Making Choices: The Essence of Leadership

How to make the right ones, and why strategy should be your best friend

Leadership is, at its heart, about choices. Every day, we make them - some big, some small. Some that shift an organization’s course, and others that simply keep things moving. No matter where we sit in the hierarchy, leadership is a constant act of deciding.

And yet, we often shy away from one of the most powerful tools for making those decisions well: strategy.

Maybe it’s the word itself. It can sound abstract, “consultant-y,” or like a waste of time when there’s real work to do. But as I was reminded recently, strategy is anything but fluff. When done right, it is the compass that helps leaders make the right choices, faster, smarter, and together with their teams.

The reminder we all needed

On October 28th, The Gallery hosted a talk by Lewis Phillips, a strategist by trade. Yes, another consultant, but I left the talk inspired. His overall message was simple:

“Strategy is about making choices that drive change.”

That line stuck with me. Because isn’t that exactly what leadership is?

We can’t lead by drifting or reacting to every new trend. We need something to steer by, a fixed point that helps us choose where to focus and, equally important, what to say no to. That’s what strategy does. It gives structure to vision, discipline to creativity, and direction to leadership. More importantly it provides this in a shareable form not only living in your head.

Strategy starts with you

Strategy doesn’t live in a PowerPoint. It lives in the leader.

You have to own it. Whether you’re leading a multinational company, a public institution, a board, or a small NGO, strategy is your plan for success. It’s your responsibility to define what winning looks like and how your team contributes to it.

A strategy that sits on the sidelines, disconnected from daily work, is useless. It must be woven into how decisions are made, how success is measured, and how your team understands their purpose. Done right, it becomes the lens through which all choices are tested: Does this move us closer to what we’re trying to achieve? Or is it a short cut to profit, results etc. that in the long run moves focus from our core business? 

Culture Eats Strategy for breakfast. Unless they dine together

We’ve all heard the saying. But it’s not an argument against strategy. It’s a reminder that strategy must grow from reality, not from wishful thinking.

You can’t write a plan for the company you wish you had. You have to start with the one you actually have; its people, habits, values, and limitations. If your strategy doesn’t fit the culture, the culture will win and your plan will fail. Every time.

But culture can also become your greatest ally. When strategy and culture align, they reinforce each other. You stop pretending to be “agile” or “innovative” instead you become it, step by step, through the choices you make and the behaviors you reward.

Authenticity, once again, is the thread that ties leadership together. This has been an ongoing theme for The Gallery throughout every talk no matter the subject. They have all had a “True North” founded in purpose and vision acting as powerful filters. Working with strategy is no exemption but a tool to help you implement. 

Find your positive difference and double down

A good strategy is not about doing everything. It’s about knowing what not to do. Success lies where you do something no one else does, or where you do it better. If you can’t, you probably shouldn’t be doing it at all.

That goes for selling juice or running an NGO. Competing only on price is a race to the bottom. Competing on purpose, values, and unique strength and that’s where long-term success is found. One of our earlier Gallery speakers from IKEA said it beautifully: IKEA’s real power doesn’t come from affordable prices. It comes from living its values, in every product, process, and person.

Strategy, then, is about identifying your differentiating factor and embedding it all the way through your value chain, from how you source to how you sell, from who you hire to how you lead. And remember sometimes your differentiating factor is not necessarily front of house. As such it is also about deciding not to do something. Trade-offs. And being able to make trade-offs (especially the hard ones) is leading with strategic integrity. 

From slides to action

A strategy that stays on paper is a wish. A plan without action is a wish list.

Leaders who succeed are often a little dogmatic, not rigid, but consistent. They know what they stand for and stick to it, even when they adapt. Lewis Phillips shared a few hallmarks of a good strategic plan that are worth repeating:

• Alignment: Strategy and goals must connect across every level of the organization.

• Clarity: If you can’t explain it simply, it’s not clear enough. A simple test is the “mom-test”, can you explain in a way that even your mother would understand?

• Visibility: Not as inspirational posters. No, bring it to life in meetings, decisions, and follow-ups.

• Collaboration: Involve the people who’ll make it happen. It builds ownership and future leaders.

• Ambition: Better to reach 80% of an ambitious goal than 100% of a mediocre one. Encourage bold thinking, and never punish honest failure. Instead evaluate choices and pivot

Culture and strategy meet in how you handle failure. Do you learn from it, or hide it? Your answer determines whether strategy lives or dies.

A bad decision beats no decision

There are no guarantees. Strategy is essentially about making informed bets on the future. It gives direction, but not certainty. You can analyze forever or you can decide, act, and learn. The worst mistake is waiting until it’s too late. Sometimes, the best feedback comes only once you move. Strategy gives you the framework to adjust quickly and keep learning as you go. Good leadership is about direction. Strategy helps you and your team move with purpose instead of drifting with the wind. It’s knowing who you are, what matters most, and how you’ll get there. 

And that, after all, is the essence of leadership.

If you want to go deeper

Lewis recommended four classics worth reading:

• Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works - A.G. Lafley & Roger L. Martin (2013)

• Measure What Matters - John Doerr (2018)

• Good to Great - Jim Collins (2001)

• The Machine That Changed the World - James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones & Daniel Roos (1990)