S4:E19🎙️ LIVE From Tactics to Strategy

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All right everyone, thank you so much for being with me today, this Sunday morning. Today is June 29th, uh, it's about 6:23 in California. All right, uh, we are going to have a pretty good podcast today. I will have again Drew and Mary AI break it down for me. Let me share my screen really quick so you guys can see what I see. Uh, just a second, let me— okay, here we go. So today we are going to be talking about, uh, my article, uh, From Tactics to Strategy: Leadership Lessons from a Navy information warfare, uh, commander. And, uh, if you have any question for me, please make sure to type it in the comment section, whether on LinkedIn or on YouTube. And also, please let me know on both LinkedIn and YouTube where you are watching me from, what city, state, country. I really appreciate that. And also, if this podcast is adding value to you, please think about somebody in your network, within your circle of influence, who's going to benefit from that as well. And if you can share the link, uh, with them, and also like and subscribe to the podcast and also to my newsletter if I'm adding value to you. So I really do, uh, appreciate that. Another thing I wanted to share with you all too, uh, as all of you know, I was already ranked by Five Icon as the number one content creator for risk and resilience in the entire United States. Well, Today I found out— can get my mouse— hold on. Okay, I found out today that I'm actually number 1 now in the world, the English-speaking world. Uh, Coach Bizzy is number 1. That's pretty amazing. I think LinkedIn has about, what, 1 billion, uh, users. And, uh, for, uh, risk and, uh, resilience, I am number 1 in the US and number 1 in the English-speaking world., as well. Ekaterina Potemkina from Russia is number 2, and, uh, Sina Fahk from Canada is number 3. And then my friend Daniela McCoy is number 4 in the world. So she's number 2 in the US and number 4 in the world. So she's the, uh, number 1 female content creator for risk and resilience in the entire United States. And, uh, anyway, so very, very proud, uh, of her and Thank you again to all of you guys who support my content. You get engaged, you let me know how you feel, you like and forward everything I created. Most, most of the time I talk about leadership development, cybersecurity, national security, and thank you so much for being there for me. So back to you now. So I am going to be talking let my AI agent break down for you the, uh, the article about strategy. All right, Joe and Mary AI, you guys are next.

Welcome to the Deep Dive, where we really try to unpack these complex ideas, you know, give you those clear, impactful nuggets of knowledge. And today, uh, we're diving headfirst into something you see everywhere— boardrooms, battlefields, maybe even just your daily life, right? It's this real tension between, okay, needing to act fast fast versus the deep need to think strategically.

That feeling, yeah.

So many of us, especially if you're in leadership, you feel that pull, don't you, to do something now instead of maybe pausing to think when the pressure builds, that doer instinct.

And that bias for immediate action, it's incredibly powerful, isn't it? I mean, you think about high-stakes situations. A firefighter running into a burning building or a lead dev trying to fix a server crash that's taking everything down.

Swift, decisive action isn't like preferred.

It's absolutely vital. It's baked into training. It's celebrated. You just don't have the luxury to sit around and philosophize. You need to react.

Yeah, precisely. But that's the core mission for us today in this deep dive. What happens when the stakes demand, well, more than just that immediate tactical fix? What happens when you need to shift from that reactive mode to something more deliberate? More foresightful, real strategic leadership.

And we've got a great lens for this.

We do. We're exploring this really critical shift by drawing on some incredible insights from a Navy information warfare commander's personal journey. His name is Bob Fabien Zinga. He shared his experiences in this powerful article. It's called "Led: From Tactics to Strategy: Leadership Lessons from a Navy IW Commander." What makes BZ Zinga's story so compelling, I think, is it's not just theory.

These aren't just abstract ideas. His insights come from, you know, decades of real command experience, including leading NAVNET WorkComms Global Network Operations and Security Center.

Which is basically the Navy's global digital nerve center.

Exactly. And he was doing this during the, the really intense early days of the COVID pandemic. So he really lived this transition he's writing about.

He absolutely did. And this whole conversation really pivots around a quote from a KPT, Joel Rothschild, USN, redshirt. He says, most naval officers are trained in tactics and have a bias for action. That's essential in battle.

Mm-hmm. Crucial.

