If your frontline can explain what they do but can’t explain the strategy, you’ll keep getting activity without impact—and problems will repeat in new forms. In this article, Jef Menguin shares a simple way to talk about strategy in one clear sentence, then connect it to everyday decisions. Practice it and share it with your team so alignment becomes normal, not a quarterly event.
Let me bring you back to that small office in Quezon City.
Ten people. Laptops open. Screens full of dashboards, comments, and clips from last night’s news.
They do political campaign communications.
But it’s not election season. There’s no rally tonight. No big proclamation tomorrow.
Still, the work is constant.
A senator client has a new bill being attacked online. A cabinet official is trending for the wrong reason. An old video of a governor has resurfaced and is being twisted out of context.
The team is busy.
Someone is cutting a short video for TikTok. Someone is drafting a statement “just in case.” Someone is watching competitors’ pages to see what they will do.
If you walk in and ask, “What are you doing?”, they can answer easily.
“I’m clipping this hearing.” “I’m drafting replies.” “I’m boosting this post.”
If you ask, “What is our strategy for this client?”, the room goes quiet.
Someone says, “We post every day.” Someone else says, “We defend him when there is an issue.” Another says, “We follow what the chief of staff tells us.”
They know the tasks. They don’t see the game.
Now shift to Laguna.
A cooperative office is waking up.
Members are lining up. Some are paying loans. Others are requesting new ones. Staff know what form to give, what ID to ask for, what to type into the system.
If you ask them, “What do you do here?”, they answer fast.
“I process loans.” “I handle savings.” “I explain interest.”
If you ask, “How is our coop trying to win in the next few years?”, you get softer answers.
“To help members.” “To grow the coop.” “To follow the mandate.”
All of that is good. But it is not yet a clear strategy.
In both places, frontline staff are working hard. But they are working without a clear picture of how their work helps the organization win.
That’s the gap this article wants to close.
When Strategy Stays Only With the Boss
Strategy lives in the heads of a few.
In the small political communications firm, the founder and senior strategist know the game: which clients to serve, which narratives to build, which audiences to concentrate on, and how to handle daily issues without burning the candidate or the team.
They think about what will happen even when there is no crisis yet. They look at the map: which segments are soft, which issues are dangerous, which competitors are likely to attack.
In the coop, the general manager and board have talked about how they want to compete with bigger banks and new digital lenders. They have ideas about focusing on certain members, offering certain services, and strengthening trust in specific ways.
The problem is simple: most of that stays at the top.
Frontline staff are given tasks, not games.
So they focus on finishing what’s in front of them, not on playing to win.
Not because they are lazy. Not because they lack “critical thinking.”
But because no one has taken the time to show them the game in words they can understand and use.
Political Work Never Sleeps—So Strategy Cannot Be a Secret
Politics is not seasonal.
Yes, elections are peaks. But between elections, the work continues.
Every day, something can break: a statement taken out of context, a rumor amplified by trolls, a sudden national issue where your client’s silence or response can help or hurt.
Competitors are not sleeping either. They can copy your formats. They can buy similar tools. They can hire people with similar skills.
Posting more is not a strategy. Being “online every day” is not a strategy.
Strategy is knowing how you intend to win and keep winning over time.
Will you win by being the fastest and most credible voice on issues that matter to young voters? Will you win by building a reputation for your client as the adult in the room—calm, steady, and solutions-focused when everyone else is shouting? Will you win by being the quiet team that prevents crisis, not just the one that reacts loudly when it’s too late?
If your frontline people do not understand this, they will judge their work by volume: how many posts, how many replies, how many videos.
They will not judge their work by impact: did this move the right people closer to trusting our client?
That’s why they need to hear the strategy in simple language, not just see the tasks in the ticketing system.
Strategy in One Sentence: “This Is the Game We’re Playing”
Frontline teams don’t need the full framework.
They don’t need the five strategy questions, the charts, the competitive analysis. That’s your job.
What they need is a sentence they can repeat.
For the political communications team, the founder might say:
“Our game with this senator is simple: We want undecided professionals and young voters to see him as the most steady, trustworthy voice on economic issues. Every day, we watch for anything that can shake that trust—or strengthen it. Our job is to protect and grow that trust.”
Now the video editor knows: “Does this cut make him look steady and trustworthy—or just noisy?”
The community manager knows: “Do my replies sound defensive, or do they reinforce that steady, trustworthy image?”
The monitoring person knows: “What I choose to flag is not just what is viral, but what can damage or build that trust with our target group.”
Same tools. Same skills. Different focus.
For the cooperative in Laguna, the general manager might say:
“Our game is this: We want to be the first choice for small store owners and tricycle drivers in our town when they think about saving and borrowing. We want them to say, ‘The coop is on my side.’ That is how we win.”
Now the teller knows: “How I explain this loan matters. I can make this person feel rushed, or I can make them feel that we are on their side.”
The collections officer knows: “How I talk to late payers can either shame them or help them stay and succeed.”
The member services staff knows: “When I answer questions, I am not just clearing the line. I am building or breaking trust.”
You didn’t give them a seminar. You gave them a story.
Make Strategy Feel Like Their Work, Not Separate From It
One reason people “don’t get strategy” is that it is often delivered as a speech.
Leaders talk for an hour, then go back to their office. Staff go back to their desks and return to familiar patterns.
You can do it differently.
In the political comms firm, the founder could sit with the ten-person team and ask:
“When you talk to friends and family about politics, what kind of content do they trust? What do they ignore? What makes them believe someone is serious or fake?”
People will share. They will talk about their own feeds. They will talk about what turns them off and what makes them listen.
Then the founder can say:
“Everything you just said—that’s why our strategy is to make our client look steady and trustworthy, not noisy. So when you choose clips or words, use that lens. You understand the audience. Strategy is not separate from your work. It is the reason behind your choices.”
In the coop, the manager could ask staff:
“When your relatives or neighbors talk about borrowing money, who do they go to? What do they say about the coop? What makes them hesitate?”
They will share real stories. Some will be painful. Some will be hopeful.
Then the manager can say:
“This is why our strategy is to be the first choice for them. We are not just processing papers. We are building that first-choice feeling every time they come here. That’s what your daily work contributes to.”
Strategy stops being a poster. It becomes a conversation they are part of.
Talk Strategy Often, in Small Moments
You don’t need a special “strategy day” for frontline staff.
You just need to bring the game into everyday talk.
In the political comms office, when a new issue explodes, instead of saying, “Make something fast,” you might say:
“Remember our game: be the most steady, trustworthy voice on economic issues. For this crisis, what response would support that? What response would hurt it?”
In the coop, when a staff member handles a difficult member well, you might say:
“That is exactly how a first-choice coop treats people. You made them feel we’re on their side.”
Little by little, the sentence you chose—“most steady, trustworthy voice,” or “first choice for small store owners and tricycle drivers”—becomes normal language.
That’s how you know the strategy has reached the front line.
Connect This Back to Your Own Strategy Work
Everything else you’ve been building so far supports this.
You clarified the difference between strategy and plan. You made linked choices about how you will win. You built a simple game plan with a few key plays. You started a rhythm so you can adjust as reality teaches you.
This article asks you to take one more step.
Don’t stop at managers. Go all the way to the people who:
- hit “publish,”
- answer the call,
- stamp the form,
- and face the customer or member.
They are the ones who will either reinforce your strategy every day—or slowly pull you back to “we’ve always done it this way.”
So the question is simple:
Do they just know their tasks, or can they say, in their own words, “This is the game we’re playing, and this is how my work helps us win it”?
If not, that is your next piece of work as a leader.
If you’re building a business and you are playing to win…
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