There are many reasons enterprises decide to bring on a corporate strategist to help their organization. A strategist provides an outsider’s perspective. They bring the benefit of specialized experience to guide your decisions, whether you’re unsure how to capitalize on new growth or you’re facing unique challenges.
While you may be an expert in your industry, effective corporate strategy requires a diverse set of skills and years of experience to deliver results. That’s why so many organizations opt to work with a professional strategist to ensure they’re making the best decisions at the moment to support the future they want for their company. You can make the most of your time with a strategist by preparing for the initial consultation.
One of the first steps a strategist will take is to analyze your organization in-depth. During an initial consultation, they won’t ask very involved questions. Still, if you’ve recently reviewed your data, you’ll be able to give them a general idea of your company’s present state––revenue growth, communications challenges, etc.
Your sales, online traffic, production costs all tell the unfiltered story of your organization. Sitting down to review this data before working with a strategist can provide you with a valuable perspective on your situation. It may help you prioritize your strategy goals before even the initial consultation.
Specificity is one of the best ways to make the most of your time with a strategist. Early reflection on what you want from working with a consultant can also help you have more productive meetings.
For some leadership, the issue you’re facing is feeling stalled or directionless in your organization. In that case, a strategist will collaborate with you to define your goals before developing strategies to achieve them.
The more you can articulate your pain points and goals–both internally and externally––the better prepared a corporate strategist will be to help you when they come on board. Before the initial consultation, it’s worth it to hold company-wide meetings to get perspectives outside the C-suite. Every member of your team has unique insights into your company, all of which are valuable for strategy.
One area corporate strategists will often target is your organizational structure. Part of realizing your goals may be reorganization to eliminate redundancies and improve efficiency.
Corporate strategists bring specialized expertise in organizational structure. They can help adjust operations to reflect company values, help your enterprise become more adaptive in challenges, and position your organization for growth in the future.
One of the most critical aspects of preparing to work with a corporate strategist is to be ready and willing to transform your organization. While it can be hard to let go of the ways things have always been done in your enterprise, growth sometimes requires dramatic change.
Collaboration and openness are vital for getting the most out of your time with a corporate strategist. Restructuring and novel approaches may be uncomfortable at first but will optimize your organization to achieve your goals.
Nineteen88 Strategies brings decades of C-suite experience to partner with clients to develop strategies for everything from PR to DEI to help them define and reach their goals. Our expert perspective empowers organizational change that delivers results with a full suite of services, including leadership development, executive coaching, corporate coaching, and public speaking. The collaborative approach our corporate strategists bring to our clients allows them to make the necessary changes to achieve success and confront obstacles with confidence and optimism.
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