If you’ve ever sat in a meeting and heard someone say “we need a real strategy” only to wonder what they mean—you’re not alone.
Earlier this week, one of my coaching clients asked me: "What even is strategy anyways?" And, it was a great question.
“Strategy” is one of those words that gets used so much it starts to lose all meaning. But here’s the definition I keep coming back to:
Strategy is deciding where we’re going and how we’ll get there.
Sounds obvious, but most confusion happens because people skip one part or the other.
They set the vision ("where we're going"), but never communicate a specific action plan ("how we'll get there")—leaving their team confused.
Or, they hyper-focus on the plan ("how we'll get there"), but forget the vision ("where we're going")—losing sight of evolving circumstances that might indicate they need to change their course.
Let's break it down.
🧭 Where are we going?
This is your destination. The goal. The change you want to create.
In a People context, this could look like:
→ Reducing regrettable attrition by 30%
→ Increasing internal mobility by 2x
→ Scaling from 50 to 150 people while maintaining team cohesion
It’s not just “build a better culture” or “improve performance.” It’s defining what success actually looks like—in measurable, time-bound terms.
🛠️ How will we get there?
This is your path. The coordinated choices, tactics, and trade-offs you make to reach your goal.
That includes:
→ The specific plans or programs you roll out
→ The resources you allocate (team, time, budget)
→ The order of operations and what you choose not to do
And ideally, all of it ladders up to what the business cares about most—like revenue, customer satisfaction, and cost reduction—in a clear manner.
Why this matters for HR leaders
I often see HR leaders get stuck in "ticket taker mode" where they're purely reactive, waiting for the next inbound issue.
Some progress to "program manager mode" where they're responsive to identified needs and launch programs.
Very few reach "strategic mode" where they are results-oriented, driving real important outcomes for the business as a whole.
To reach strategic mode, you need to ask questions like:
- “How does this hiring plan align with our revenue targets?”
- “What would make this performance system actually impact output?”
- “Are we investing in this program because it sounds good—or because it moves a needle that matters?”
You can use this prompt to frame each element of your People strategy:
“To support [business goal], we are working to [People goal], by doing [set of key initiatives or tactics] with [specific resources or constraints].”
Example:
“To support 3x ARR growth, we are working to decrease time-to- productivity for new hires from X to Y, by rolling out department-specific cultural and operational onboarding plans, implementing an onboarding mentor system, measuring manager satisfaction with the new hire's performance at 30/60/90 days—using our existing budget and 1 dedicated HRBP.”
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Final thoughts:
If your strategy feels like an endless task list or set of disconnected projects, it's not a strategy. Zoom out. Define the destination. Then, figure out how to get from Point A to Point B. The clarity is worth it.
Until next time,
Melissa
