The Tactical vs. Strategic Debate

There’s a false binary that communicators contend with: you’re either tactical or your strategic.

And there’s always pressure to be more strategic, whatever that might mean.

Being tactical at a senior level has a bad rap.

I get it. You definitely want your senior leaders to not miss the forest for the trees and all that good stuff.

But what if a leader has absolutely no appreciation for the tactics that can breathe life into the most wonderful, creative strategy in the world, even if it has everyone’s buy-in?

You’d be in trouble.

The reality is that we need to be PERCEIVED as being strategic but still able to execute when it comes to the tactics.

The challenge is, how do you do that, especially if you’re part of a small comms team, have a large remit, or are juggling a dozen clients?

I won’t pretend to have the magic answer, but I can share three of my own lessons and observations:

1. Listening and understanding stakeholder motivations is the ultimate opportunity to know your audience.
2. Self-awareness and the ability to showcase wins as a means of business success go hand-in-hand.
3. Don’t compromise on who you are, but DO compromise on HOW you get the job done.

So, my question for you is: are you strategic AND tactical?