But leadership requires something different. It requires deliberate thinking.

There it is.

That tension right there between the need for action and the vital importance of deliberate long-term thought. That's what we wanna unpack with you. Why is this shift so critical for leaders? You know, no matter what field you're in, and maybe even more importantly, how do we actually make that shift? Let's get into it. So let's start with that fundamental shift itself. Moving from tactics to strategy. Bob Fabien Zinga gives such a, well, a vivid picture of the tactical mindset. He talks about his early days in the Navy, right? And he describes this environment that's just intensely focused on drills, split-second decisions, hitting your marks on time under enormous pressure. Just imagine it. Every second counts. Every move has to be precise. Every action is driven by, you know, an immediate, clear goal. It's all about being incredibly good at doing.

That really is the core of tactical thinking, isn't it? It's about the immediate fight, the flawless execution of this specific plan, often under, well, extreme stress. You know, like a surgeon in a complex operation or a pilot landing in terrible weather, or even, say, a cyber analyst responding to a live network breach.

Yeah.

It's about mastering those drills, reacting like lightning, and operating in a really tight window. And the author totally gets its necessity. In those moments, you need that fast, almost instinctive response.

Any delay could be catastrophic.

Exactly. Whether it's lives on the line or critical systems.

Right. And this links directly to what Bob Fabien Zinga calls the bias for action. In places like the military or maybe a fast-moving tech startup, it's not just encouraged, it's like baked into the culture. It often gets rewarded.

Oh, absolutely. You get praised. For thinking fast, for taking charge, for just moving.

But, and this is the kicker, BZ Zinga and Captain Rothschild point out, while that bias is a huge strength in those direct urgent moments, it can actually become a pretty big blind spot when you move up into a more strategic leadership role. Well, you might quickly solve the problem right in front of your face, but what if that quick fix inadvertently creates, say, 2 or 3 bigger, maybe hidden problems down the road that you didn't see coming?

Ah, okay. That's where the paradox lies, right? That very strength, the bias for action, can flip into being a major limitation. The strategic imperative, as Bob Fabien Zinga puts it, is all about deliberate thinking. It's that conscious choice to slow down and think several moves ahead.

And it's not about being slow when there's a fire.

No, no, not at all. It's about being proactive, seeing challenges before they blow up into crises. Looking way beyond the immediate firefight. It's like the difference between, I don't know, winning one skirmish versus winning the whole campaign, or fixing one software bug versus building a system that's resilient for the long haul.

And Rothschild's analogy here just nails it, I think. Strategy is 90% preparation, just like painting a house.

Mm, I love that one.

Think about it, right? We all know the real work in painting isn't just those final strokes.

Nope.

It's the scraping, the sanding, the patching.

Taping everything off, moving the furniture, choosing the right primer. That's the 90%. Yeah. What does that preparation look like in leadership beyond just reacting? It means deep analysis, forecasting potential issues, really understanding how all the pieces in your organization connect.

Building those strong systems and teams way before you actually need them under pressure.

Exactly. It's that quiet, often unseen work that really sets the stage for success later on.

Which raises a really critical question then. What happens if you skip that prep work, if you stay stuck in that, that tactical myopia? Captain Rothschild has this stark warning. He says many planners— and he means across the board, military, government, business— they often lack the ability to anticipate second, third, and fourth order effects.

Okay, so break that down. What does that mean? Second, third, fourth order effect means you don't see the knock-on consequences.

You fix the immediate problem, the first order effect, right? But you fail to see how that fix might cause another problem, second order, which then leads to another third order and so on.

So you inadvertently create new problems trying to solve the old one.

Precisely.

Yeah.

Because you're only looking at the immediate symptom, not the whole system.

Yeah.

The tactical mindset, if it's not balanced with strategic foresight, can actually make things worse in the long run.

And his water balloon analogy for this is just perfect. So vivid. He says, Pressure on one area will make another area bulge.

Right. You squeeze a water balloon hard in one spot.

The water doesn't disappear. It just shifts.

Right.

And bulges out somewhere else, often where you weren't expecting it.

