- Dan McKee
- Jul 16
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 23
“We need a strategy.” Today, we will learn how to build a business strategy.
How many times have those words been said in your business?
They sound like clarity. But they often create more confusion.
The truth is, most executive teams use the word strategy without a shared definition. The result? Misaligned initiatives, surface-level plans, and frustratingly slow progress.
This post is here to fix that.
We’re going to demystify strategy once and for all—so you can lead with confidence, drive alignment, and actually build a business that wins.
The Crisis of “Go Build a Strategy”
Michael Chen, the newly appointed CEO of Nexus Innovations, sat at the head of the boardroom table, his jaw tight. The quarterly numbers were in. Three straight quarters of declining market share.
Delayed product launches. Customer complaints up 40%.
“This is unacceptable,” he snapped. “We’re reactive. We need a strategy. A real strategy. I want one on my desk in two weeks.”
And just like that—he was gone.
The leadership team stared at each other, stunned.
Then came the question that kicks off every strategy reckoning: “What the fuck is a strategy, exactly?”
Strategy Isn’t a Buzzword. It’s a Choice.
Marketing thought it meant a positioning statement. Sales had called every revenue goal a “strategic initiative.” Product had 90-slide roadmaps labeled “strategic vision.”
Sound familiar?
Here’s what most teams are missing:
Strategy isn’t a document. It’s a coherent set of hard choices about how you will win.
It’s not your mission. Not your company values. Not your product roadmap.
It’s your answer to one brutally important question: How will we win in the marketplace?
The Only Strategy Question That Matters
That question—how will we win?—became the anchor for Nexus’s leadership team.
They built their strategy around a focused choice: to become the premier partner for mid-market healthcare providers, a segment ignored by their competitors.
They cut distractions. Aligned resources. And created clarity across every department.
Why did it work?
Because they understood that real strategy is about focus, not fluff. It’s emotionally engaging, operationally grounded, and brutally honest.
Want help building that level of clarity? Download our guide:👉 WTF is a Strategy? (And How to Build One That Works)
The 6 Questions That Define a Winning Strategy
To answer how will we win, use this simple but rigorous framework:
What can we authentically excel at? Where do we have unfair advantages that are hard to copy?
What does the world genuinely need? Where is there real demand or underserved customer pain?
What will sustain our enterprise long-term? What models and moves align with durable success?
What can we execute with our current systems and people? Strategy must be built for reality, not fantasy.
What serves all our stakeholders? Including customers, employees, and shareholders.
What ignites potential inside our organization? Strategy without emotional commitment will fail.👉 Read: Emotional Commitment Is Your Competitive Differentiator
This isn’t fluff. These questions act as a prioritization filter, a focus engine, and a leadership alignment tool.
They give you a structured way to separate “nice ideas” from “real strategy.”
How to Build a Business Strategy: The Difference Between Strategy and Planning
Strategy defines the direction. Planning defines the steps.
Strategy is the what and why. Planning is the how and when.
Don’t confuse a calendar of initiatives with a winning strategy. The best leaders get clear on strategy first—then reverse-engineer the execution plan.
If your strategy isn’t shaping your day-to-day decisions, it isn’t strategy. It’s decoration.
Why Most Strategy Fails (And How to Fix It)
Most companies fail to operationalize strategy because they skip the most important part:
Emotional commitment.
Without it, strategy lives in slides—not in behavior.
That’s why we teach strategy as part of a larger leadership system—grounded in:
Clarity of role: See: The Primary Role of a Leader
Operational rhythm: Explore: Building High-Performing Customer-Facing Teams
Accelerated learning: Learn: Accelerated Learning Is the Key to Growth
Without these, strategy is just theory. With them, it becomes the basis for execution, alignment, and scale.
Strategy Isn’t a Slide Deck. It’s a System.
Let’s say it again:
Strategy is how you will win. Everything else—mission, values, plans, messaging—should support that answer.
It’s not about complexity. It’s about clarity. And clarity is a performance multiplier.
Ready to build a strategy that finally aligns your team and drives results?
Build a Strategy That Wins
At High Achiever, we help executive teams move from chaos to clarity—by teaching the leadership systems, coaching frameworks, and mindset shifts required to build strategies that actually win.
Learn More: Leadership Coaching That Drives Results
Let’s make strategy real again.
