Four Takeaways of Enduring Strategy: How top executives are navigating uncertainty with strategies built to last

In recent years, organizations have been navigating an increasingly uncertain and volatile environment where disruption seems to have become the norm. These challenging conditions often cause even the most well-intentioned plans to falter or be abandoned altogether. In such a climate, relying on “hope” or “gut-feeling” is more dangerous than ever. Without a clear, adaptable framework for decision-making and a disciplined approach to execution, organizations can quickly lose direction and be left behind by the very changes they struggle to anticipate or respond to.

Recently, as part of Level5’s Women in Strategy initiative, we hosted a panel discussion featuring four C-suite leaders who shared how their organizations build and sustain resilient strategies. These four leaders are:

• Cara Cameron, Chief Strategy Officer & Future of Work, Portage Mutual Insurance
• Melani Griffith, Chief Growth Officer, Google Fiber
• Wilma Chan, Chief Marketing Officer, IntouchCX
• Yvonne Ziomecki-Fisher, Chief Customer, Brand, & Advice Officer, HomeEquity Bank

The discussion revealed a fundamental strategic challenge facing today’s executives: leading through turbulence while balancing the pressure for immediate results with the patience required for long-term transformation.

In times of uncertainty, when market signals are unclear and priorities can shift overnight, many organizations are tempted to abandon their strategic plans in favor of short-term fixes. But it’s precisely during these moments of volatility that a strong strategic foundation becomes essential. Leaders must stay grounded by their strategy while remaining flexible enough to adapt, ensuring that strategic intent is not lost amid immediate pressures.

So, how do you build a strategy that sticks? Here are Four Takeaways of Enduring Strategy, as articulated by these C-suite leaders.

1. Vision-Driven Foundation

The most resilient strategies begin with a clear understanding of organizational identity and aspirational vision. Establishing a north star can inspire action even during uncertainty.

“Spending time understanding your vision and your mission is so important. If your vision lacks inspiration, it becomes static because it fails to connect with people on a deeper level. A truly inspiring vision sparks ambition and moves people to recognize the potential for even greater achievement,” shared Cara Cameron, Chief Strategy Officer at Portage Mutual Insurance.

The vision should be ambitious enough to inspire teams to stretch for goals they might not otherwise pursue. The most powerful vision strikes a balance between aspiration and pragmatism, creating the “stick-to-it-iveness” that helps organizations stay energized and maintain focus even when external conditions shift.

2. Structural Flexibility

Even the most well-crafted plans can be thrown off track by unexpected challenges if they lack the flexibility to adapt. A truly effective and enduring strategy offers structure while still allowing room for adjustment and evolution.

Melani Griffith, Chief Growth Officer at Google Fiber, shared this notion: “The role of the strategy is to set a plan for what you need to do as an organization. It’s like your skeletal system. It’s what creates the structure, but you have to evolve from that, and there has to be an ability to iterate.”

Being soft on tactics but hard on strategy enables organizations to maintain the desired strategic direction while adapting their methods as circumstances change. The overarching strategy remains constant, but the path to achieving it can evolve.

3. Cultural Alignment and Commitment

A strategy is only as strong as the people executing it, which is why it is so important to get your team on board. Building a culture around shared outcomes results in teams that don’t shy away from change and innovation.

Without alignment between leadership vision and team buy-in, even the most brilliant strategy will fail. Building this alignment requires intentional culture development.

Wilma Chan, CMO at IntouchCX, described the approach her organization took: “It was about fostering a culture of change within our teams. We started by making sure everyone was aligned and understood our shared purpose. From there, we focused on creating a dynamic environment, one where we intentionally carved out 20% of each day to challenge ourselves, optimize ideas, to pivot, and to innovate.”

If leaders and employees aren’t pulling in the same direction, no amount of effort will make the strategy successful. Alignment begins when everyone understands and is committed to shared objectives.

4. Staying the Course

One of the most challenging aspects of strategic leadership is maintaining commitment when results aren’t immediate.

“The results will not come overnight,” explained Yvonne Ziomecki-Fisher, Chief Customer, Brand and Advice Officer at HomeEquity Bank, “When you have a strategy, you have to have the courage to stay committed. It’s interesting to see how quickly people are prepared to walk away from the strategy they developed when they don’t see the results immediately. It takes real courage to trust your intuition and remain committed to your plan.”

Successful leaders develop “strategic stillness”, meaning the ability to process information and trust their intuition rather than constantly reacting to market noise.

This was captured by Melani Griffith, who said, “It’s not about constant doing, but about taking in information and allowing yourself the space to sit with it. In that stillness, the idea, the answer, or the vision often emerges.”

Developing Enduring Strategy: Practical Guidance

Immediate Actions

• Assess whether your current vision truly inspires your organization to stretch beyond comfort zones
• Evaluate your strategy’s structural flexibility – can tactics adapt without changing core direction?
• Implement regular strategy reviews that focus on course-correction rather than a complete overhaul

Cultural Shifts

• Build adaptability, resilience, and agility with uncertainty as a competitive advantage
• Create dedicated time for strategic innovation and optimization
• Develop team capabilities for managing change as an ongoing process
• Encourage transparent dialogue to build alignment across the team

Measurement Approaches

• Map and balance short-term performance metrics with long-term strategic indicators
• Establish regular checkpoints that enable tactical adjustments
• Collect regular feedback from team members

The Path Forward

In an era where market disruption seems to make news headlines each day, organizations that thrive will be those who can build strategies robust enough to withstand turbulence while remaining flexible enough to capitalize on emerging opportunities.

The key lies in understanding that effective strategy comes from creating a framework strong enough to guide decision-making and inspire action regardless of what challenges emerge.

As leaders navigate increasing complexity in today’s unpredictable landscape, a critical capability is whether your strategy can harness that change into a competitive advantage.

This article draws from insights shared during Level5’s Women in Strategy Panel: The Importance of Strategy in an Era of Uncertainty, featuring executive perspectives from leaders across multiple industries navigating today’s complex business landscape.

A special thank you to our contributors for their insights and to those who attended our panel event.

Click here to watch the event video.