Strategic

Master the four disciplines of strategic fitness essential to executive performance

In Strategic, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Rich Horwath delivers an incisive roadmap to help leaders at all levels think, plan, and act strategically to navigate every business challenge they face. The book offers business leaders a proven framework―the Strategic Fitness System―containing dozens of tools, techniques, and checklists to confidently master every area of the business, from designing market-winning strategies to shaping the organization’s culture.

The practical content will help executives in any industry improve what research has shown to be the most important leadership factor to an organization’s future success―strategic competence―and use this skill to transform complexity to clarity in charting their strategic direction. The book features:

• A common language for strategy and business planning
• Practical tools for developing the four dimensions of executive fitness key to advancing the company’s growth: strategy, leadership, organization, and communication
• Techniques for designing enduring competitive advantage and frameworks for creating innovative new value for customers
• Methods for evolving the business model to transform the trajectory of the business
• The Strategic Quotient (SQ)―a validated assessment of an executive’s strategic thinking, planning, and execution

With practical tools and dozens of real-world examples, readers of Strategic will immediately be able to set direction, create advantage, and achieve executive excellence. Be more than tactical—be Strategic.

Introduction 1

Navigate Your Business 4

Being Strategic 6

The Unstrategic 7

Strategic Fitness 9

What’s Your Strategic Quotient (SQ)? 11

Trail Blazes 14

Part I Strategy Fitness 17

Chapter 1 Strategy 19

Strategy Is Not 20

GOST Framework 22

Strategy Defined 24

When to Change Strategy 26

3A Strategic Framework 28

Strategy Development 30

Designing a StrategyPrint 34

Trail Blazes 36

Chapter 2 Resource Allocation 39

Reallocation of Resources 43

Discipline to Focus 46

Making Trade- offs 49

Trail Blazes 51

Chapter 3 Decision Making 53

Creating Decision Trees 56

Avoiding Decision Traps 58

Determining Decision Rights 60

Delegation: Lead at Your Level 64

Trail Blazes 68

Chapter 4 Competition 71

Assessing the Competition 72

Competitive Positioning 75

Learning to Differentiate 78

Understanding Competitive Advantage 82

Trail Blazes 86

Part II Leadership Fitness 89

Chapter 5 Leadership 91

Situational Awareness 92

Emotional Intelligence 96

Leadership Philosophy 98

Trail Blazes 101

Chapter 6 Personal Performance 103

Three Principles of Preparation 105

Energy Management 109

Executive Presence 112

Trail Blazes 114

Chapter 7 Mental Toughness 117

Seven Saboteurs of the Mind 118

Mental Training Techniques 119

Nonjudgmental Observation 122

Breaking the Judgment Habit 124

Trail Blazes 126

Chapter 8 Time and Calendar 129

Eliminating Time Traps 130

Three Ways to Monotask 131

Optimizing Email 136

Trail Blazes 137

Part III Organization Fitness 139

Chapter 9 Organizational Foundation 141

Organizational Structures 142

Purpose 143

Mission 143

Vision 145

Values 146

Culture 147

Internal Obstacles 151

Trail Blazes 155

Chapter 10 Business Model 157

Evolving Your Business Model 158

Creating a Value Proposition 161

Mapping a Value Chain 163

Designing the Future State 165

Trail Blazes 171

Chapter 11 Talent and Succession 173

Talent Scorecard 174

Five Talent Traps 175

Succession Planning 177

Trail Blazes 181

Chapter 12 Innovation 183

Insight 184

Solving Challenges 186

Biomimicry 187

Domain Jumping 189

Catalyzing Questions 191

Trail Blazes 194

Part IV Communication Fitness 197

Chapter 13 Strategy Conversations 199

Dialogue 203

Discussion 205

Direction 208

Trail Blazes 211

Chapter 14 Collaboration 213

Enhancing Collaboration 214

Facilitation Framework 218

Trail Blazes 224

Chapter 15 Customers 227

Internal Customers 228

One- on- Ones 229

Managing Up and Laterally 230

External Customers 232

Board of Directors 237

Trail Blazes 239

Chapter 16 Meetings 241

Strategic Meeting Framework 243

Strategic Approach to Meetings 247

Trail Blazes 251

Close 253

Notes 257

About the Author 271

Index 273

"The term strategy has become so overused and ambiguous in meaning that crafting a coherent, actionable, and successful strategy is unclear and challenging and can lead to company and career shipwreck. Rich is a lighthouse providing process, tools, and guidance to help anyone navigate to a clear, focused, and actionable strategy. His knowledge, experience and examples of strategy in action are invaluable."

—Martin Schray, Principal Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation

In his book Strategic, Rich distills the essence of strategy and strategic thinking into its constituent parts and provides a clear framework and guidelines to elevate these capabilities within an organization. While the concepts presented are clear and concise, discipline and commitment are required to apply them effectively. Rich provides readers with the tools necessary to execute and achieve their goals.”

