Certainly, after spending a week in Fiji thinking about strategy, I am focused on the power of keeping a strategic eye at all times; however, it is undoubtedly what our most successful clients do. We have learned to keep an eye on what “works” across organization sizes, industry types, and more. The verdict is in – those executives that keep a continual eye on strategy outperform the rest.
Recently, we were in a final project review meeting with a large, complex organization’s CEO, and he continually kept an eye on strategy. As much as he appreciated the tactical results, the strategic conversation was top of mind. It was a night and day difference to another client review meeting we participated in recently. There is no doubt which organization would make the better investment – not just in terms of cash but also in terms of referrals of resources. Top talent is attracted to top talent with an eye to the future.
We also met with a potential client recently who is vastly smaller in size than both of the above examples yet he had an eye to strategy and was willing to invest in the “right” talent to ensure his strategy translated into reality. This conversation engaged our interest in collaborating with him because we know the focus would be on outcomes that tie to strategy instead of deliverables that might have no relation to a result. Are you engaging your employees, customers, suppliers and trusted advisers with an eye to strategy?