Decision-making is hard for many people. I have a friend who says the worst thing you can say to them is, “where do you want to go eat?’ But then there are those people who love to be part of the decision-making process—no matter what is being decided?
Strategic® is a CliftonStrengths® talent theme that creates alternative ways to proceed. They quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.
If you ask a Strategic individual how they came up with a strategy, many times, they can’t tell you. That’s because strategy comes naturally. Strategic people are always asking, “What if this or that happens?” They identify all the what ifs, select a route, and strike fast.
Strategic thinkers see around the corner and focus on saving time. They aren’t interested in extraneous information; they want to get to the target. Some are pinned as devil’s advocates, but most people with this strength aren’t trying to be defensive or combative. They are only looking for the most efficient way to succeed.
Coaching and training with Strategic people, I help them create specific goals, articulate their dreams, maximize their relationships, and have those “aha” moments we all long for.
Strategic individuals can help identify patterns that are otherwise overlooked and, with these patterns, create a plan—whether it’s a marketing plan, a speaking plan, or a business development plan.
How do entrepreneurs with the Strategic talent scale their business and make a living doing what they love? Jeff Bezos is a Strategic example.
Bezo’s monetizes his Strategic talent as an American internet, aerospace entrepreneur, media proprietor, and investor. He is best known as the founder, Chief executive officer, and president of Amazon.com, Inc. The first centi-billionaire on the Forbes wealth index, Bezos was named the “richest man in modern history” after his net worth increased to $150 billion in July 2018. In September 2018, Forbes described him as “far richer than anyone else on the planet” as he added $1.8 billion to his worth when Amazon became the second company in history to have a market cap of $1 trillion.
When he created Amazon Bezo’s decided that he would start with the beachhead strategy, and he has dominated every category Amazon has entered. What is the beachhead strategy you ask? The beachhead strategy comes from the military strategy of winning a small border area that becomes a stronghold, and once you have that stronghold, you can advance to the rest of the territory. The small border area is known as the beachhead. In business, the idea is to focus your resources on a small market area (such as a product category or smaller market segment) to turn it into a stronghold before advancing to the broader market or product categories. The beachhead strategy allowed Amazon to dominate a small area first, and from there, they entered and dominated the rest of the market.
The beachhead strategy of starting in books (did you remember that Amazon started off as a bookseller?) began Bezo’s attempt to attack from the lines of least resistance. Had Amazon started off in every category from the first day, he’d be fighting off competitors from every side. Instead, Bezo’s choose books, and as Amazon dominated books, he added category after category in the lowest margin business surviving without profits for decades to bleed the competitors dry and increase the number of Prime subscribers. Prime has been a brilliant piece of Amazon strategy. Now that we are in the Christmas season think of all the Prime members who are shopping online. Even when it is not the holiday season, Prime members return to Amazon to spend more money on each new category Amazon enters.
What strategy are you currently using in your business to move it forward? Would the beachhead strategy be a strategy that you could use in your business? Tell me about your strategy below.
Are you not sure about a strategy for your business? Schedule your ask Brent Anything call, and let’s talk about it.
