From Lost to Leading: The Four Core Elements of a Successful Strategy
Have you ever been lost?
A little while ago, I was travelling through northern France with my family. We were on our way to stay with a friend I’d visited several times years earlier. It wasn’t until we’d picked up our hire cars and were driving through the dark, chilly streets of Arras that we realised—no one had checked her address! With no map, no signal, and no written directions, we were completely reliant on my memory to get us there.
Operating without a good strategy is a little like that trip. You may have a car and an idea of why you’re travelling, you may even be enjoying the sights along the way, but you’re not exactly sure where you’re going or how to get there.
Alice: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
Cheshire Cat: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”
Alice: “I don’t much care where-”
Cheshire Cat: “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”
Alice: “-so long as I get SOMEWHERE.”
Cheshire Cat: “Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”
In essence strategy is as simple as:
1. Vision – Where do you want to go?
2. Brand – Who you need to be?
3. Audiences – Who are you doing it for?
4. Mission & Planning – What do you need to do to get there?
While at a basic level strategy may seem quite factual, the difference between an average strategy and a great one, is where the real skill and creativity comes into play. A great strategist understands human behaviour and crafts a strategy to align with and improve the human experience. While data will provide an array of great insight, the gold is in nuances of how to imbed this in your strategy – see our Insight Series for more on this.
Clearly defining and articulating the four core elements of your organisation’s strategy provides the foundation for a cohesive approach throughout the entire organisation. It removes confusion, minimises conflict and provides the team, customers, donors, investors and any other key stakeholders with the confidence and clarity that will see the organisation thrive.
This is not just essential for marketing success, this is essential for success organisation-wide.
Let’s take a look at the first core element of strategy:
Vision: Where do you want to go?
Defining and articulating where you want to go is the critical first step that sets up the rest of your strategy for success.
This is best captured in your Purpose and Vision Statements. The difference between your Purpose Statement and your Vision Statement is your Purpose Statement focuses on why you exist, your Vision Statement focuses on the world or outcome you are working to create. Separating the two statements allows you to be specific and targeted in each. Many vision statements are a mix of Purpose, Vision and Mission, and don’t provide a clear description of your end goal. My hunch is that many vision statements are shelved simply because they don’t provide teams with something tangible they can get behind.
Purpose
All strategy, both company wide and at a departmental level should start with purpose. What motivated the founders to start the organisation in the first place? What needs do you meet? What gap would you leave if you didn’t exist?
Whether you’re a not-for-profit organisation with a moral purpose to meet a pressing need, or a corporate company meeting a commercial opportunity, centring all strategy throughout the company and across all teams on the purpose ensures everyone is aligned and running in the right direction. It maintains focus on the right things and shines light on the things that don’t fit, no matter how good of an idea they may seem to be.
This is why you exist.
Make sure your purpose is genuine. People can see through a thinly veiled attempt at purpose. If you’re a for-profit company, don’t try to sound like a charity if it’s not true. You don’t have to be like Patagonia to have a purpose statement. You may be more like Virgin whose purpose is to “Change business for good” which they do through entrepreneurship, innovation and market disruption. Or Nike, whose purpose is to “move the world forward through the power of sport.” It is OK to have a commercial purpose.
Defining purpose provides a solid foundation on which to build the rest of your business strategy.
Vision
Since Peter Druker popularised the value of having a vision and mission statement, just about every company in the world has slapped together a few fancy sounding words and called it a Vision Statement. Then it tends to get filed away only to be brought out for inclusion in the annual report or the About Us page on your website.
Your Vision Statement can, and should, be so much more than this! Your Vision Statement is your opportunity to put into words the world you’re aspiring to create, and inspire others to come on the journey to making it a reality.
Your Vision Statement provides your team with a way to know what success looks like. It lets you know if you’re heading in the right direction and how to know when you have arrived.
Your Vision Statement should clearly articulate the desired end state. Too often we create vague vision statements that sound inspirational but when you stop to think about them don’t provide any clear direction. Anyone who reads your statement should be able to imagine the world you can see.
Take Google’s vision for example: “To provide access to the world’s information in one click.” Zero confusion around the outcome they’re working to achieve.
Or Ikea’s: “To create a better everyday life for the many people.” While not as specific as Googles’, this still provides a clear litmus test for all activity.
It’s likely that you already have a Vision Statement, can I encourage you to review it, asking is it clear? is it accurate? Does it help our team know what we’re trying to achieve?
Why does it matter? Clarity and Direction.
Defining and communicating your purpose and vision gives your team clarity around the role your organisation plays in the world, and points everyone in the right direction, providing a north star to guide all decisions.
When you and your team aren’t clear on where you want to go, no approach is technically wrong. Want to launch a TikTok channel? Go for it. Considering a pop-up retail experience? Why not? You don’t know where you want to end up, so it doesn’t really matter what you do to get there.
Alternatively, when you have a clearly defined and well articulated purpose and vision you remove friction and confusion, allowing your organisation to build momentum.
Purpose and vision are powerful when they’re lived, not just written. Revisit them often. Talk about them daily. Let them guide your culture, strategy and decision-making.
We did eventually arrive at my friend’s place. By some miracle I recognised a turn and remembered the way. While having a little faith in your natural abilities is a good thing, it’s not the way to lead an organisation.
Take time today to review, refine and reiterate your purpose and vision.
Actions
1. Clarify Your Purpose and Vision
Write out clear, compelling Purpose and Vision Statements.
– Ask: What prompted the founders to launch this company?
– Ask: What world or outcome are we working to create?
2. Communicate Broadly and Consistently
Make sure your Purpose and Vision are visible and regularly reinforced across all areas of your business. Put them in context of your daily activity.
3. Align Your Team
– Can everyone on your team confidently answer: What world are we working to create?
– Do they understand why your organisation exists? and are they energised by their role in bringing that to life?
