Annual planning season is here. If your strategy stops at 2025, you may already be leaving value on the table.

In today’s market, change cycles are faster, competition is sharper, and disruption rarely waits politely for the next calendar year.

So the question isn’t just “What’s our plan for 2025?” It’s “Are we making decisions now that will still hold power in 2026 and beyond?”

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✨ What Strategy Is (And Isn’t)

Let’s start with a quick reset.

A strategy isn’t a to-do list. It’s not a giant backlog of ideas, or an endless ambition deck. It’s also not a single bold goal – or a fuzzy vision statement.

A strategy is a set of clear, conscious choices about:

• Where you play (markets, audiences, categories)
• How you win (differentiators, capabilities, positioning)
• What you focus on now vs. later (resources, sequencing, trade-offs)

As Roger Martin (Harvard Business School) puts it:

“Strategy is not planning. It is the making of an integrated set of choices that uniquely positions the organisation to win.” (Source: Playing to Win, Lafley & Martin, 2013)

Good strategy gives your teams a shared sense of direction and discipline. Great strategy inspires action, focus, and ownership at every level.

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⏳ How Long Should You Spend Getting Strategy Right?

Here’s the thing: many leaders and organisations underestimate the time it takes.

Yes, you can produce a “strategy” in a few days, but if it’s rushed, it’s often a list of hopes dressed as a plan. The real work isn’t just defining the direction – it’s aligning minds, resources, and energy around it.

From my experience:

• Surface-level strategy can be built in a week.
• Deep, integrated strategy takes longer—because alignment isn’t instant. You’re reshaping focus, energy, and often identity.

McKinsey research indicates that organisations that regularly revisit their operating model as part of the strategy cycle – not just as a one-off – achieve significantly better performance in areas as innovation, agility, and long-term value creation.

In short: strategy isn’t an event. It’s a practice.

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🛠️ What Strong Strategy Needs

Here are five components I’ve seen consistently in strong strategy work – whether I’m working with a global brand, a scale-up, or a leadership team in transition.

1. A Shared Understanding of Reality

Before vision comes insight. You need an honest, data-informed, customer-centred understanding of where you are and what’s changing around you.

This includes:

• Market trends & segmentation
• Competitive landscape
• Political & legal changes
• Cultural & behavioural shifts

📘 Tip: Go beyond AI summaries – dig into trusted reports, primary data, and original research.

2. Clear Priorities (With Trade-Offs)

Strategy is as much about what you won’t do as what you will.

High-performing organisations prioritise ruthlessly – limiting strategic objectives to what actually moves the needle. A Bain study (2022) showed that companies with fewer strategic priorities (>4) outperform those that spread focus too thin.

📘 Ask your team: “What are we willing to deprioritise in order to win where it matters most?”

3. Customer and Human-Centred Thinking

Strong strategy is not built in an ivory tower – it’s grounded in the lives of the people you serve.

Whether you’re designing a product, repositioning a brand, or rethinking organisational structure, your strategy should reflect real human needs and behaviours.

And don’t forget the internal customer: your people.

📘 Include reflection on employee experience, organisational culture, and leadership energy in your strategic lens.

4. A Long View, a Short Path

Your vision might stretch 3–5 years, but your strategy must create momentum now.

Break long-term ambition into meaningful 12-month goals. Be clear on ownership. Build in reflection cycles so you adjust along the way – not just at year-end.

Agile strategy isn’t just for tech – it’s for clarity.

📘 Tip: Outline a 12-month operational plan, including key events and a content plan that connects across the whole organisation.

5. A Way to Communicate It Simply

If your strategy can’t be drawn on a napkin, it’s probably too complex.

The best strategies can be summarised in a simple sentence: “We will win by [core advantage] for [core customer] in [chosen arena].”

📘 Then build the narrative: What’s the story of change you’re inviting people into?

As Herminia Ibarra (London Business School) says:

“The most effective leaders lead through framing change as a personal and organisational journey.” (Source: Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader, 2015)

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🧭 Strategy Is Not Just What You Decide – It’s How You Lead

A powerful strategy process doesn’t just set direction. It builds shared ownership, fosters transparent conversations, and grows leadership capacity.

It’s a chance to ask:

• Are we clear on what matters most?
• Are we energised by the path we’ve chosen?
• Are we courageous enough to let go of what no longer serves?

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🔍 A Reflection for You

As you step into planning season, consider this:

• If your team only had three strategic priorities for next year – what would they be?
• What will you say no to, in order to say yes to what truly matters?
• How will you ensure that your strategy is more than a slide deck, but a shared way forward?

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📩 Over to You

Is strategy season already underway in your organisation? What’s your biggest challenge in building or communicating strategic clarity? What’s your best tip for crafting a strong strategy?

💬 I’d love to hear how you’re approaching it. If you’re preparing for a shift or need a sparring partner, let’s talk!

🧭 Book a Clarity Call → Gain an external lens on your 2026 strategy