Would you believe that most CEOs don’t believe they have a winning strategy? In fact, less than 50% of those surveyed commented that they don’t have a strong strategy. Everybody had good ideas, but a good strategy will close the gap between idea and execution.
Here are 5 things to consider when creating a winning strategy.
Know who you are in the market and commit to that identity.
Business owners often struggle with this and we find them chasing revenue and growth wherever it seems possible, trying to be everything to everybody. But strong brand management and a strategy that works is to commit to who you are in the market and build from there. Define your distinctive capabilities that make you unique in the market and understand your core proposition – the value you offer to your customers.
Dumb it down for the masses.
Successful strategies are understood by everyone in the company and understood to the degree that each person knows every day how they impact that overall strategy. In addition, they are able to design strategies within strategies that highlight the company’s distinct capabilities and execute via the masses all in alignment with their identities. In other words, think of how you position yourself in the market (your identity) and connect the dots between that identity and how your customer’s experience your company.
Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch
Companies with strong strategies understand the importance of culture and typically foster a company of high performance by aligning the team with the vision and creating an open environment for collaboration and idea sharing. The power for growth is within the people and seeing them as your truest asset is one of the strongest ways to grow your company.
Cut Right and Double Down
A typical action taken is to reduce cost across the board and spreading investment dollars across many opportunities. This mentality goes back to the “be everything to ever body” mentality. But what strong strategic companies do is combine resources and double down on opportunities based upon their key capabilities. – They niche themselves to expert positioning, maximizing their impact and profits.
Be the Change
Traditional companies work at making their strategies agile and responsive to market conditions and competitive pressures but companies with solid strategies disrupt their markets and shape their own futures. They create the change they want to see by creating an edge and leveraging that edge. This can be done by making wise investments in technology or most commonly, through mergers and acquisitions. Bottom line, you should be able to recreate your business environment and grow your reach with new customers and new markets.