Exactly. And in leadership, that means if you push too hard on, say, one specific metric or try to fix one problem in isolation without thinking about how everything's connected, uh-huh, you're almost guaranteed to create unforeseen issues, bulges somewhere else in the organization.

Like maybe you crush your quarterly sales target.

Yeah. First order of success.

But you completely burned out your sales team doing it. So next quarter, boom, morale crisis. That's your bulge.

Or you implement a new IT policy to fix one security hole, but it creates a huge workflow nightmare for another department. The pressure just moved.

And this isn't just theoretical for the author. His real-world experience commanding that Nevenetworkam Genasi during the COVID pandemic. Really brings this home.

Oh, absolutely. This wasn't some, you know, academic exercise for Bob Fabien Zinga. This was a live global crisis. It demanded immediate action, sure, but also absolutely required long-term strategic thinking. He couldn't just be tactical.

Right.

He couldn't just react to every new outbreak report or immediate IT problem popping up as everyone went remote.

He had to shift gears, think long-term strategy.

And what did that look like?

Well, he wasn't just thinking about how do we get VPNs working for thousands tomorrow. He was thinking about network resilience months, even years out. He had to strategically redeploy entire teams, figure out resource allocation for the long haul, ensure those critical communication lines stayed up for an organization suddenly working in a totally new distributed way.

He had to anticipate where the next bulge would appear, where the pressure would shift in the system.

Exactly. And proactively reinforce the whole digital structure.

Yeah.

His experience during that pandemic perfectly underscores Rothschild's points. Success, even in that kind of chaos, hinged on the hard, quiet work of strategic preparation done beforehand.

It wasn't about just reacting to every new variant or lockdown measure.

No, it was about strategically positioning the network, the people, the processes to withstand whatever unpredictable future came next. It's a really powerful case for why strategic leadership is so vital, especially when things get tough.

That pandemic example really drives home the stakes, doesn't it? It shows just how vital it is to broaden your perspective, to really think ahead. And, you know, to help us wrap our heads around different ways leaders approach this, BZ Zinga brings in this really fascinating framework from Jerome Krijgenbrink. It outlines 5 strategist archetypes.

Hmm, I found this part really useful.

Yeah, me too. These aren't just like neat labels, they're powerful lenses to understand different leadership styles. Each one has its own strengths, its own potential traps. He calls them the King/Queen, the Servant, the Elder, The Prince/Princess, and, oh, the Joker/Strategist.

What's great about this framework is it helps you spot your own tendencies, right?

Yeah.

But also recognize the styles of the people around you, your boss, your team members, your peers. It gives you a way to think about why different leaders approach strategy the way they do. Let's break them down because Bizzy Zinga uses some really concrete examples from his own career, military, and cyber.

OK, sounds good. First one, the King-Clean Strategist. This is your classic top-down visionary, the chief executive type.

Sees the big picture.

Totally. Has that crystal clear vision of where the whole organization needs to head, and they articulate it. They set the direction.

Their strengths are pretty clear, right? They're decisive, really capable thinkers. They see far ahead.

And often, as the author points out, they're just right about the future path. They chart the course, expect people to execute.

But here's the strategic catch. The downside, B. Z. Zinga highlights, there's a real risk they can lose touch with what's actually happening on the ground.

Too far ahead.

Exactly. They might be too far ahead of their team, which can cause frustration if people can't keep up or don't fully get the why behind the long-term goal.

So the lesson is great vision needs, like, clear steps to get there.

Yeah. Relatable pathways. Otherwise, you risk alienating the very people you need to build it.

Bizzy Zinga mentioned some visionary Navy crews who set bold courses, but sometimes struggled to bring the whole crew along because the why wasn't fully communicated down the ranks.

That makes sense.

And I liked his point that some of the best kingly leaders he saw were women, showing that vision and confidence aren't gender traits at all.

Good point. In the business world, maybe this is the startup CEO dictating a single product roadmap, expecting everyone to just fall in line.

Could be. Strength is focus, but the weakness might be blind spots from not getting enough input from below.

OK, next up, the Servant strategist. Kind of the opposite of the King/Queen. Totally different vibe. Bottom-up collaborator.

Right. Instead of dictating the strategy, they get the team involved in actually crafting it. They listen. They build consensus. They want input from everybody.

