Send to KindleWhat’s your company’s strategy? Is there someone in charge of that? If so, who? There’s often a disconnect between real strategy and what many leaders think is strategy. I’ve seen too many senior leaders who seem to think strategy is something like a marketing plan. To be truly successful, leaders must see strategy for what it is; the overarching plan for success.
To clarify this concept, consider the difference between strategic and tactical. These two terms are normally associated with the military and of course the military brings unending complexity to this concept, but it can be boiled down to its most basic form. The strategic level of leadership looks at the broader situation, developing plans that are more general in nature and, if taken alone, are really not executable. The tactical level of leadership takes those strategic plans and creates more detailed plans which make it possible to implement the senior leader’s goals. This concept translates nicely to an organization’s strategic planning process.
The plan is, by definition, strategic. It presents a general view of the mission and goals of the organization and is created at the senior level. Because it is strategic, it provides a basic, broad view of what the organization wants to accomplish. All subsequent efforts of the organization should then be focused on that strategic plan. Subordinate leaders then create tactical plans which spell out how they will accomplish their part of implementing the strategic plan.
A good illustration of this difference is in making goals and objectives. The senior leader and leadership team define the organization’s goals. These goals are directly tied to the organization’s mission and define where the organization wants to go. The goals represent the strategic level of planning. Each goal also has objectives which define in more detail what needs to be accomplished in order to realize the goal. That is the tactical level.
But wait you say. The goals and objectives are both included in the strategic plan. So is the plan strategic or not? Yes it is; but, to make it complete and simplify what the rest of the organization sees, goals and objectives are included. The reason that’s possible without violating the principles of tactical planning after strategic planning is the leadership team. When creating the strategic plan, a wise leader forms a leadership team which is made up of his or her subordinate leaders who are the ones who will be responsible for accomplishing the goals. Each of these subordinate leaders will create a tactical plan to accomplish those goals. That’s why the company’s strategic plan should not be considered complete until the members of the leadership team have had the opportunity to discuss the objectives with their own subordinate leaders to ensure those objectives are reasonable, achievable, and measurable.
So, who’s in charge of strategy? The senior leader of the organization. Strategy and strategic planning are not responsibilities that can be delegated, though a strategic plan is best created with the input of more than one person. What about your organization? Do you have a strategy? Does everyone know what it is? Have you separated the strategic from the tactical?
