Beware the StrategyLight Zone!
Halloween approaches and I wanted to pay homage to the Twilight Zone TV show and its creator Rod Serling with this video entitled, “The StrategyLight Zone.” Research shows that 43% of managers are not able to articulate their strategy and only 19% say their groups have a distinct process for developing strategy. In this brief video, I share three keys…
Stop Reacting Tactically & Start Thinking Strategically
Are you a strategic partner or tactical order taker? Being a true strategic partner to your colleagues and customers requires leaders to make trade-offs, avoid fire drills and generate new insights. Saying yes to every request that comes through isn’t leadership; it’s tactical order taking. Doing the same things in the same ways as all the other companies in your…
What is Strategy?
Essence (noun): the basic, real, and invariable nature of a thing. If there was ever one “thing” that needed to be returned to its “basic, real, and invariable nature,” that thing is strategy. Like a boat with no anchor flailing about in the open sea, strategy has become unmoored from its’ true meaning. It has become meaningless. Research with 400…
Lead at Your Level
How many managers in your organization are wasting their time and talent performing tasks that they should be delegating? Research shows a startling 41 percent of activities managers are working on are actually items that could and should be performed by the people that report to them. While it may feel good to roll up the sleeves and knock out…
Designing Your Strategic Road Map
“We’re on a road to nowhere, come on inside. Taking that ride to nowhere, we’ll take that ride.” Talking Heads If your team is working without a strategic road map for the business, you may feel like you’re living the lyrics to the Talking Heads’ song “Road to Nowhere” each and every day. What are the symptoms? A culture of fire…
The Origin of Strategy
As we celebrate the Declaration of Independence on July 4th,, it can be a time to reflect on origins. While the drivers of this independence are grounded in characteristics such as courage, ambition, and spirit, strategy also played a role in the formation of our United States of America. While political and military strategy were instrumental in 1776, to understand…
What’s Your Strategic Approach?
“Business leadership, business acumen, and business strategy development—these three areas of expertise are considered non-negotiable: they are essential for success in any C-Suite position.” Omar Ishrak, CEO, Medtronic Being a senior executive requires you to lead, manage, and monitor many different elements of the business at the same time on a continual basis. Sometimes it can feel like an intellectual…
What CEOs Think About Strategy
In episode 4 of “Strategic Thinking for the C-Suite,” I share research I conducted with 300 CEOs to gauge their perspectives on a number of strategy topics, including how often they update strategy, the top strategy challenges they face, and the percentage of managers in their organizations that they believe are strategic. The business acumen of CEOs is often developed…
5 Steps to Better Virtual Meetings
So how are your virtual meetings going? Are they creating valuable new insights for the business or are they a series of multitasking-filled monologues? Are they productive conversations about key business issues or a rehashing of the same tactical stuff you’ve been talking about for months? Are your meetings getting better or worse? Answer these five sample questions from the Strategic…
Is It Time to Change Your Strategy?
In times like this, leaders are frequently asking the question, “Should I change my strategy?” Research by The Conference Board has shown that 70% of public companies experiencing a revenue stall drop more than half of their market capitalization. More than half of those companies experience a consistent future decline in revenue growth rate. Approximately 38 percent of these companies…
