Strategy is nothing without power.

An Idea for Consideration

The picture one gets of strategy when reading the literature is of a leader rationally considering all options, consulting stakeholders, and deciding on the right strategy.?

The unstated assumption is that the leader has the power to set strategy in the first place.?

I asked a client recently, “If you proposed a bold and different strategy to the board, how confident are you that they would say Yes?” (The same question would be relevant for everyone else in the organization.)?

I asked that question because proposing a bold strategy is a way of saying “We’ve been doing things the wrong way.” It also surely implies there will be uncertainty, risk, and change on the horizon. And we all know people LOVE change, uncertainty, and admitting that they were wrong.?

In these cases, it doesn’t matter what’s in a leader’s official job description. If their bosses, peers, and subordinates won’t go along, the leader doesn’t actually have the power to set strategy.

The implication: The biggest task of developing strategy is often not developing the best ideas. Rather, it’s proactively shaping the context in such a way that a leader has the power to actually put forward—and then act upon—those ideas.

Something Fun

Did you know that the phrase “always a bridesmaid, never a bride” was actually from an advertisement for [wait for it] halitosis?!?

The ad copy is the best: “EDNA'S case was really a pathetic one. Like every woman, her primary ambition was to marry. Most of the girls of her set were married—or about to be. Yet not one possessed more grace or charm or loveliness than she. And as her birthdays crept gradually toward that tragic thirty-mark, marriage seemed farther from her life than ever. She was often a bridesmaid but never a bride. That's the insidious thing about halitosis (unpleasant breath). You, yourself, rarely know when you have it. And even your closest friends won't tell you.”

Thanks for reading!

Charles

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