What senior leaders should demand from strategy
Don't keep your options open.
Senior leaders should demand explanation, not aspiration.
A serious strategy should make clear which external forces matter most, what choices follow from that assessment, and which capabilities must be built or abandoned as a result.
If these links are missing, the strategy is incomplete regardless of how compelling it sounds.
What leaders should not accept is a strategy that promises flexibility that avoids commitment. That is not ‘keeping your options open’. It is deferred decision-making.
The role of strategy is to make hard choices.