In February 2023, we posted this question on LinkedIn and analyzed over 1000+ replies
You can see more of their responses here:
How To Do Strategy
How people get
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7 ways to make you strategy career happen faster
If only “Get good at stuff” was the only answer.
Instead, I wanted to list in no particular order some of the patterns I’ve seen that have helped people climb the ladder quickly.
Note that not everyone is climbing the same ladder. You might be climbing a ladder which is safest to climb by being very political. You might be climbing a ladder which will break if your fundamentals are weak. You might be climbing a ladder where nothing matters except doing what your boss says.
And, as always, big hugs to those trying to get onto some kind of ladder at all.
But, if you can get into a company with a boss who knows how to develop you, a variety of clients who want your work, creative teams who compliment your work when you’re not there, and you get responsibility ahead of your time (not in a reckless way), then my feeling is you’ll develop faster at the strategy job than someone who sits on one account for years and turns into a bureaucrat.
It depends on your definition of success.
I know many of you will rail at "1. Work with world-class creatives". I’m not saying it in an elitist way. I’m saying it having seen lists of awards and the award-winners’ subsequent strategy careers. It’s reporting, not moralizing.
So, here are 7 things that will speed up your career just a little:
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1. Work with world-class creatives
It’s no coincidence that many of the most awarded strategists work with strong creative teams.
Easier said than done, right?
I've seen many strategists tire of agencies like this, too. They decide to go out on their own or see if they can bring magic to a place that is new to both strategy and to more conceptual thinking.
Both paths are challenging.
2. Be near cashflow
Help win business, grow clients, create revenue streams, and save money.
Cashflow is Love Language #1 of any business.
This also means it's important to realize if you're just an internal service provider. An internal service provider is treated as if they were in the backroom, not the front-of-office. Strategy is a front-of-office discipline. You need time with clients–with everybody. Your career will stall if you're merely supplying decks for others to present.
Get close to the conversations about your agency's own business (perhaps harder if you're not in an agency).
3. Focus on clients who want strategy
You can’t sell what someone doesn’t want. It’s even harder to sell to someone who thinks they’ve already done what you’re selling.
The book The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen describes this situation very well.
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4. Get yourself a coach-like boss
Coachbosses are rare because the industry is
young and everyone is so important. But get one anyway.
Or become one.
5. Creative directors who say good things about you
So many doors you didn’t know existed will magically open if senior creative minds want you around.
Most strategists who get this kind of good will are intellectual tenacious and they "have a thing", a specialty. But–and this is critical–for the most part they are also non-threatening to the creative teams. They don't try to make them look bad or steal their limelight. Not everyone is wired for this.
6. Flat hierarchy
If work has to travel up and down an org chart,
you’ll spend more time in politics and bureaucracy than critical thinking.
7. Early responsibility
If you’re good enough, you’re old enough* (also, if you’re good enough, you’re young enough). Find your discomfort zone.
*Perhaps Sir Matt Busby or Sir Alex Ferguson from Manchester United.
This is all easier said than done. Just as well none of us signed up for easy.
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Your First 100 Days as a Strategist
Below you'll find Chris Lorn’s perspective on those first few weeks as a strategist.
Chris and I worked together years ago at Big Spaceship. Check this for a list of accomplishments:
Chris was selected for the list of iMedia 25 Marketers to watch in 2015,
The Multicultural Advertising Internship Program (MAIP) Society of Excellence in 2015, The Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Marketing and Advertising in 2016, and
The Direct Marketing Network 40 Under 40 Honorees in 2017.
You can find Chris on LinkedIn here. His advice for new strategists follows:
Do
1. Clarify and set expectations of your job, especially with those who hired you and how others understand your role: It’s as much on us whether or not the job turns into a bait and switch situation. Usually, asking what people’s understanding of what we do tends to be a good starting point.
2. Establish your boundaries and define what is okay and not okay: The moment folks start to push your buttons, it’s already too late.
3. Create and hold spaces to listen: Hear the stories of others and piece together the narratives that make up the organization. This is a likely indicator of how the agency speaks to itself and how it subconsciously behaves.
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4. Understand what accountability looks like: It’s different at every agency, especially at ones that play the blame game.
5. Figure out how you’re going to show up for your team and how they show up for you, especially the values you operate with: Values are not hard and fast rules of how we live our lives. They need to be contextualized.
6. Focus on the diagnosis: The majority of business challenges you hear should be taken at face value. More often than not, sleuthing is required to get to the root cause.
7. Learn the rules of the system (career pathing and promotions) so you don’t become a victim of it: Button-mashing only gets someone so far before they need to figure out what’s needed to get to the next level.
8. Have an exit strategy: This is not about jumping ship, it’s about reinforcing a sense of self-assurance and having a plan for when life happens (e.g, relocating, career-switches, winning the lottery).