Are your tactics in search of a strategy?

Hi there! It’s Peter Winick. I’m the founder and CEO of Thought Leadership Leverage. And today, I wanted to share with you some thoughts and reflections I’ve had around sort of the where people are spending some of their time and energy from a tactical perspective.

So, over the last couple of weeks in conversations with clients and colleagues, and such, people have come to me and said things like: Oh so, I’m going to take my content and put it on this e-learning platform. And I think it might be able to reach this type of organization. Or I think I’m going to write a book. Or I think I’m going to be more active on LinkedIn. Or I think I’m going to start doing X, Y, or Z. And they say to me, well what do you think about that?

And you know, I reflect and then oftentimes what I find myself saying is: “Hey that sounds like an awesome tactic that’s in search of an underlying strategy.” Right. So, putting your content on an e-learning platform may be a phenomenal idea depending on what your strategy is. If your strategy doesn’t align with that, it’s an awful idea. Could be a great thing, just an awful idea for you. Writing a book for many people is a game changer, is transformative both as an individual and for their business.

But quite frankly, it is a tactic.

What is the underlying business strategy? Where does the book fit in? What is the timing of that book? What are the amount of resources, time, energy, effort, money that you’re willing to invest in that? And what are you looking for on the other side of that?

So anyway, what I would ask you to do is think about where you’re spending a lot of your time and energy over the last couple of weeks. And be honest and say, “Wow! those are those tactics in search of a strategy!” Or am I doing things in a tactical way that align to a strategy that I’ve been thoughtful about and have developed and is working for me in a measurable and observable way.

Thanks! Would love to hear your thoughts.