Their strengths are huge in the people skills department. They create harmony. Get really high engagement, deep commitment, because everyone feels like they own the plan, right?

Yeah, that makes sense. The author mentions female CEOs who were amazing at this, showing real empathy, seeking ideas from all ranks to kind of weave together a shared vision.

Believing the best ideas can come from anywhere.

But what's the potential pitfall here?

Well, the risk is they can sometimes come across as maybe weak or indecisive. Because they might hold back their own vision too much, relying heavily on the group.

So, too much collaboration can slow things down.

Exactly. Bob Fabien Zinga points out that while getting buy-in is gold, endless consensus-seeking can stall things when you actually need a clear, timely decision. Think of maybe a project manager running countless brainstorming sessions—great for morale, but risky if the deadline is looming.

It's that balance again. It is.

Strategic leadership knows when to facilitate and gather input, but also when to make the call and lead from the front.

OK, architect number 3, the elder strategist, the seasoned traditionalist.

Ah, yes, the voice of experience.

These are the leaders with decades under their belt, often in the same organization. They really value continuity. They're naturally cautious about shiny new things, and they trust what's tried and true.

Their strength is that deep institutional knowledge, right? They know the history, what's worked before, what hasn't. They're committed to the core strengths, the core values. Keepers of the flame, almost. Absolutely invaluable for stability.

But what's the downside?

Well, they can become defensive, maybe resistant to change, reluctant to embrace innovation. They can kind of lose touch with what's new and emerging. Leading to stagnation. Potentially, yeah. Inertia. BZ Zinga mentions a veteran admiral who really embodied this sticking to the old ways, wary of rapid change even as the world shifted.

In cybersecurity, maybe this is the long-serving CISO who's skeptical of every new silver bullet tool. Could be.

Prefers the stable legacy systems they know inside out over something trendy but unproven. The strategic insight here is you need that stability and wisdom. Absolutely. But you can't just rely on inertia. You need balance, right? You've got to balance leveraging the past with bravely adapting to the future, or you risk becoming irrelevant.

Got it. Okay, next. The Prince Princess Strategist. The Innovative Rebel. The Disruptor. Usually younger, creative, maybe a bit charismatic. Yeah, always wanting new opportunities, loves change, thrives on innovation. They're the enthusiastic idea generators, pushing the organization with fresh thinking, getting teams energized about new possibilities.

Think of maybe a young cyber analyst pushing for cutting-edge AI tools, or an exec championing agile methods that shake up the old ways.

Their strength is definitely that dynamism, that ability to see what's next and push boundaries. But what's the pitfall?

The big risk, the strategic insight here, is they can cause the organization to sort of jump from one shiny new idea to the next.

Ah, constantly shifting direction. Exactly.

Failing to actually deliver on initiatives because they're already chasing the next big thing. The author recalls a brilliant junior officer, a self-described princess strategist, who launched so many great ideas.

But spread resources too thin.

Yeah. Few initiatives actually got finished or fully implemented. It circles back to Captain Rothschild's point, right? Vision without solid execution doesn't get you very far.

It's not just about starting cool things. Nope.

It's about finishing them, delivering results. The truly strategic leader knows how to nurture innovation and see it through to maturity or know when to cut bait.

Makes sense. Okay, last one. The joker strategist, or as Bob Fabien Zinga calls it, the non-strategist.

Uh-oh. This one sounds less than ideal.

Yeah. This leader basically lacks a clear strategic vision, or maybe just the will to articulate and enforce one. They might be super popular, great at cracking jokes, keeping morale superficially high.

But they struggle to actually make tough decisions or stick to them. Exactly.

The author has this wry observation that their only strength is that they sometimes accidentally motivate others to step up and fill the strategic void they leave. Huh.

That's something. But the weakness, the danger seems pretty obvious.

Painfully obvious. A critical lack of clear direction, no consistent execution. It just leads to confusion, wasted effort, organizational drift.

We've probably all encountered this type, right? The office joker who's fun to be around, but when things get serious, their plan is basically, let's just wing it.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Whether it's in the military, a company, a nonprofit, a joker boss might keep people entertained, but they fail to set a real course or deliver meaningful results.

