Rich Horwath

Strategic fitness is a leader’s ability to learn from and adapt to their environment to set direction and create a competitive advantage. A study of 77 C-suite executives over four years found that strategically fit leaders excel in four disciplines : 1) Strategic fitness, or setting clear direction and calibrating when necessary; 2) Leadership fitness, or refining their style to meet the moment; 3) Organizational fitness, or investing in thinking about the future state of the business; and 4)… Show more

Strategic fitness is a leader’s ability to learn from and adapt to their environment to set direction and create a competitive advantage. A study of 77 C-suite executives over four years found that strategically fit leaders excel in four disciplines : 1) Strategic fitness, or setting clear direction and calibrating when necessary; 2) Leadership fitness, or refining their style to meet the moment; 3) Organizational fitness, or investing in thinking about the future state of the business; and 4) Communication fitness, or effectively collaborating with internal and external stakeholders. This article offers a series of questions that can help any leader evaluate and exercise their own strategic fitness.

By taking a proactive approach to enhancing the four disciplines of strategic fitness — strategy, leadership, organization, and communication — you’ll continuously mine new insights from your interactions leading to greater competence and confidence in setting strategic direction for your business. According to research by Harvard Business School’s Michael Porter and Nitin Nohria, the average CEO invests 45 minutes a day developing their physical fitness. How much time are you investing each day in your strategic fitness? It may be the difference between thriving, or not surviving, in the business wilds. Show less

A common piece of developmental feedback is the need to move from tactical to strategic thinking. But what does that look like? The author, who has coached thousands of leaders to help develop their strategic thinking capabilities, has identified three core behaviors to work on: acumen (thinking), allocation (planning), and action (doing).

Having worked with more than a quarter million managers over the past 20 years to sharpen their strategic thinking capabilities, I’ve realized that… Show more

A common piece of developmental feedback is the need to move from tactical to strategic thinking. But what does that look like? The author, who has coached thousands of leaders to help develop their strategic thinking capabilities, has identified three core behaviors to work on: acumen (thinking), allocation (planning), and action (doing).

Having worked with more than a quarter million managers over the past 20 years to sharpen their strategic thinking capabilities, I’ve realized that many leaders with wonderful potential are unfairly branded with the “tactical, not strategic” label, causing their careers to stall out. For far too long, determining whether someone was tactical or strategic has been a subjective guess based on job titles, instinctual hunches, and cherry-picked observations.

CEOs and talent management leaders have told me they need a specific behavioral roadmap to help high-potential employees transition from tactical to strategic. To design this roadmap, I surveyed 2,586 managers from North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia to understand the real-world challenges they faced in developing, communicating, and executing their strategies. I identified three core behaviors that anyone who’s been given the “tactical, not strategic” feedback can work to develop. Show less

“If you only read one book on strategy, this has to be that book!” Dale Hicks, Intel

Research shows that only 25 percent of managers believe their companies are good at both strategy and innovation. It’s no wonder then, that poor strategy is the #1 cause of bankruptcy. Too often, strategy and innovation are approached separately. Innovation is the continual hunt for new value; strategy is ensuring we configure resources in the best way possible to develop and deliver that value. By… Show more

“If you only read one book on strategy, this has to be that book!” Dale Hicks, Intel

Research shows that only 25 percent of managers believe their companies are good at both strategy and innovation. It’s no wonder then, that poor strategy is the #1 cause of bankruptcy. Too often, strategy and innovation are approached separately. Innovation is the continual hunt for new value; strategy is ensuring we configure resources in the best way possible to develop and deliver that value. By becoming an elite strategic thinker, a leader is better prepared to fuse strategy and innovation into competitive advantage.

In Elevate: The Three Disciplines of Advanced Strategic Thinking, New York Times bestselling author on strategy Rich Horwath shares with leaders a powerful framework called the Three Disciplines of Advanced Strategic Thinking:

Coalesce: Fusing together insights to create an innovative business model.

Compete: Creating a system of strategy to achieve competitive advantage.

Champion: Leading others to think and act strategically to execute strategy.

Using this framework as a guide, Horwath provides leaders with dozens of practical tools to help them get their teams out of the tactical weeds of the business and design strategies to provide superior value to customers. Leaders will learn how to connect all of the key elements of their business, including core competencies, capabilities, value proposition, value chain, business model and strategies, and channel them into a strategic action plan. The result is a roadmap for transforming strategy from an annual two-day pilgrimage into a daily strategic mindset that leads to profitable growth for the business.

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Think back on your life and how you arrived at where you are today. Did you envision where you wanted to be and then map out a strategy for getting there? Or, have you bounced around like a bumper car from one thing to the next? New research shows that only 15% of adults have a written plan for their life. But what if you believe that you have more to offer? Much more.

In Strategy for You, world-­renowned business strategist Rich Horwath provides a five-step plan for building a bridge to… Show more

Think back on your life and how you arrived at where you are today. Did you envision where you wanted to be and then map out a strategy for getting there? Or, have you bounced around like a bumper car from one thing to the next? New research shows that only 15% of adults have a written plan for their life. But what if you believe that you have more to offer? Much more.

In Strategy for You, world-­renowned business strategist Rich Horwath provides a five-step plan for building a bridge to the life you want. Using the foundational principles of business strategy, he lays out the five steps you can take to create a more fulfilling and successful life:

1. DISCOVER: Uncover your purpose through insight.
2. DIFFERENTIATE: Identify your unique strengths.
3. DECIDE: Allocate your resources.
4. DESIGN: Develop your action plan.
5. DRIVE: Execute your plan.

Strategy for You gives you the opportunity to maximize your true potential at work and at home. Are you ready to build a bridge to the life you want? Show less

Follow Strategylock and his partner Dr. Tactics as they investigate how a company's strategy was murdered. The second business strategy comic book explores how different functional areas can inadvertently destroy the organization's strategy. Take the 10-question quiz to see how strategic your organization is.

Learn the keys to strategic thinking by following the adventures of Strategyman as he battles his three arch enemies: Megalo-Slides, Dr. Tacticalpus and The Same in the first ever business strategy comic book. Take the ten-question quiz at the end to see if you're strategic.

The inability to set good strategy can sink a company—and a leader's career. A recent Wall Street Journal study revealed that the most sought-after executive skill is strategic thinking, but only three out of ten managers have this skill set.

Deep Dive provides you with the three keys to strategic thinking, breaks them down into simple, attainable skills and gives you practical tools to apply them every day. You'll master the three disciplines of strategic… Show more

The inability to set good strategy can sink a company—and a leader's career. A recent Wall Street Journal study revealed that the most sought-after executive skill is strategic thinking, but only three out of ten managers have this skill set.

Deep Dive provides you with the three keys to strategic thinking, breaks them down into simple, attainable skills and gives you practical tools to apply them every day. You'll master the three disciplines of strategic thinking:

Acumen—generate critical insights through a step-by-step evaluation of your business and its environment.

Allocation—focus your limited resources through strategic trade-offs.

Action—implement a system to guarantee effective execution of strategy at all levels of your organization.

Based on new research with senior executives from 150 companies and Rich's experience as a thought-leading strategist, Deep Dive is the first book to focus on the most important level of strategy—you. Show less