The Strategy Legacy

What kind of legacy are you leaving behind? Is it one of fleeting success or lasting significance? In The Strategy Legacy: How to Future-Proof a Business and Leave Your Mark, Alex Brueckmann invites leaders, entrepreneurs, and changemakers to think deeply about what it means to design a business strategy that will endure — not just financially, but culturally and ethically. Brueckmann argues that strategy cannot live in isolation from human values, organizational culture, and collective identity. It must be rooted in what he calls organizational identity, a holistic framework that unites purpose, people, and performance.

Through over two decades of consulting experience, Brueckmann developed the Nine Elements of Organizational Identity — a practical model that helps leaders clarify what their organizations stand for, where they’re going, and how to get there sustainably. His mission is clear: bridge the gap between strategy as a sterile corporate exercise and strategy as a transformative leadership journey that creates meaningful impact.

The Call to Build a Living Legacy

The book begins with a powerful anecdote about Alfred Nobel — who, upon reading his own premature obituary labeling him “The Merchant of Death,” radically changed direction to create the Nobel Prizes. This story becomes a metaphor for intentional leadership. Brueckmann challenges readers with existential questions: what will you be remembered for? Are you driven by success or significance? Every leader leaves a legacy, whether consciously curated or accidentally formed. To make it lasting, you must shape it deliberately through what he calls the Legacy Trident — your legacy as a leader, as a culture creator, and as a contributor to society.

Why Identity Anchors Strategy

Brueckmann contends that every strong business strategy begins with clarity on identity. This identity isn’t about logos or slogans; it’s about impact, mission, principles, vision, and the capabilities that bring them to life. He views organizations as living organisms needing integrity between who they say they are and what they actually do. Without a clear identity, strategy drifts, culture fragments, and leadership loses moral authority.

The nine elements interlock like gears in a machine: impact (the tangible result of purpose), principles (core values and behavioral codes), mission (what and for whom you serve), vision (your desired future state), strategy maps (how you reach it), goals, targets, capabilities, and management systems (the scaffolding that supports it all). This framework forms the backbone of what Brueckmann calls a “living legacy” — one that connects commercial success with human flourishing.

From Purpose to Impact

Brueckmann makes a controversial claim: “No one cares about your purpose.” He warns against purpose-washing — when organizations craft inspiring mission statements without backing them up with action. Instead, the focus should shift from intent to impact. Impact makes purpose tangible. Purpose says, “We want to make a difference.” Impact says, “Here’s the difference we made.”

The book contrasts hollow statements (like Coca-Cola’s “Refresh the world. Make a difference”) with authentic corporate action, such as Patagonia’s decision to donate all profits to environmental causes and make “Earth our only shareholder.” This isn’t philosophy—it’s business direction. Strategy becomes the bridge between wanting to do good and actually doing it.

Culture, Capability, and Conscious Leadership

Culture and strategy are inseparable. Brueckmann revisits the famous phrase “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” — and adds nuance. Instead of seeing culture as a threat to strategic plans, he sees it as the outcome of effective strategy and conscious leadership. Conscious leaders build psychologically safe environments that foster growth, accountability, and curiosity. These habits manifest in what he calls a performance culture, focused not only on results but on learning and collective improvement.

To maintain this culture, leaders must adopt four critical mindsets: Joy of Missing Out (JOMO) for focus, Speed over perfectionism, Abundance thinking for creativity, and a Growth mindset to learn continuously. They must also practice “confident humility” — faith in their capabilities without assuming they have all the answers. That balance of confidence and curiosity defines effective modern leadership.

Designing Identity and Legacy

Brueckmann translates his philosophy into practice through an eight-step process for designing organizational identity. It starts with executive interviews to assess readiness, followed by foundational workshops to define mission, impact, and principles. From there, leaders craft vision statements, establish strategy maps, derive goals and workstreams, and refine everything through research, review, and alignment. The process ends with an organizational intent document—a clear, narrative blueprint that consolidates strategy, culture, and purpose.

Throughout, the book emphasizes collaboration. Strategy is not a top-down decree but a co-creative dialogue. Brueckmann urges leaders to engage employees early, listen deeply, and democratize the process. When people co-create identity, implementation follows naturally because it feels personal and meaningful.

A Legacy Beyond the Boardroom

In the end, The Strategy Legacy is about reshaping how we define success. It’s about shifting from profit-maximization to impact-maximization. It’s about recognizing that strategy should empower people and communities, not just shareholders. The book blends frameworks from academic theory (like Kaplan & Norton’s Strategy Maps and Martin Reeves’s strategic archetypes) with lived experiences across continents and industries. It’s equal parts manual, manifesto, and mentorship.

Core Message

“Strategy changes; identity endures. Identity is the stabilizer that keeps your business afloat when strategic change brings rough waters.” With clarity of purpose, values-driven leadership, and focus on people, any organization can future-proof itself—and leave a legacy worth remembering.

Brueckmann’s book offers not just a theory but a roadmap for building businesses that matter. It invites you to design with conscience, execute with focus, and lead with compassion—because a strategy without identity is forgettable, but a legacy built on identity lives on.

The heart of Brueckmann’s work lies in the Nine Elements of Organizational Identity, a model structured around three concentric circles that move from values to vision to execution. These elements provide the scaffolding for any organization to create alignment, clarity, and sustainable performance.

Inner Circle: Defining Who You Are

The foundation begins with Impact, Principles, and Mission — the DNA of your organization. Impact translates lofty purpose into tangible outcomes. It’s about making measurable contributions to society, such as protecting wildlife or eradicating hunger. Brueckmann emphasizes that organizations must “earn the right” to define their purpose through authentic action. He contrasts this with companies that merely claim noble values but fail to live them, such as Coca-Cola’s sustainability messaging versus its track record in plastic pollution.