The strategic insight here, I think, is that leadership vacuum created by a joker can actually be more damaging than making a few wrong strategic bets. It just leads to chaos and a demoralized team desperate for clarity.

Because strategic leadership fundamentally is about providing that clear direction. Yes. Okay. So we've walked through these 5 archetypes: King, Queen, Servant, Elder, Prince, Princess, and Joker. And it's pretty clear, isn't it, that no single one is the best or works all the time.

Not at all. BZ Zinga really emphasizes that the most effective leaders, the truly strategic ones, learn to blend these styles or they consciously shift their approach depending on, you know, the situation, the team, the context.

Adaptability is key. Totally.

And this is where the author's own story gets really interesting and makes the framework feel so real. He looks back at his own career and admits he wasn't always the same type. Right. Early on, he says he was often mostly a king, driving his ideas forward, pushing initiatives, maybe sometimes, he implies, a bit too forcefully. Okay. But then, fast forward to the present, he realized he had to consciously balance that kingly drive for vision with real servant qualities. He talks about really listening to his sailors, no matter their rank. They were the ones coming up with ingenious bottom-up fixes for remote work, adapting processes on the fly, keeping things running against all odds. He had to enable their solutions.

So that ability to shift gears, to adopt a different strategic lens, was crucial for getting through that crisis. Absolutely vital.

And he makes another crucial observation here, too, about high-performing women he served with. What did he notice? He saw many of them seamlessly blend these styles. They lead with the bold vision and confidence of a king queen, but they did it with extraordinary empathy, patience, a deep gut feeling for their teams. Qualities you might associate more with a servant.

Interesting. So not just one or the other, but integrating them.

Exactly. He notes quite directly that some of the most effective CEOs he knew were female, often showing higher emotional intelligence and a more nuanced grasp of human dynamics than maybe some stereotypical alpha commanders.

And that ties back to the water balloon thing we talked about earlier, doesn't it?

It really does. Leaders who genuinely understand how people react under pressure who sense the stress, the bulges. They can navigate change and crisis much more effectively.

They anticipate not just system issues, but human burnout, human resistance, because they're tuned in.

Precisely. The strategic leader gets that people aren't just cogs in the machine. They are the strategy's most vital asset.

So this whole framework, it's not just for classifying other people. It's really a tool for self-reflection for you listening right now. Definitely. We want you to think which archetype or maybe combination of archetypes feels most like your natural style. Are you mostly that Visionary King/Queen, the Collaborator Servant, the Experienced Elder, the Innovator Prince/Princess?

Or be honest, do you sometimes slip into that Joker mode? Maybe when things get overwhelming.

And then the next step is how could you consciously blend these styles to be more effective in different scenarios? How does just understanding these archetypes help you see your own strengths your potential blind spots.

And maybe understand the people you lead or work alongside a bit better too, why they act the way they do.

It seems like growth often means deliberately stepping outside your usual style, right? Integrating bits from other archetypes. Yeah, exactly.

Like an elder strategist could consciously adopt some servant traits by actively mentoring younger folks, sharing their wisdom, sure, but also genuinely listening to fresh ideas.

Or a prince/princess could learn from the elders how to ground their brilliant concepts in reality. Make sure they actually get executed, not just brainstormed. Real strategic leaders are dynamic.

They evolve. They tailor their style. They learn from every single challenge. It's a continuous journey, really.

Which leads us perfectly into the next part. If strategic thinking isn't just something you're born with, if it's a skill you can actually cultivate, well, how do you do that?

Right. The practical steps.

Bob Fabien Zinga offers 5 best practices based on his own journey. And these feel really actionable whether you're leading soldiers, software teams, or volunteers. Okay.

The first one. Maybe the most fundamental: read widely. The foundation. Yeah. Great leaders are constant learners. And the author stresses that reading isn't just about soaking up facts; it actively trains your brain for that big-picture strategic thinking.

What kind of reading does he suggest?

Well, classics like Sun Tzu's "The Art of War," timeless stuff on strategy, more modern analyses like Michael Porter's "Competitive Strategy" on business advantage. He mentions Harvard Business Review articles, Craig Jenbrink's piece on the archetypes itself.

