But you know what I mean? Have a very detailed written description of how your employees work, connects exactly what their job is, exactly what their role and responsibilities are, and how that aligns and connects with that vision. Another part of aligning your team is making sure you have an appropriate, an appropriate organizational structure. Who is reporting to who? Make sure that everything is aligned. Okay.

Darren Wurz [00:19:52]:
Number three was establishing accountability. How do you establish accountability? Well, you need to measure performance. You need to have numbers, data that you measure. Accountability is really the cornerstone of relentless execution. One powerful tool is the scorecard, which comes from eos. It’s a component of eos, the entrepreneurial operating system. Mike Morse, in his book Fireproof, refers to it as the big board. Right? It’s a scoreboard.

Darren Wurz [00:20:25]:
It’s how we’re doing. It’s the metrics, and we track those metrics and we’re going to plaster them up everywhere. I like the big board idea because it’s about putting it up big for everyone to see. So what is a scorecard? Well, in the EOS framework, scorecards are designed to provide clear, objective measures of performance. It’s like a dashboard for your business, so that anytime you can look, you can see whether or not you’re on track to your KPI’s, your key performance indicators. So number one, you want to identify what are those KPI’s or those key metrics? Your scorecard is going to track those critical numbers. They’re not just financial numbers, they’re numbers that are going to indicate the health and progress of your firm towards achieving your goals. It could be things like the number of new clients per week or per month, billable hours tracked case completion rate, time between signing a client and completing a client’s case, client satisfaction score like net promoter score and things like that.

Darren Wurz [00:21:26]:
So it could be a lot of those types of things. Number two, your scorecard also should show who is responsible for these things. Each metric on the scorecard has an owner, somebody who owns that number, someone who’s directly responsible for that number. That creates accountability. Each team member knows which metrics they’re responsible for improving. For example, your associate attorneys might own metrics related to billable hours or case completion, while your administrative team could own client satisfaction scores. So they’re not just going to be held accountable for, but then they’re also going to be looking for how they’re gathering that data and how they’re, they’re going to improve that data. A big part of those scorecards is setting goals and measuring those goals.

Darren Wurz [00:22:14]:
You know, we would, we would advocate for weekly goals. Your scorecard isn’t something you look at once a month or once a quarter. It should really be reviewed on a weekly basis. So weekly goals for each metric, the team checks in on the progress every single week. This is going to keep everybody focused and aligned, and you’re going to be able to catch problems early before they throw you off track. Measuring what matters this is why scorecards, a big board metrics are important. The key to an effective scorecard is measuring what matters, focusing on the right metrics, the ones that truly matter towards driving your business forward. Website visitors.

Darren Wurz [00:22:54]:
Who cares? Unless it’s tied to something specific in your strategy? Right? Measure the things that really, really matter. And don’t get overwhelmed with tons of numbers. It should be five to 15, might be too many. Five to ten critical numbers that give you a clear picture of your firm’s health. Pro tip if you’re introducing scorecards for the first time, start small. Focus on a few key metrics and then build from there as your team gets comfortable with the process. It doesn’t have to. You don’t have to have ten KPI’s all at once.

Darren Wurz [00:23:31]:
Start with one and add another and then add another and make sure you celebrate your wins now, by the way, you will not. You shouldn’t be hitting your goals completely. If you’re hitting your goals, your goals are too low. Make your goals higher and then 80% of a goal is great. Your goals should really be aspirational. Okay? The last thing is creating that meeting rhythm. Set up a regular meeting rhythm so all of these things you can see are tied together. Vision, alignment, accountability, rhythm, right? Having that vision statement, having your metrics, knowing who’s responsible for those metrics and then having regular workshops.

Darren Wurz [00:24:13]:
Don’t call them meetings, call them workshops. Regular workshops. We’re going to check in with the team. Each person is going to report on what they’re responsible for. That’s going to hold people accountable. So it’s best practice to have weekly meetings with the team to review those things. As far as individual bricks or quarterly rocks, right? There should be monthly meetings to review those. And there should be mid month check ins individually with the people who are responsible for specific things in the organization and moving those things forward.

Darren Wurz [00:24:49]:
Don’t just get to the end of the month and see where things are. Have a mid month check in so you know what the progress is. You know, are we on track to have this completed? If not, what additional support does this person need? And then there should be quarterly planning workshops where you’re going to review the entire business plan, right. And update it for the coming quarter. So I hope I’ve given you some really great ideas and inspiration for how you can execute relentlessly. What can you do now to start implementing relentless execution? Well, first, define or revisit your vision. Let’s start there. Let’s really fine tune that.

Darren Wurz [00:25:33]:
Get a meeting together with your leadership team this week or next week and sit down and figure out what your vision is for the firm. Here’s my challenge for you. Take a hard look at your law firm. Ask yourself this question. Are you executing on your business plan or are you stuck in the planning phase? Relentless execution is the key, the key to real growth. Start by focusing on the four elements we discussed, vision, alignment, accountability and rhythm, and start implementing today. The only way to move forward is to take action consistently. It’s not somebody got lucky or people are just smarter than me.

Darren Wurz [00:26:19]:
No, it’s the people who have scaled their practices effectively, are the ones who have listened to sound advice, taken the necessary steps. The steps are there. The steps are best practices. You can find out what the steps are. You can search them on Google. It’s the implementation, it’s the execution. That’s the thing. Executing your business plan doesn’t just mean better outcomes in the short term, it does, but it’s also essential.

Darren Wurz [00:26:49]:
For what? For building your long term wealth and financial security as a law firm owner. And that is what we are here all about at Wurz Financial services. By executing relentlessly, you’ll create a thriving firm that not only grows, but also delivers you the time and financial freedom that you have been striving for. And if you need help putting this into practice, we are here to guide you. If you’re ready to turn your business plan into action to get off the pot right, schedule some time with me. The link is down there in the show notes and on our call together, I’ll show you my three step process for making your goals a reality through relentless execution. This has been the Lawyer Millionaire podcast. I’m your host, Darren Wuertz.

Darren Wurz [00:27:38]:
Thank you for joining me on this journey to expand your business, maximize your profits and secure your financial future. I can’t wait to connect with you again next time. Until then, take care, friends, and keep pushing forward.

Outro [00:27:56]:
Thank you for listening to the lawyer millionaire. Click the follow button below to be notified when new episodes become available. This content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. This content is not intended to represent investing or tax advice. Always seek the advice of a qualified investment or tax advisor with any questions you may have regarding your own financial circumstances.