The New Strategist

Strategy is no longer just about maximizing profit; it's about creating meaning, adapting to change, and leading through values.

1. Strategy Begins with Values and Purpose

A successful modern strategist starts by understanding that business revolves around values and meaning, not just profit. The focus has shifted from purely financial outcomes to a broader perspective of building societal and employee satisfaction. Companies need to address the human desire for purpose, dignity, and a positive impact on society.

For example, companies like Apple and Google are celebrated because they provide more than products—they supply opportunities for fulfillment and a better world. Leaders must ask foundational questions: Who benefits from this organization? What impact does it aspire to have? These align business practices with humanitarian purposes.

Adopting a stakeholder-centric approach helps businesses integrate perspectives of owners, customers, employees, suppliers, and society. Prioritizing and balancing these interests ensures sustainable and meaningful growth.

Examples

• Google’s mission to "organize the world’s information" reflects a meaningful goal for society, not just profit.
• Lego motivates employees as part of creating meaningful play experiences for children worldwide.
• Companies emphasizing eco-friendly processes serve both stakeholders and the planet.

2. Unified Strategies Drive Cohesion

A company must avoid mixing disjointed individual strategies and instead focus on a cohesive corporate strategy. This overarching vision guides where the company competes and outlines future growth areas. Cohesion ensures that every action ladders up to a shared goal.

Corporate strategies are externally focused, responding to economic shifts and market trends. This means analyzing situations where reversing current trends, like e-commerce companies investing in physical stores, could present new opportunities. Furthermore, companies like car manufacturers shifting strategies towards “mobility solutions,” instead of just building cars, demonstrate this adaptability.

A holistic corporate strategy also aligns organizational structure and system design with long-term goals, ensuring every component functions toward the same collective future.

Examples

• Amazon’s move to open physical stores reflects deliberate alignment with current and future retail trends.
• Car manufacturers embracing ridesharing platforms are evolving from product makers to service providers.
• Businesses navigating digital transformation shift to unified adaptability across departments.

3. The Role of a Chief Strategy Officer

The Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) plays a central role as a guide and influencer in shaping a company’s entire strategic direction. They wear multiple hats, from analyzing competitors to mergers and acquisitions, all while aligning initiatives with the company philosophy.

CSOs adopt different personas depending on the organization’s needs. Advisors focus on strategy formulation. Specialists bring deep expertise in finance or marketing. Coaches, with management know-how, help during transformative initiatives. Implementers bring their negotiation prowess to engage all company levels.

The CSO’s ability to mold strategy while staying true to overarching company values makes them a catalyst for lasting change.

Examples

• A CSO acting as an advisor might overhaul a failing product line through competitive research.
• Specialists assist leadership teams to pivot marketing strategies during industry disruption.
• Implementers effectively integrate large-scale acquisitions like mergers across teams.

4. Transparent Strategy Departments Build Collaboration

A company's strategy department is not just a think tank; it should function as a hub that connects disparate parts of the organization through shared goals and transparency. When isolated, strategic efforts lose alignment and employees disengage.

Social integration fosters collaboration across departments, ensuring trust and inclusivity. Content integration creates a shared understanding, streamlining how strategy aligns with long-term objectives. Lastly, functional leadership involves identifying trends and their organizational impact.

Transparent communication ensures that every division sees itself as integral to achieving the company’s vision.

Examples

• Departments sharing open forums for decisions boost inclusivity, such as town-hall-style meetings.
• Cross-department mentorship programs reflect shared goals and encourage alignment.
• Regular inter-departmental updates ensure information symmetry and build collective trust.

5. Strategic Leadership Has Both Vision and Execution

Strategic leaders visualize the future and proactively shape it by inspiring collaborative action. Leaders align every employee with a defined common goal by focusing on social connection within the company. This approach balances the analytical and interpersonal aspects of leadership.

Using the Strategic Leadership Competency Model (MSF), leaders work towards consistently higher levels of their responsibilities. For instance, while junior-level leadership focuses on maintaining operational goals, advanced leaders align customers' experiences with the company’s strategy every day.

Empowered by clear communication and future-focused planning, these leaders motivate colleagues to embrace change—turning high-level ideas into company-wide momentum.

Examples

• A leader implementing company-wide sustainability goals ensures actionable milestones are tied to the vision.
• CEOs like Elon Musk regularly weave company-wide narratives linking Tesla’s engineering to climate values.
• A leader transforming performance review frameworks ties corporate culture to employee development.

6. Tools Are the Framework for Strategy

Just like building tools aid construction, strategic tools guide professionals in decision-making and planning. Process tools, like frameworks for goal setting, enable methodical thinking. Strategic initiatives disrupt standard methods, address uncertain situations dynamically, and inspire significant change.

Being selective about tools is essential. For example, the planning process framework works for routine teams, but during crises like natural disasters, first-response companies pivot to rapid command styles.

Such tools ensure strategists’ adaptability and focus—ensuring smooth planning during quiet times and focused action during disruption.

Examples

• Lufthansa’s rapid intervention post-9/11 demonstrates how businesses pivot through creative planning techniques.
• The Red Cross shifts between planning approaches for long-term support and emergency response.
• Strategic initiatives initiated after a company re-structure ensure renewed energy amidst uncertainty.

7. Modernization is Non-Negotiable for Strategists

Strategists must embrace modern solutions, ensuring relevance in a competitive landscape. They take cues from evolving industries, as past failures like Blockbuster highlight the dangers of rigid old models.

Modern thinkers shift focus toward the customer journey model or stakeholder-based disruptive solutions (e.g., Airbnb). Businesses engaging directly with stakeholders while championing flexibility are succeeding.

Staying relevant demands real-time responses coupled with collaborative input, ensuring each decision aligns the modern demands.

Examples

• Airbnb challenges traditional hotel competition despite lower overhead.
• Netflix’s evolution from mail-in rentals to streaming highlights always-modern thinking.
• PayPal adjusted to mobile payments, maintaining relevancy despite industry shakeups.

Takeaways

1. Build a strong company purpose by aligning goals with stakeholder values, ensuring that your strategy serves not only owners but society and employees.
2. Prioritize creating a transparent and inclusive strategy team that collaborates effectively and stays connected to the organization’s overall goals.
3. Continuously modernize your strategic vision by adapting to technological, economic, and societal changes, ensuring your business remains competitive.