Strong leaders actually know how to craft a strategy

Last month I wrote about the fact that crafting a winning strategy is what strong leaders do. The next series of blogs will describe in more detail how to formulate your team’s strategy as a leader. This month we will begin with the basic concept.

A plan of action designed to achieve a major or overall aim.

Basic definition of strategy

Some leaders are clueless

Have you ever worked for a leader who does not know what a strategy is…really? No one trained him, and it showed. For example, I worked for one leader who had no clue. He knew it, I knew it, everyone knew it. The organization put this leader in charge of crafting the strategy we would use moving forward. He floundered, and we all watched while this leader struggled. He did not know what he was doing and never delivered. All his stakeholders were left in the dark wondering what was happening. Where were we going? As you might imagine – it was a painful experience for all of us and did not end well for this leader.

The leader who replaced him was much better

Eventually, a new leader was put in place. This leader went to work right away crafting a strategy for the organization. She gathered a team to help define the strategy. She socialized it with her leadership team, received feedback, and made adjustments. A final product was delivered that was well-received by practically everyone. Trust was restored, a clear path forward was identified and performance improved rapidly as we began executing the new strategy. I watched in wonder as she turned around a bad situation in about 90 days. It was a pleasure working for a leader who knew what she was doing and inspired her followers.

In reality, strategy is actually very straightforward. You pick a general direction and implement it like hell.

Jack Welsh

A tool to help craft your strategy

As a leader, it is important that you understand what a strategy actually is. Some leaders struggle with thinking strategically because they do not really know what it means. You probably hear the word strategy a lot. I would offer that what many people are talking about when they say the word strategy is actually tactics, process, and procedures. This diagram found below is the best way I know to think about what a strategy is. It is simple to understand.

Use this simple diagram to formulate your strategy

When in doubt draw it out using this simple diagram. Starting on the left – we, that is you and your team, are here. It is important to define the current state – the blue circle with the red star. Describe what is going well with your team and what needs to change. On the right is the future state. You want to be there – the green circle. The strategy articulates how you are going to go from here to there – the arrow. Any strategy that does not include a how is not an actual strategy. I am going to say that again because I cannot count how many strategic briefings that were all fluff and no substance. In other words, there was no way to actually implement the strategy. Any strategy that does not include the how is not an actual strategy.

An example of a strategy with no how in it

Years ago I worked for an organization that did not understand this topic. The business unit I worked in did not know how to articulate real strategic thinking. One year all we received from senior leadership was “grow the business”. The current state part of the business was only the revenue number we generated the last year, $100 million. The future state was another number – our target for the next year, $120 million. The strategy was we need to grow by $20 million, or 20%. No mention of how we would reach that number. Go and grow. Wow – talk about a strategy with no how in it. What happened next was predictable.

The leadership team struggled to get everyone motivated

The go and grow strategy was not well received by the leadership team. Market conditions were changing – the next year would be much harder than the last year. The growth target was much larger than the previous one – twice as large. Leaders in the business unit wondered how in the world are we going to grow twice as fast in a tough market. No clear answers were provided by the senior leaders. The reality is that they did not know how we would do it. They were hoping for the best. The leadership team struggled to get everyone bought into the strategy and motivated to make it happen. As a result, we did not have a good year, we missed the target, and new leaders were brought in to fix the problem.

What about you?

Do you know how to craft a winning strategy? Have you taken the time to formulate, codify and communicate it to your stakeholders? If not, make the investment now. If so, you will enjoy the next few blogs. We are going to explore this topic in detail to include points to ponder, practical tactical tips, and lessons learned based on decades of experience.

ATW! is designed to make you a better leader

I hope you join me on this journey to raise up the next generation of leaders. The world is in desperate need of more great leaders. Women and men who lead with confidence, clarity, and creativity. It’s time to become the leader that your world needs. Let’s go All The Way!

All The Way Leadership!