Harvard Business Review Leader's Handbook

2.

Developing a Strategy

The essence of strategy is making choices . . . One of the leader’s jobs is to teach others in the organization about strategy—and also to say no.

—Michael Porter

In chapter 1, we introduced “vision”—the practice of creating a unifying picture of success for the future. To realize a vision, you need a strategy—a coordinated set of concrete actions to reach the vision and achieve impact in the market. Welcome to our second leadership practice.

Many strategy discussions are faddish (e.g., one-size-fits-all solutions for greatness) or misleading (e.g., in the fast-moving global economy, strategy is dead). But strategy always ...