Three tips on how to become more strategic

Flex your strategy muscle ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
McKinsey Classics
McKinsey Classics

Brought to you by Liz Hilton Segel, chief client officer and managing partner, global industry practices, & Homayoun Hatami, managing partner, global client capabilities

McKinsey Classics | May 2024

An image linking to the web page “Becoming more strategic: Three tips for any executive” on McKinsey.com

Creating a strategy dream team

How many members of your top team are involved in shaping your company’s strategic direction? If you needed fewer fingers than you have on one hand to answer that question, your team may need to be reshuffled. These days, disruption wears many faces, so the more senior leaders an organization has flexing their collective strategic muscles the better.

The good news is any executive can become more strategic. To start, make sure you really know the strategy of your specific industry. Generic strategy frameworks are just that: generic. When forming an appropriately nuanced strategy, context is everything. Next, know your disrupter. Bolstering your top team with a diverse range of perspectives and expertise can help ensure you’re sufficiently covering—and outthinking—the competition. Finally, innovate on ways to communicate your strategy so that everyone has a firm grasp on its direction.

Strategy can no longer be the purview of one person. An endless array of competing forces demands a dynamic strategy team—one where each person is firing on all cylinders. To help craft your strategy dream team, read Michael Birshan and Jayanti Kar’s 2012 McKinsey Quarterly classic, “Becoming more strategic: Three tips for any executive.”

 Drew Holzfeind, editor, Chicago

Enhance your strategic capabilities
LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

Related Reading

An image linking to the web page “Why strategists should embrace imperfection” on McKinsey.com

Why strategists should embrace imperfection 

An image linking to the web page “Getting strategy wrong—and how to do it right instead” on McKinsey.com

Getting strategy wrong—and how to do it right instead 

An image linking to the web page “The strategy leader’s evolving mandate” on McKinsey.com

The strategy leader’s evolving mandate 

Share these insights

Did you enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to colleagues and friends so they can subscribe too. Was this issue forwarded to you? Sign up for it and sample our 40+ other free email subscriptions here.

This email contains information about McKinsey's research, insights, services, or events. By opening our emails or clicking on links, you agree to our use of cookies and web tracking technology. For more information on how we use and protect your information, please review our privacy policy.

You received this email because you subscribed to our McKinsey Classics newsletter.

Manage subscriptions | Unsubscribe

Copyright © 2024 | McKinsey & Company, 3 World Trade Center, 175 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10007


by "McKinsey Classics" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 12:44 - 18 May 2024