Aspiring CEOs and entrepreneurs working toward their business degrees are often taught the Strategy Diamond Model as a method for developing strategy. The Strategy Diamond Model is used to help companies determine what products and services they will offer (arenas), how they will organize and conduct business (vehicles), what their competitive advantages are (differentiators), how they will roll out their products and services (scope and sequence), and how they will fund the operation and turn a profit (economic logic).
While this strategy model is most often used in business contexts, it can also be used to plan your personal career and finances as well. To illustrate how this process could work in a personal setting, we will construct a fictitious case study on Gina, a 22-year old who just graduated with a business degree from a state university.
During a series of personality and skills assessments in college, Gina learned that she is a people-person who is a stickler for details. She loves building teams, making friends, collaborating with others, and organizing projects.
Gina majored in business because she sought a skillset that could be applied across many different industries and that would provide higher income, stable employment.
During her studies at the university, Gina learned that there is a shortage of human resources personnel. Since her business degree will provide the skillset needed to work in human resources, and since human resources positions match her personality style, Gina decided to pursue a career in human resources, with the goal of becoming the human resources director for a company in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
In deciding what career she wanted to pursue, and where she wanted to pursue that career, Gina has selected her “arenas.”
The next point of the Strategy Diamond Model is “vehicles,” where companies decide whether they will incorporate, what type of corporation they will form, and whether to franchise or utilize strategic partnerships.
Gina dreams of being a Human Resources director, so her vehicle will be a traditional W-2 employment.
Gina has just graduated with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration, with an eye toward earning an MBA in human resources. She prepared herself for a career with a top-level company by pursuing prestigious summer internships, and she has been working part-time in the human resources department for a local company for the bulk of her junior and senior years at the university.
In putting together these qualifications, Gina has developed her differentiators, her competitive advantage.
Gina plans to go to work fulltime following graduation, and will earn an MBA on the side as she begins to build her career. This is Gina’s scope and sequence.
Finally, there’s the economic logic driving this entire strategy. Gina was not only drawn to human resources due to the quality of the work, but with the shortage of human resource professionals, the pay is above average as well, and jobs in HR tend to be stable.
In putting together this strategy, Gina has put on paper what services she will offer, what geographical area she will offer those services, and what types of companies she to whom she will offer her services. She organizes her finances, builds a skill set that makes her the most attractive applicant, and primes herself to achieve financial wellness.
By applying similar tactics in developing your own strategy, you can avoid the pitfalls that upend so many people, such as bad career moves, managing disorganized finances, and failing to acquire the skills needed to pursue your passion and dreams.
Once the strategic plan is developed, the financial management plan can be developed. Acker Financial was founded for the purpose of helping our clients navigate this process. If you are formulating your life and career plans, let’s talk.
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