But not just business or military books.

No, he implies broader reading helps too. History, philosophy, even good fiction can expand your perspective, deepen your understanding of people and complex systems.

It really loops back to Rothschild's 90% preparation idea, the house painting thing.

Totally. The more you read, the more you study different strategic situations, successes, failures, the better prepared your mind is. You're building that mental muscle for foresight.

Like stocking a mental library of patterns and possibilities to draw on later.

Exactly. Okay, second practice.

Seek mentors and role models. Learn from others. Big time.

Good mentoring can just dramatically speed up your learning curve. It exposes you to real strategic problems through the eyes of someone who's navigated them before. Bob Fabien Zinga advises actively finding seasoned leaders, military or civilian, who really embody strategic thinking. Don't just admire them, seek their guidance.

Ask them the tough questions.

Yeah. How did they approach that complex problem? How do they anticipate that challenge? What mistakes do they learn the most from? How did they develop their own strategic vision?

And it's not always easy to find a direct mentor, right?

True. So he also suggests studying case studies, historical campaigns, both the wins and the losses, to pull out practical lessons.

Like dissecting D-Day or Apple's big turnaround.

Exactly. How did the leaders think strategically in those moments? What was their prep? What forces did they account for? It's like indirect mentorship. Learning from the past, finding patterns, applying them now. You learn from a much wider pool that way.

Okay, third practice: scenario planning.

Actively practicing looking ahead. Right.

Training yourself to anticipate multiple futures, getting better at spotting those second, third, fourth-order effects we talked about.

The authors suggest practical stuff like wargaming, tabletop exercises. Even board games like chess are great for this.

Chess is such a good example, isn't it? You're not just thinking about your next move.

No, you're thinking about their likely response and your response to that response, and so on, several moves deep.

So BZ Zinga suggests doing this for your own work, creating what-if scenarios.

Yeah, best case, worst case, somewhere in the middle, then really mapping out your decisions and the potential consequences for each path. It's that mental rehearsal.

That conscious envisioning of alternatives that Captain Rothschild said was key to not accidentally creating new problems.

Exactly. It builds strategic agility. Imagine, say, a tech company launching a product. What if a competitor jumps in? What if the supply chain breaks? What if users hate it? Planning for those what-ifs makes you ready.

Okay. Fourth practice: cross-functional exposure. This sounds really important for avoiding that siloed thinking. Absolutely critical.

Avoiding tactical myopia. Bob Fabien Zinga really encourages leaders to seek assignments outside their usual lane. Go work in logistics or finance or marketing, or maybe join a civilian tech team if you're military.

See how the other half lives? Pretty much.

Understand the bigger picture, how all the parts connect, what their unique challenges are. Sabi Kidwai, an other thinker in this area, notes that strategic leaders often benefit from early exposure to different functions and a culture that encourages taking smart risks in their careers.

And this connects to that great advice Captain Rothschild gave B.Z. Zinga: get off the reservation.

Yes, do something untraditional, broaden your horizons in unexpected ways.

And the author has that fantastic personal story about this, right? The junior officer who wanted to be a recruiter. Yeah, it's a great example.

This top junior information professional officer wanted to leave the specialized field for 2 years to go be a Navy recruiter. B.Z. Zinga's first reaction, his tactical instinct, was No way. He worried it would hurt the officer's specialized career path and frankly deprive his own command of a star player right then. Makes sense tactically. But then he remembered Rothschild's advice, "Get off the reservation," and he thought about the potential strategic value of broader experience. So he reluctantly approved it. And what happened? The officer crushed it as a recruiter, brought in tons of needed IT talent and junior IP officers, directly strengthening the community's future strategic pipeline. Wow.

So the seemingly unrelated detour paid off strategically for everyone. Exactly.

It shows how unconventional experiences can give you this unique, valuable perspective. You see connections you wouldn't otherwise see. It helps you understand the whole orchestra, not just your own instrument section.

Love that. Okay. Final practice number 5: emotional intelligence.

This one's huge. Strategy isn't just plans and spreadsheets.

It's executed by people with all their feelings and motivations, right?

Understanding those human dynamics, team morale, it's crucial for actually making strategy work. Bob Fabien Zinga brings back the water balloon analogy here. Pressure causes bulges, and an emotionally intelligent leader senses those ripples early. When stress hits one area because of a strategic change, they're watching for the subtle signs elsewhere. Dipping morale, quiet friction, disengagement. He mentioned observing this particularly in female leaders he served with. Yeah, he noted many showed remarkably high EI, sensing those stress ripples early and adjusting their communication, maybe even tweaking the strategy itself based on the human impact.

So practically, this means things like active listening, really paying attention.

Definitely observing morale, doing regular check-ins, using after-action reviews, not just for what happened operationally, but how it felt to the team.

Asking questions like, how did this shift land? Who's feeling overloaded? Who seems checked out?

Exactly. Getting that feedback loop on the human side isn't just nice management; it's strategic gold. It lets you fine-tune your approach for people to perform at their best and stay resilient.

It really feels like it all comes together to build that holistic view. Reading, mentors, scenarios, broad experience, understanding people, As Dr. John C. Maxwell might say, it all helps raise your strategic lid.

Mm-hmm. It's not just what you know, but how you think, adapt, and lead people through it all.

So we've talked about the shift, the archetypes, the practices, but the source material also goes a step deeper, connecting this to some foundational wisdom.

Yeah, this part adds another layer. Beyond the frameworks and exercises, it suggests true strategic leadership often draws on timeless core principles. The author weaves in insights from ancient texts, specifically referencing biblical proverbs and verses, grounding modern ideas in enduring wisdom.

I thought this was really powerful, connecting leadership to these universal human truths. Let's touch on a few he highlights, presenting them as the insights shared in the source. First, Proverbs 24:6.

Right, the one about guidance and advisors.

It says, "Surely you need guidance to wage war, and victory is won through many advisors." The strategic insight pulled from this in the article is that leadership isn't about being the smartest lone wolf.

It's about humility, right? Building that council of wisdom, seeking diverse input before you act.

Exactly. It really challenges that genius at the top idea, and it prompts a great question for you listening. Who are your trusted advisors, your mentors, your wise counselors right now?

When did you last Really invite different, maybe even uncomfortable perspectives on a big decision before you move forward. And are you actively creating a space where your team feels safe enough to challenge you, to speak truth, even if it goes against your plan? That collective brainpower is foundational. Then there's a reference to Luke 14:28.

Counting the cost. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? The strategic takeaway here is that good strategy demands foresight.

You have to meticulously assess your resources—time, people, money, even political capital, and plan for the long haul, making sure you can actually finish what you start, avoiding those half-built towers littering the landscape.

So the reflection for us is what big project or initiative are you working on right now where you need to pause and truly count the full cost? Are you just planning for smooth sailing or have you factored in the rocks, the storms, the risks?

And have you been clear with your team about the commitment involved, the potential challenges, Do they understand the scope?

Next, the author points to Proverbs 16:9: "In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps." This one brings in humility and adaptability. Yeah, the insight here is that while we absolutely must plan carefully, strategic leaders also stay grounded. They align their plans with maybe a larger purpose, and crucially, they stay open to redirection, acknowledging that not everything is under our control.

It's about recognizing that even the best-laid plans might need to shift, that sometimes external forces, or maybe a sense of higher purpose, guides things differently than you expected.

So the questions become: Are your current plans aligned with something bigger than just hitting the next target? How do you stay flexible when things go off script? Do you see detours as failures or potential redirections?

And when did you last really seek that deeper guidance or quiet reflection before setting your course? Acknowledging factors beyond just the immediate data.

Then from Ecclesiastes 3:1, there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens. Timing is everything in strategy. Exactly. The insight here is about discerning the right time, when to push forward hard, when to wait patiently, when to pivot, recognizing that rhythm of change. What worked last year might be wrong this year.

This calls for some real self-assessment as a leader. What season are you in right now? Is it planting time, bold new initiatives, or pruning time, consolidating, cutting back? Is it growth or internal strengthening?

Are you pushing against the natural flow, trying to force results too soon, or are you aligned with the right timing for your team, your market, and who helps you figure that out? Then there's James 1:5.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault. "and it will be given to you." Another call for humility. Yeah, the strategic insight here, as presented in the Source, is about acknowledging when you don't have all the answers. The humility to seek wisdom beyond your own understanding, whether from a spiritual source, deep reflection, or trusted counsel.

So where do you feel uncertain as a leader right now? Where do you need clarity that goes beyond the data you have?

How often do you pause for that deeper reflection, prayer, meditation, whatever your practice is, before big decisions? What disciplines help you cultivate that inner wisdom? Journaling, reading deeply, talking with insightful mentors. It's about tending to that inner wellspring.

And finally, the author brings in Mark 10:43-44. Servant leadership. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. This powerfully reinforces that core idea. True. Lasting strategic leadership isn't just about command and control. It's about empowering others, Lifting them up, genuinely seeking their growth and well-being.

It really flips the pyramid, doesn't it? Uh, it asks us to think critically. Yeah. How are you using your position, your strategic influence to elevate others, not just build your own status?

What's one concrete way you could serve your team better this week? Maybe remove a roadblock, advocate for their development.

And honestly, how do the people you lead actually see you? As accessible, empathetic, focused on them, or as distant, directive, focused only on the results? These questions bring that crucial human ethical dimension right to the center of strategy.

And these reflection questions drawn from the source, they're not just abstract thoughts. They're meant for you listening to apply directly, to make this knowledge stick, make it transformative for your own leadership.

Yeah, really practical stuff.

So as we wrap up this deep dive, looking at that whole journey from tactics to strategy, It's clear that strategic leadership is this blend, isn't it? It's part art, part discipline.

Mm-hmm. It needs the bold vision of the King/Queen.

The empathy and collaboration of the Servant.

The grounded wisdom of the Elder.

The innovative spark of the Prince/Princess.

And definitely the self-awareness to know your own patterns and avoid being the Joker.

B.Z. Zinga's own story, shifting from tactical reactions to navigating that huge pandemic strategically, just shows it perfectly. It's about consciously blending, evolving, using these different lenses as needed, always reaching for that deeper foresight.

And the value for you listening is huge. Doesn't matter if you're military, tech, nonprofit, whatever. Today's world demands leaders who can think ahead, who can see those ripple effects, adapt quickly, and bring diverse teams together around a solid plan.

It's about being ready for what's next, not just dealing with what's already here.

So let's leave you with a final thought to chew on. Thinking about that powerful water balloon effect, consider a current strategic decision you're wrestling with or a big challenge you're facing. Where can you pause just for a moment? Really try to anticipate those second, third, maybe even fourth order effects. What might bulge out unexpectedly?

And based on that deeper look, how might you adjust your approach? Maybe thinking more about the human impact or those unintended consequences you hadn't spotted before.

Exactly. We really encourage you to continue this strategic journey. Maybe check out that full Forbes article by Jeroen Krijgenbrink on the archetypes.

Reflect on which type resonates most with you now and what goals you might set for your own leadership growth. How can you apply these ideas to really raise your strategic lid and sail, or, you know, code into some exciting new horizons? Thanks so much for joining us on this deep dive.

All right, thank you so much for being with me today. I really do appreciate that. Hopefully, uh, you've had something of value that may help you out, uh, throughout this week. And, uh, let me check on, uh, LinkedIn to see if I have any question. I don't see anything. Let me check on YouTube, just a second. Uh, no, I don't see anything there either. All right guys, uh, thank you so much for being here. I'm gonna be back here tomorrow, uh, 6:30 AM Pacific Time, 9:30 AM Eastern Time. Thank you for being here with me, and I appreciate you, uh, liking the post, uh, asking questions, and then forwarding the link to somebody you know, uh, who might then be impacted Bye. And, uh, until tomorrow, goodbye.

Thank you for listening to the Leadership and Success Podcast with your host, Coach BZ. If you like what you heard, please subscribe to our channels and come back for more wisdom nuggets on how you may develop into a better leader and achieve greater levels of success. Leadership is the most critical skill. The world will always need leaders to lead others, deploy the next disruptive technology, or execute a business strategy. You may as well decide on counting yourself among the 21st century leaders. See you right here next time on the Leadership and Success Podcast with Coach B.