Show Notes:

In this episode of Unleashed, Alex Brueckmann discusses the concept of strategy and its importance in business. Alex states that strategy is defined as a set of integrated choices made to win in a chosen marketplace. It is not just about playing the game, but about creating value that convinces or influences customers to buy from the company. A good strategy should be cohesive and integrated, making sense together, and Alex explains what defines a good strategy.

Defining Key Factors in a Strategy

When discussing a strategy, it is important to understand what the company does, for whom, what they offer, and who their customer is. This information can help businesses define their niche, mission, and goals. The next piece of information should be a clear description of what the business will look like in the next few years. The end state of the business and the strategy cycle should be defined, with what will be achieved by implementing the strategy and what actions will be taken. By knowing what you do, for whom, what you work toward, and the few choices that make 80% of the impact, businesses can focus their resources on the most important aspects of their strategy.

Helping Companies Develop a Strategy

Alex talks about the process of helping companies develop their strategy. He begins by helping clients understand their playing field, recent past changes and challenges, and aligning them with what the reality looks like. He discusses future changes and challenges, dissecting them into opportunities and defining target markets and clients. Alex helps clients understand what they need to do to make clients choose them over competitors in various industries. He also introduces the framework of the nine elements of organizational identity, which is an integrated approach to understanding every aspect of an entity. This includes customer experience, who the company is as a company, and the impact they want to have by providing a service to the world.

The Nine Elements of Organizational Identity

Alex talks about the frameworks he uses to help clients develop a strategy, including the nine elements of organizational identity and how he has defined key factors into the inner circle, the middle circle, and the outer circle.

The Inner Circle Business Strategy

He talks about the inner circle of a business and what it involves, including impact, mission, and principles. Impact is the change you want to create, based on your purpose and reason to exist as an organization. Mission is what an organization aims to do, and principles are the underlying values and behavioral guidelines.He explains how each element works and what the difference between impact and mission is. Iimpact is the change you want to create, while mission is what an organization aims to do. For example, a vehicle company's mission is to produce vehicles and sell them to a specific target group. However, the impact they create is deeper than their business definition. For example, producing affordable vehicles can be a game changer for families in third world countries, and having your own vehicle can also be a game changer depending on the security situation.

The Middle Circle Business Strategy

The middle circle is your business strategy, which includes a vision, choices made, and measurable goals. SMART goals are specific, measurable, and timed, but they lack specificity and, instead, hope that passion will carry them forward. To create a cohesive business strategy, it is essential to have a clear vision, intermediate goals, and visual representations, such as a strategy map. This helps ensure that the story you are telling with your strategy is cohesive and effective.

The Outer Circle Business Strategy

Alex discusses the outer circle, which includes management system capabilities and targets. This outer circle is likened to a scaffolding that prevents a business from breaking down again. However, without enabling everyone in the business to lead effectively and help individual contributors understand that their job matters, and help them achieve their individual targets. It also helps ensure alignment with company values.He mentions that targets should be both cultural and strategic.

The third element in the outer circle is management systems, which help adjust organizational structure and processes to support change. These systems are designed to help the company stay stable and develop, but they are not designed for change. Therefore, building new systems and then removing the old ones is crucial to create strategies that support strategy, implementation, and culture.

Preparing the Foundation of Strategy Development

Alex emphasizes the importance of understanding the playing field and reality, as well as the diamond values that define who a business is. Diamond values are hard to alter, even under pressure, and are hard to lose clients if they don't align with the company's values. He mentions that the distinction between irrational and emotional culture is important, as it helps companies understand the difference between doing the right thing and talking about business and the words used to describe your playing field, and the emotional culture of the people within the business, and creating an environment that fosters a human-centric performance culture, where people show up at their best every day. This goes beyond just revenue generation and problem-solving, but also encourages employees to be the best version of themselves, knowing that working in a business that prioritizes them as human beings is a privilege.

The Role of a Strategy Facilitator

Alex discusses the role of a strategy facilitator in executive coaching and how to help customers create business strategies. He shares eight steps that can be used as starting points for executive teams, including executive interviews, foundation sessions, and strategy workshops. The foundation session helps answer foundational questions and aligns everyone's readiness to start a strategy process.

He talks about the importance of transitioning from understanding reality and understanding oneself and values to moving towards the future. Facilitators must create an environment where honest and vulnerable conversations about strategy are allowed, allowing people to bring their ideas forward. Alex emphasizes the importance of helping people become stewards of the entire business, not just the marketing lead or sales lead. They should step away from their day-to-day jobs and become stewards of the entire business. Alex mentions a certification program for facilitation he is developing that targets both external resources like executive coaches and workshop facilitators, as well as internal resources like strategy managers and PMO managers who often find themselves in situations with executives where they facilitate and push forward the process.

Alex's book, "The Strategy Facilitator," was inspired by a conversation with Marshall Goldsmith, who had previously worked with Alex's marketing agency. Goldsmith offered to endorse his book, which Brueckmann describes as a kind gesture.

Timestamps:

01:02 Business strategy and its components

05:30 Strategy development and identity for businesses

10:46 Organizational identity and strategy

17:58 Implementing a comprehensive strategy for a business

22:38 Strategy facilitation and emotional culture in business

26:32 Strategy facilitation and certification program

Links:

Website: https://brueckmann.ca/

Book: The Strategy Legacy

Book: Secrets of Next-Level Entrepreneurs: 11 Powerful Lessons to Thrive in Business and Lead a Balanced Life

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

563. Alex Brueckmann, Author of The Strategy Legacy

Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional