Day 3

Subject: [firstname]: Can you tell the difference?

Hey [firstname]!

Today I want to clear up some confusion.  

There are two words you'll hear banded about when it comes to leadership: Strategy and Tactics.  A lot of people think they're the same, but they're not.

Wikipedia defines them thus:

Strategy: “… a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty.”

Tactics: “…  a conceptual action or short series of actions with the aim of achieving of a short-term goal.”

To put things more simply… 

A strategy is WHAT you want to achieve and tactics are HOW you are going to achieve it.

Good leaders are good strategists.  They have the vision and don't sweat the small stuff.  Oftentimes a good leader will develop a clear strategy, then delegate the tactics to others.  I'll talk more about delegation tomorrow. 

The military is one institution that has these two concepts perfectly worked out.  Strategy is sometimes called “the art of the general” because it's the top brass who come up with the overall objective.  Commanders in the field handle the tactics.  That's not to say that they don't have a plan of action – often broken down into smaller plans and objectives – but because their boots are (literally) on the ground, they are able to react to changing circumstances and change tactics while still following the overall strategy.

Throughout history great military leaders like Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Dwight Eisenhower have formulated winning strategies.  The same can be said for other successful leaders – from winning football coaches to captains of industry.  To be a great leader yourself, you must learn to do the same.  

Talk soon!

[Your Name]

PS. One way of learning how to do all this is to get a copy of my leadership manual.  Find out how here: [link to sales page].
