A Tribal Leader’s Guide to Strategy

Most of us think we know all about strategy, but studies show 70 percent of strategic plans fail. The reason, according to our research (a 10 year study of 24,000 people published as the book Tribal Leadership), is that culture eats strategy for breakfast. A “Tribal Leader’s” team produces vastly superior results by synchronizing culture and strategy. By “tribal,” we are referring to the naturally occurring social groups that form within and throughout organizations and Tribal Leaders create cultures that help these tribes become successful.

To begin, you will identify three elements: what do we want (outcome), what do we have (assets), and what will we do (actions). Let’s go through each step.

Determine Outcome

First, identify the outcome that you want. The outcome should be specific, measurable, and set in time. Ninety days for completion is an ideal time period because it is far enough out that results can be produced and close enough that you won’t be as likely to lose sight of it.

I met with Charles Bernard and Wyeth Killip of Criteria for Success (CFS) to discuss their strategy for the fourth quarter. I am going to use this as an example because I think it will be easier to grasp the concept. They want to close $300,000 in new business by December 31. This is specific, measurable and has a date. One test we use on outcomes is to ask if a 12-year-old would be able to determine if the outcome was successful or not. A common pitfall is an outcome that is too general, such as increase new sales, which may be difficult to determine if it was achieved or could be rationalized.

Determine Assets

Next, make a list of everything you have that will help you achieve the outcome. These are called “assets”. Assets are the resources you have available now (not the resources you wish you have). These include your strengths, resources, relationships, capital, budget, technology, a mentor, consultant, or coach, intellectual property, processes, training, education, etc. CFS assets included some of the following:

• Health
• The CFS Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Technology
• Past and Current Clients
• Vistage Trusted Advisor Group
• Supportive Family

After you have completed your list, ask the question, “Do we have a sufficient number of assets and the correct assets to accomplish the stated outcome by the intended date?” If you answered no, reflect on how you could create more assets. Most businesses fail because they are under-capitalized. They did not have enough assets. The military prefers to have ten times the assets they think they need in order to ensure success. You may need to build more assets; you could talk to others and inquire what assets are missing. You may have to create a strategy to produce more assets as an interim strategy instead.

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Determine Actions

When you have answered yes, create another category called “behaviors/actions.” Look at each of your assets and reflect on this question: “How can we take the assets that we have and convert them into actions or behaviors?” Write down the actions that you will take to produce the outcome. At CFS, the actions that Charles and Wyeth will take include the following:

• Maintain their health by working out routinely.
• Enter data in their CRM system and keep it up-to-date.
• Leverage their current and past clients by calling them.
• Utilize their Vistage group by asking for introductions and referrals.
• Ask their family and team for support if they fall into a pitfall.

After that, look at your list of behaviors and actions and answer the question, “Do we have a sufficient number of assets to produce the behaviors necessary to achieve the outcome?” If not, look again at your assets and create more actions. Another option is to modify your actions to get more done with less. If you don’t have the resources, you will have to look at ways that you can get it done cheaper and faster with less people. Finally, you could adjust the outcome to shrink it down in scope. For example, CFS could reduce the outcome to $200,000 if they assess that their assets are not sufficient. It is better to know now that your strategy is not going to work and take appropriate action.

Next, look at your actions and ask, “If you take these actions, will you achieve the outcome by the date specified?” The purpose for the test questions is for a team to be realistic. Many strategies fail because the leader is pushing the team to commit to a goal that no one really believes is attainable. A tribal leader needs to provide the opportunity for every person on the team to honestly answer this question and freely express any concerns.

If you and your team are not motivated to take the actions, you will need to reflect on why you want to produce this outcome. This is the reason to have “core values” and a “noble cause”. A core value is “a principle without which life wouldn’t be worth living.” Core values are the “how you will work together” and the noble cause is the why you are doing what you do. The difference between core values and a noble cause is “core values are what we stand in and a noble cause is what we shoot for.”