The leadership gap: Why strategy still fails and how to close it

Where transformation is constant and complexity is rising, a powerful strategy is only half the battle. The ability to execute that strategy, across functions, layers and markets, is where the true challenge lies. Most organisations still aren’t getting it right!

Studies from Harvard Business Review show that 67% of strategies fail. Kaplan and Norton report that as many as 90% of strategies never achieve successful execution. These aren't just numbers, they're symptoms of a persistent leadership gap.

At dBB Global & Partners, we’ve spent decades working with senior leaders to bridge this gap, translating strategy into performance, vision into reality and potential into results. Our insight? Strategy failure is rarely due to poor ideas. It’s rooted in how leaders lead.

The strategy to execution disconnect

Many leadership teams excel at developing high-level strategic plans but fail to turn them into consistent operational outcomes. Why?

Because there's often a disconnect between strategic design and day-to-day delivery. 

Goals are set. Initiatives are launched. But teams lack the tools, communication or clarity to align their work with the bigger picture.

In practice, this results in misaligned priorities, slow progress and initiatives that stall mid-flight. Leaders may believe strategy is being executed, when in fact, it has already drifted off-course.

Internal focus, external blind spots

Another pattern we observe is an overemphasis on internal operations. Leaders become deeply embedded in internal firefighting, staffing issues, workflows, departmental KPIs, at the cost of forward movement. Strategy becomes background noise rather than a guiding force.

This internal myopia leads to micromanagement, excessive meetings and fragmented decision-making. It dilutes ownership across teams and limits accountability, which is fatal for strategic delivery.

Leadership discipline: The missing link

Where strategy fails, leadership discipline is usually lacking. This doesn’t mean working longer hours or delivering more reports, it means leaders structuring their time, attention and behaviours around the strategy they expect others to follow.

When leaders are inconsistent, disengaged from the execution process, or fixated on perks over purpose, their teams mirror that behaviour. Strategic momentum fades. Execution breaks down.

Idea infatuation & problem paralysis

Two additional traps sabotage execution:

• Idea infatuation: leaders continually chase new ideas, reframe strategies or pivot before any traction is achieved.

• Problem paralysis: leaders overanalyse risk or await perfect conditions before acting.

In both cases, progress stalls. Strategy becomes stuck in the slidedeck stage, never moving into meaningful action.

Accountability without Metrics = Failure

Too often, strategies are built without clear metrics, owners, or timelines. Or worse, they rely on annual review cycles and generic KPIs to track impact. Without a living system for measurement, there’s no visibility, no course correction and no accountability.

And without accountability, even the best strategy can fail quietly.

A new approach: Strategic enablement from within

We believe the future of strategy is in-house, agile and embedded in daily operations. That’s why we developed and deploy Hypothesis3, our strategy enablement platform that empowers organisations to close the leadership gap.

With Hypothesis3, your teams can:

• Build strategic clarity using proven diagnostic frameworks

• Align operational activity to strategic intent in real time

• Assign ownership, track delivery and maintain accountability

• Run strategy as a living process, not a once-a-year event

You don’t need more consultants. You need a strategic operating system that sits inside your business.

A leadership-centred solution

Whether through executive coaching, consulting or strategy facilitation, our team partners with leaders to strengthen the behaviours, disciplines and systems that drive execution.

We help you:

• Break the disconnect between strategic planning and frontline execution

• Shift internal focus from operational churn to strategic value creation

• Build disciplined leadership and accountability structures

• Make strategy everyone’s job—not just something written at the top

dBB Global & PARTNERS View: Strategy is a team sport

Strategy fails when it lives on slides. It succeeds when it’s led with purpose, executed with discipline and enabled through systems.

If your organisation is ready to bring strategy in-house, fully, effectively and affordably, dBB Global & PARTNERS and Hypothesis3 can help you make it real.

Let’s start a conversation that drives results.

consult@dbbglobalpartners.com