Are your tactics actually supporting a strategy?

Transcript

Hi there, it’s Peter Winick. I’m the founder and CEO at Thought Leadership Leverage. And here’s a thought that I’d like to share with you today, as I typically do once a week. And that’s this: In my conversations with authors and speakers and thought leaders from around the world, one of the things that I find that really just kind of sticks in my head is this. I ask them what they’re working on, and they could clearly articulate the tactics that they’re attempting to execute, and the speed at which they’re executing them, and the tools that they are using, the software, the technology, or whatever to execute them better. So typically, I’ll ask, “What are you working on? Tell me what’s going on?” And I get tactic, tactic, execution, efficiency, tool, etc. It is rare that the answer to that question is, “Well, let me tell you what my strategy is, and then let me tell you what the supporting tactics are that I’m using currently to get to that strategy.”

So when they don’t answer that way to me, I ask them to pause and say, “Okay, that’s great. That’s tactical. I understand you’re doing such and such on social media, and you’ve got a book going on and all that other things. What is the underlying strategy that connects all those things together that guides you and dictates to you what you should be doing more of and less of? What you should be doing in what sequence? And what effort to apply to the various tactics?” And again, I don’t really get that all that often.

So I’d love to hear from you. What are you trying to achieve, and what are the tactics that you’re using to support that strategy? Love to hear your thoughts, as always. Thank you.