The Strategy Impact Businesses Need In 2024
Doing business is doing strategy. So, if you want to do business right, you need to do strategy right. Keep reading this blog post to learn how to think and do strategy for true success.
In 2023, I have been coaching, consulting and mentoring more than 50 impact business leaders. By doing business with them, I learned what doing strategy right looks like and what makes the real difference, at strategic level, in the process of growth.
The way you think about strategy is everything.
The main reason why strategy tends to fail for many business leaders is that most people in business think of strategy as a product.
Thinking strategy as a product means holding an expectation that strategy is a fixed, punctual and linear outcome.
The false myth assumes that you just need to nail the right strategy once and then focus on executing it diligently until you reach (or not) the results.
Or that you can get strategy done for you if a consultant or a strategist delivers the right "product", like a playbook outlining the step-by-step path to results; A one-size-fits-all approach to plug in to your business; A formula crafted by other founders' success stories you can learn and apply in your business.
But strategy isn't that.
Every seasoned business leader, especially the one who hit their most desired growth targets, knows that strategy is everything but a fixed, punctual and linear product.
So, if you want to nail your business strategy, the first step is to rethink strategy towards a more agile approach.
This Is What Strategy 'Really' Looks Like
PROCESS OVER PRODUCT
Replace "business strategy" with "strategy work".
The difference?
Strategy work is an ongoing process. Business strategy is a one-time product.
The point about strategy in business isn't that you need to have a business strategy. Instead, it is that you need to continously work on the strategy in your business, so that you can make the best decisions for your business knowing exactly why they're the best for the business at every step of your growth.
When you approach strategy as a process, you avoid to put your business at risk. Instead of confining its growth to a fixed solution that will quickly turn obsolete, you plug in a strategic SYSTEM running in the background and keeping your growth automatically on track with your objectives.
ADAPTIVE + ITERATIVE OVER STATIC
Strategy as a process involves letting go the expectation of a static business strategy.
There is no such a thing as a business strategy that stays the same over time.
This means you need to be okay with going with the wrong strategy and change it as you go (and grow).
The traditional business culture made this sound like a failure. But it's not. In 2024, we normalize the trial and error process and celebrate it as a necessary experience for growth.
In this sense, you need to approach strategy as an adaptive and iterative process. Your strategy will need to be open for change and adjustments as your business evolves, and be a more agile framework that can guide growth in the direction of your most important business results through a nonlinear, but smart trajectory.
SELF-LED OVER INDUSTRY-INFLUENCED
Your business, your vision, your rules.
In 2024, we stop looking for direction outside, and we start creating impact + innovation from the inside out.
In a business industry mandating fixed rules and systems for business growth, identity-based + self-led strategy approaches will be the real deal for success and true innovation (and much needed thought leadership!).
Doing strategy is not about plugging in other businesses' tactics. And it's not doing what other business leaders are doing.
Your business is a unique entity and success will depend on your ability to craft a unique growth path based on what YOU know is best for your work.
In a nutshell? The strategy needs to come from your expertise first, from the feeling and the vision YOU hold for the work you do.
You do you and trust that this is the number one resource it takes to get the breakthroughs you want in business.
This Is How Strategy Work Should Be Delivered To Bring The Best Results In 2024
If you are looking to get strategy support for your business this year, these are the most effective delivery formats you should opt for.
When you approach strategy as a process, the way you work on strategy changes and so does the format of delivery.
Spending a lot of money for audits, strategy playbooks or consulting hours will result in a big waste of resources, as your business will quickly outgrow each of these outcomes.
Audits, playbooks and consultancies only meet your business in the moment of delivery (they're punctual products), they don't account for every small and big change happening along the way after the delivery. Plus, audits, playbooks and consultancies do not help you with the most challenging part of the doing business: the execution.
So, if you want to make a wise investment and secure a longterm valuable strategy support for your business, these delivery formats will provide you the most effective experience:
Executive coaching blending ad-hoc business strategy consulting (choose this if you're looking to get a done-with-you strategic support and to accelerate your leadership and strategy capabilities as a founder or leader);
Business Development Partnership (choose this if you're looking to build more operational AND strategic capacity in your business);
Fractional Chief Strategy Officer or COO (choose this if you're looking to elevate the executive capability or accelerate growth through senior expertise in your business).
These Are The Traits You Should Look For In A Strategist In 2024
You don't need to make multiple 6-figure investments for a strategist with 20+ years of experience in business to get the best support.
Traditional business or management consultants often get paid to offer you fixed formulas or one-size-fits-all solutions that a) you can easily access by making a quick Google research; b) your business will outgrow in a couple of days after delivery; c) won't be tailored to the unique identity of your business, so you will have to personalize them (more work for you!); d) won't offer the execution support you need.
Plus, the business industry is changing and bringing trends that are new and rapidly evolving.
To face this restless market, you need to look at new skills and different investment value criteria, ideally by tapping into the type of expertise that can be less about years of experience and more about agile mindset, responsiveness to rapid evolutions and creativity.
If you're looking to accelerate your strategic capabilities or to hire strategic support for your business, you should look at the following traits:
Social impact + business savvy (you won't want to waste your time explaining someone you hired why both business AND impact matter).
System thinker (you can't afford being the one connecting the dots. This is what a strategist is hired for!).
Holistic + diverse background (old solutions won't fix new problems).
Community involved (social capital and strong networks are extremely valuable to build broader benchmarks in your business growth, and will lead to aligned opportunities).
Creative and visionary (rethinking solutions or crafting new ones, brainstorming untapped possibilities and turning visions into actionable steps will put things into motion. FAST!).
Partner and Facilitator (you don't want to waste time making the point with someone who imposes their truth and steps over your expertise and authority. You want someone who take out YOUR best breakthroughs and gifts your with theirs).
Resource-optimizer (you don't need someone to offer solutions that require resources you don't have. You need someone who helps you make the best use of the resources you already have (to grow some more!) ).
Feedback confident (you need someone to offer fresh, external and candid perspectives on your business and stretch your critical + strategic thinking through the right angles and lens).
In 2023, these have been the operating principles, traits and approaches I used to facilitate business growth for global CEOs and business leaders in social impact.
My clients gained crystal clarity on their product and service's unique selling points, elevated their leadership and business brands with greater visibility and top reputation in their industries, secured high-level paid partnerships and built funding pipelines that opened up new growth possibilities for their businesses.
In 2024, I am looking forward to helping even more committed and visionary leaders do business successfully for more social impact.
If you are looking to bring onboard the right strategist for your business growth, I would love to explore how we can do magic together.
Book a FREE strategy call here and let's do this!