What’s going to make you stand out?

I’ve had a couple of conversations over the last couple of weeks that have concerned strategy, what it is and what businesses and/or people need to do to get a good one.

The first conversation was with my friend, Mark, who was telling me about a corporate client of his that was bemoaning the fact that he had just had some feedback from colleagues and managers that said he was not being ‘strategic enough’.

‘What does that mean?!’, he asked Mark.

The second conversation was with a legal client of mine that was asking about what they need to do to stand out in front of their clients and in the marketplace.

A clear strategy. Right?

To explain what this means, Mark told me that he sent his client the following video (It’s only a minute and a half long or so and if you can get over Porter’s style then it’s really good):

What do you think?

If you have never read any of Michael Porter’s stuff on strategy then I would advise you to ‘google’ it and start reading but, I think, the video is a great summary of what it is ‘to be strategic’ and what it is going to take to ‘make you stand out’.

Porter summarises it as:

• How are we going to be unique;
• How are we going to have an advantage; and
• How are we going to sustain that advantage over time.

Not getting the results that you want? When was the last time that you asked yourself and your business the questions above?

Thanks to Cameron Cassan for the image.