Sustaining Your Strategy: A Guide to Long-Term Execution and Maintenance

As a brand strategy consultant, I often get to witness the energy and excitement of big strategy days: whiteboards, sticky notes, and big thinking.

And yet, far too often those strategy sessions are soon forgotten. They quickly become a foggy memory that will surface once or twice over the year, if at all.

As the proverb goes: Strategy without execution is a daydream.

But what if there was no gap between the big decisions of the strategy day and execution the rest of the year? How different would organization look?

A key focus for any brand strategy consultant is closing the gap between strategy and execution, and here are three ways to help:

Demand that strategy answers ‘how’.

If your strategy doesn’t tell your team how to create unique value for the market then it’s not strategy at all. It’s a wishlist, a set of goals, or a big dream. Strategy should give every person on the team ideas for how they can maximize what your organization provides.

Action item: At random, ask people in your organization what is your organization’s strategy. If answers are inconsistent, you either (a) don’t have a real strategy or (b) aren’t communicating the strategy beyond the executive level.

Make strategy happen every day.

When strategy only happens once a year, it’s not too long before it gathering dust. Effective strategy should happen continuously. When strategy is part of every day, it becomes the competitive advantage it’s meant to be.

• Leadership should review strategy daily or weekly. It’s not overkill if you believe your primary responsibility as a leader is to deliver on the right strategy.

• Managers should review and discuss strategy weekly or monthly. This will help connect their actions and decisions to the strategy.

• Every employee should spend time on strategy as well. They’ll interact with strategy less than other levels, but their engagement is vital. By having the whole organization focused on strategy, anyone can identify future challenges and opportunities.

Action item: Block strategy time for the whole organization. Schedule different pulses for executives, managers, and employees with agendas for each.​

Expect strategy to impact every function.

When strategy is everyone’s job, it should have unique impact in every department and function. An expectation that strategy should impact every segment of the business is a clear signal that the strategy is a real one.

Action item: Whether you use an OKRs, EOS, or a different goal management system, review the various functions of your organization to see how their subgoals or objectives support the strategy.

A formula for brand strategy success:

A brand strategy is only as good as its execution and integration into everyday operations across all levels of the organization. By making strategy a daily practice, not just an annual event, it can become the core driver of your organization’s ongoing success and competitive edge.