Executing a Winning Strategy with Chuck Bamford

What makes a winning strategy? According to today’s guest Chuck Bamford, PhD, author of The Strategy Mindset 2.0, strategy is about developing and aligning on a competitive advantage that actually moves the needle in your customer’s experience. It’s aligning on strategy from the top down that can often be a challenge for sales organization. Chuck is the author of multiple strategy books used in MBA and Entrepreneurship courses around the country. He joins us today to talk common pitfalls, new realities, and winning implementation processes for strategy. Tune in for some truly golden insights shared in this conversation with our hosts John Kaplan and John McMahon. Here are some key sections to check out: 03:47 Defining strategy and how not to complicate it 16:06 The two disconnects in business 25:04 The importance of aligning goals with compensation 33:13 Avoid knee-jerk reactions during slow economic times 43:30 Hygiene around the ideal customer profile 50:08 Company culture tied to strategy 53:59 Creating a differentiation strategy Additional Resources: Connect with Chuck Bamford on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuck-bamford-ph-d-67b9811/ Get The Strategy Mindset 2.0: https://www.bamfordassociates.com/the-strategy-mindset-2-0 How to Enable Sellers to Execute on Your Revenue Strategy During Economic Change: https://forc.mx/3OfBtGR QUOTES Chuck on converting KPIs: “I think one of the big disconnects in business is that everything that leadership does is hypothesis. They believe that if we invest here, here and here, and our employees do this, this and this, that as we move forward, the number of customers will go up or returning customers or our EBITA, but they don't want to address what the activities are, or to convert it to activity metrics.” Chuck on aligning with employees: “I tell everybody that the entire game in alignment with all my employees, I'm trying to get as many employees as I can to buy into my strategy. And the entire game is that it fits with how they view the company in the world, and that they are compensated and rewarded for making that happen.”