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Anatomy of a Success Strategy

Written by: Jamie Broughton

Article Overview: Your success strategy is not simply what you do. It’s at the source of what you do. It’s an expression of who you’re ultimately being as a person and a leader. The purpose of this exercise is to identify who you’re already being. From there you can you move beyond the limits of it.

Anatomy of a Success Strategy

“Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character.
But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.”
~ Norman Schwarzkopf
(1934– ) US General, commander
of US-Allied forces in Gulf War


Resignation had started to creep in for Alex. Although he was considered very successful by many in his industry, he’d been frustrated for some time about the progress his business was making – it had plateaued and he just couldn’t seem to break through to the next level.

It wasn’t for lack of effort.

The number of hours Alex was working made me shudder. When he wasn’t running around doing the day-to-day activities required to run the business, he’d spend his time preparing for conversations with prospective clients, researching and analyzing business directions, product ideas and marketing approaches. He would constantly “think about” ways of changing the situation and growing his business.

Alex’s success strategy revolved around a passion to learn, doing things properly and avoiding being wrong. He had carefully orchestrated the growth of the business to date making few mistakes.

That same approach was now strangling his business. With the growing demands of the business he now had less time he’d had in the past to “analyze.” He found himself overworked and paralyzed; unable to act without more information.

Intellectually Alex saw that strategizing was key to his success yet he simply didn’t know what to do differently. Inside the world of his success strategy, he was doing things “the way they were meant to be done.” He was trapped.

Coaching Fieldwork:

A success strategy is an unconscious long-time formula for winning in life. It is unique to you. It is the source of your success but also of your limitations too. It shapes your reality, what you think and your way of being. Your way of being, in turn, determines what you choose to see, how you act and thereby the outcomes that are possible (or not) for you as a person or leader.

Success strategies come in a host of shapes and sizes. They can include being charming and nice; making things better; challenging the status quo; being accepted and appreciated; being a motivator or cheerleader; making the right choice; taking control of the situation; planning for contingencies; following the rules; being independent and avoiding being weak or a host of other means of producing outcomes.

Remember, your success strategy is not simply what you do. It’s at the source of what you do. It’s an expression of who you’re ultimately being as a person and a leader. The purpose of this exercise is to identify who you’re already being. From there you can you move beyond the limits of it.

The anatomy of a Success Strategy:

The success strategy is made up of three interrelated components.

1. What do I listen for?
2. What types of actions get me results?
3. What outcome do I most desire in the long-run?

To help distinguish these components, take an 8-1/2” X 11” sheet of paper, turn it horizontal (landscape) and divide it into three columns. Label each of the three columns with the components above.

Ok, let’s break down the first component a little further:

1. What do I listen for? We must take in information in order to respond and produce an outcome. The “what I listen for” element determines what information you seek and receive. What I listen for comes loaded with assumptions unconscious prejudgement, especially around familiar parts of your life.

“What I listen for” is a little like wearing a pair of sunglasses. At some point we’ve all put on a pair of sunglasses, left them on for hours and then forgot we were wearing them. When we first put them on the world appeared darker. Then after a while, it wasn’t darker anymore, it was just the way it is. Usually it’s when we take the glasses off that we “remember” it’s lighter.

“What I listen for” is like a pair of sunglasses, a filter, that you’ve forgotten about yet is continuously colouring what you see. Distinguishing “what I listen for” is equivalent to taking the sunglasses off and then having have a more accurate (and vivid) picture of the world around you.

“What I listen for” always shows up in the form of a question. Like the success strategy itself, they can come in an infinite variety of forms:

“What’s the best solution?”
“How can I influence the outcome?”
“What’s the easy way?”
“How do I make it better?”
“How do I do it properly?”
“What’s the opportunity here?”

Someone listening for “influencing the outcome” won’t bother trying if they don’t see a way to get their agenda met. Alex above asked, “how do I do it properly?” In his world, every idea had to be completely thought through to be worth the effort.

The “listening for” component can be uncovered by watching your language or yourself in action. The words themselves will sound familiar to you even though you might never say them out loud, only to yourself. Here are some approaches to try (jot your answers down in the column 1 of your sheet and keep it for the next Footnotes issue):

a. Think of five situations when you noticed things were going the way they “should.” How did you feel? Why is it things seemed like they were “right?” Describe the situation. When you’re experiencing this you’ve likely satisfied what it is you’re “listening for.”

b. Listen for your listening. Observe yourself in conversations with your family, your coworkers and your friends. Ask yourself, “what am I listening for” in each conversation. Notice the words you speak and say to yourself. Practice, practice this.

c. Interview someone. Find someone you’ve known for a while and has seen you in action. Tell them about this exercise and ask them “what do you think I’m listening for.”

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Article Tags: alex, business directions, conversations, fieldwork, gulf war, leadership, long time, marketing approaches, next level, norman schwarzkopf, passion, potent combination, product ideas, prospective clients, resignation, success strategies, success strategy



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