—Michael Combs, President & CEO, CorVel Corporation

“Rich simplifies strategy into a universal language that anyone from anywhere can understand. In a skills-based ecosystem, Strategic provides dozens of practical principles and tools for developing, applying, and communicating with clarity your ability to be strategic while others are tactical.”

—Jason Zeman, Director, Strategic Enablement Leader, Deloitte

“In the 20+ years I have known Rich, he continues to push the boundaries on what strategy truly is and what it is not. His newest book, Strategic, continues this path in providing logical, useful, and understandable tools for any leader to enhance their strategic abilities to effectively navigate all areas of their business. It grabs your attention immediately and will catapult you into the world of strategic expertise.”

—Rob Schneider, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Omron Healthcare

“In his new book, Strategic, Rich Horwath presents a comprehensive guide and clear, relatable examples for strategic thinking in all facets of the business for leaders in any size organization. Drawing on his 25 years of expertise in the field of strategy, Rich outlines a clear framework for developing and executing successful strategies that will enable executives to create sound strategic direction to success. This book is a must-read for anyone seeking to improve their strategic thinking and planning skills and taking their leadership to the next level.”

—Shea Uebelhor, Co-Founder, Cayke

RICH HORWATH is founder and CEO of the Strategic Thinking Institute where he is a strategy facilitator, advisor, and coach to executive leadership teams. He is the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of eight books on strategic thinking and rated the number one keynote speaker on strategy at national events such as the Society for Human Resource Management Strategy Conference. Rich has helped more than a quarter million people develop their strategic thinking and planning skills over the past two decades in pursuit of his vision to teach the world to be strategic.

Strategic leaders must first and foremost be effective navigators, determining their organization’s current position and setting direction for the future. A study of 250,000 executives showed that setting strategic direction is the most important role of a leader and the number one factor that improves organizational health. Despite this, more research found only 22 percent of employees strongly agreed that the leaders of their organization have set a clear direction. Strategic thinking can’t wait for the annual company retreat—it’s something that must be prioritized and practiced every day to produce transformative results. Now is the time to be strategic.

New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author on strategic thinking Rich Horwath brings his two decades of experience helping more than a quarter million leaders around the world develop their strategic capabilities to write Strategic, with its proven framework to navigate any business to create its competitive advantage. The journey begins with the Strategic Quotient^™ (SQ) Assessment, a validated tool to determine how effectively a person can think, plan, and act strategically. From there, Horwath defines what it means to be strategic and shares a blueprint for executives to use this skill in all areas of their business on a daily basis.

Strategic’s navigational framework is designed from the concept of strategic fitness: the capability to extract insights from the environment in order to create advantage for the business and superior value for customers. With Horwath’s guidance, leaders will master the four dimensions of strategic fitness that contribute to executive performance:

Strategy Fitness: the ability to understand and develop strategy, set direction, allocate resources, make decisions, and create competitive advantage.

Leadership Fitness: a leader’s philosophy, personal performance, mental training, and ability to master time and calendar.

Organization Fitness: the ability to create the appropriate business structure, evolve the business model, develop talent while planning for succession, and innovate.

Communication Fitness: the facilitation of conversations, effective collaboration, bringing value to customers, and leading productive meetings.

The essential meta-skill of a leader is to navigate their business with a thorough understanding of their current situation, vision to see the future destination, and the ability to create the path to reach it. When you have the knowledge, tools, and skills to navigate your business, it produces both competence and confidence. How do you acquire, maintain, and grow the ability to successfully navigate your business, moving from your current position, over and through obstacles, to reach your goals? Be strategic.

MASTER THE FOUR DISCIPLINES OF STRATEGIC FITNESS THAT DRIVE ELITE EXECUTIVE PERFORMANCE

“Strategic distills the essence of strategy and strategic thinking into its constituent parts and provides a clear framework and guidelines to elevate these capabilities within an organization. Rich provides executives with all the tools necessary to strategically lead their businesses and achieve their goals.”
—MICHAEL COMBS, President and CEO, CorVel Corporation

“Rich is a lighthouse providing process, tools, and guidance to help anyone navigate to a clear, focused, and actionable strategy. His knowledge, experience, and examples of strategy in action are invaluable.”
—MARTIN SCHRAY, Principal Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation

“Strategic presents a comprehensive guide and clear, relatable examples for strategic thinking in all facets of business. This book is a must-read for anyone seeking to improve their strategic thinking and planning skills and take their leadership to the next level.”
—SHEA UEBELHOR, Co-Founder, Cayke

“Rich simplifies strategy into a universal language that anyone from anywhere can understand. In a skills-based ecosystem, Strategic provides hundreds of practical principles, tips, and tools for developing, applying, and communicating with clarity your ability to be strategic while others are tactical.”
—JASON ZEMAN, Director, Strategic Enablement Leader, Deloitte

“Strategic provides logical, useful, and understandable tools for any leader to enhance their strategic abilities to effectively navigate all areas of their business. It grabs your attention immediately and will catapult you into the world of strategic expertise.”
—ROB SCHNEIDER, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Omron Healthcare