Most people recognize that effective execution is a critical skill and strive to perform it well, but they may a) underestimate how important it is to their career advancement or b) not realize that you can improve on execution without working longer hours. On the first point, bosses place a premium on execution, which we define as the ability to achieve individual goals and objectives.

I grew up in a very small town in India, in a house with no running water or bathroom. When I was a teenager, I was a poor student. The safe bet would have been to coast through high school with mediocre grades and, upon graduation, simply eke out a living.