A New Understanding of Strategy
An essential component of the strategy-making process that has been ignored for decades is: You. The leader. The person who must live the questions that matter most.
This is about gaining a new understanding about what strategy is, why it matters, and what you must do to lead the effort.
Does your company matter? That's the question every business leaders must answer.
Can you answer it? If you cannot, or if you're uncertain of your answer, read this book: Cynthia Montgomery: The Strategist: Be the Leader Your Business Needs
The word "strategy" itself comes from the ancient Greek for "general"---specifically for the general on campaign in the field. In business, strategy is a company's campaign in the marketplace: the domain in which it competes, how it competes, and what it wants to accomplish.
There is a good chance that you can't articulate the specific needs your business fills or the unique points that distinguish you from your competitors on anything beyond a superficial level. Nor have you spent much time thinking concretely about where you want your company to be in ten years and the forces, internal and external, that will get the company there. Yet, there is no way a business can thrive until these questions are answered.
Leadership and Strategy Are Inseparable
Many leaders today do not understand the ongoing, intimate connection between leadership and strategy. These two aspects of what leaders do, once tightly linked, have grown apart. Now specialists help managers analyze their industries and position their businesses for competitive advantage, and strategy has become largely a job for experts, or something confined to an annual planning process.
What's been forgotten is that strategy is not a destination or a solution. It's not a problem to be solved and settled. It's a journey. It needs continuous, not intermittent, leadership.
It needs a strategist. All leaders must accept and own strategy as the heart of their responsibility. Are you a strategist?
Source: Cynthia Montgomery: The Strategist: Be the Leader Your Business Needs
Kenichi Ohmae: The Mind Of The Strategist: The Art of Japanese Business
John Agno: Can't Get Enough Leadership: Book Notes & Coaching Tips