This article is a summary of a presentation made for the final assessment component of the LCS Level 3 Programme and puts into context five quintessential success factors for Operational Excellence programmes. These factors affect, to different degree, the three main phases of an OPEX programme, the Plan, Build, and Run phases. Two of the success factors, Empathy and Credibility, address the relationships to stakeholders in the business. Two others, Impact and Dynamics, are very much focused on Performance against clear metrics, and the fifth, Integration, has both relationship and technical aspects. Even though all five success factors are required, above all, OPEX programs have to be planned, built, and run in an emphatic manner by emphatic people.