Principles act as an ethical compass. They include values and behavioral guidelines that inform everyday decisions. Patagonia’s “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm” demonstrates what it means to embed values into design and operations. These values aren’t for decoration—they’re nonnegotiable.

Finally, your Mission defines what you do and for whom. It’s a clear statement devoid of corporate jargon, such as Sea Shepherd’s “to protect defenseless marine wildlife.” Clarity breeds credibility. Leaders must also define what they don’t do to maintain focus.

Middle Circle: Crafting Strategic Direction

Once foundation is set, the middle layer—Vision, Strategy Maps, and Goals—forms the strategic core. Vision articulates a desired future state. Brueckmann uses Wikipedia’s inspiring mission (“Imagine a world…”) as a benchmark for emotional and rational clarity. Good vision statements blend detail and aspiration, heart and brain, and purpose and measurability. Strategy Maps (adapted from Kaplan and Norton) visualize how priorities connect to outcomes. Goals transform strategy into measurable action, typically defined by SMART criteria.

Outer Circle: Making Identity Real

The outer circle—Targets, Capabilities, and Management Systems—anchors identity in day-to-day reality. Targets break goals into individual contributions, creating ownership. Capabilities describe essential skills like collaboration, communication, and strategic acumen. Management Systems align business processes, reward structures, and governance with identity. Here, strategy meets execution.

Key takeaway

Identity is not just philosophy—it’s architecture. The Nine Elements model helps you design both the blueprint and the scaffolding for a legacy that performs commercially and resonates morally.

Each layer connects purpose to performance: inner values feed strategy, and strategy activates execution. Without one, the others collapse. The Nine Elements make sure your business not only exists but thrives with integrity, clarity, and impact.

In one of the book’s boldest claims, Brueckmann states “No one cares about your purpose.” He argues that purpose statements have become corporate wallpaper—beautiful but meaningless when disconnected from results. Purpose needs translation into impact, the only metric that matters for credibility.

The Trap of Purpose-Washing

Many organizations write eloquent purpose declarations yet fail to act on them. Coca-Cola’s sustainability partnership with WWF sounds progressive but collapses under scrutiny due to its continued role as the world’s top plastic polluter. Brueckmann calls this “purpose-washing”—when beautiful statements hide contradictions that the public can see through. The antidote, he says, is transparency and measurable action.

The Power of Impact Thinking

Unlike intent, impact delivers tangible results. Patagonia’s founder, Yvon Chouinard, sets the gold standard: by transferring ownership of the $3 billion company to a trust that donates profits to environmental rehabilitation, he turned purpose into perpetual impact. His mantra, “Earth is our only shareholder,” exemplifies how action transforms business into legacy.

Brueckmann urges leaders to experiment with “Why not?” questions instead of “Why?” Why not tie CEO compensation to environmental outcomes? Why not redesign supply chains for climate neutrality? These reframed questions open creative strategic avenues while preserving profitability.

Impact as the Moral Compass

Impact is measurable. Whether saving habitats, feeding communities, or improving patient health, it demands metrics and accountability. By promoting impact over intent, Brueckmann reconnects strategy with ethics. Leaders must ask themselves whether their actions elevate humanity or simply enrich shareholders. When done right, impact creates loyalty, trust, and long-term returns.

Lesson

Stop writing inspiring slogans. Start doing inspiring work. Impact transforms lofty mission statements into clear evidence of value creation—for your people, community, and planet.

Peter Drucker’s phrase “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” appears throughout business literature. Brueckmann agrees—but reframes the statement: culture doesn’t devour strategy, it digests it. A vibrant culture feeds on well-designed strategy and converts it into sustained energy. He defines culture as what people do when no one is watching.

The Myth of Separate Culture Projects

Many companies try to “fix culture” through stand-alone projects or HR slogans. Brueckmann calls this a waste of time. Culture is not an input—it’s a consequence of leadership, values, and strategic intent. He emphasizes that consciously designed identity projects automatically shape culture through participation and consistent alignment.

Performance Culture vs. Toxic Culture

He introduces the concept of a Performance Culture: a psychologically safe environment where learning, experimentation, and accountability thrive. This contrasts with toxic cultures obsessed with results “by any means.” Performance culture rewards process as much as outcomes, fosters collaboration, and builds shared ownership around goals. It leads to sustainable excellence instead of burnout.

To create such a culture, leaders must model vulnerability and ethical behavior. They must mentor and coach rather than command. When leaders fail to define culture, Brueckmann warns, culture defines them—usually in undesirable ways.

Habits That Shape Culture

The author likens habits to bricks forming organizational architecture. Repeated behaviors—whether gossip or innovation—solidify into norms. He identifies three “healthy habits” that every leader should adopt: growing strategic acumen (thinking long-term and learning continuously), saying “no by default” (to stay focused), and conducting regular health checks (annual reviews of organizational vitality).

Core message

Culture isn’t soft. It’s structural. Leaders who align strategy with purpose and behaviors create cultural momentum that competitors can’t copy.

For Brueckmann, strategy begins in the mind. Before a plan can succeed, leaders must cultivate the right mindset—one rooted in collaboration, humility, and self-awareness. These qualities turn teams into engines of identity.

Four Transformative Mindsets

JOMO (Joy of Missing Out) helps leaders escape the chaos of comparison and “shiny object syndrome.” Rather than chasing every possible opportunity, strategic leaders commit to fewer, more meaningful priorities. Speed emphasizes progress over perfection—acting quickly, adjusting through learning. Abundance sparks creativity by seeing possibility instead of limitation. And Growth encourages continuous learning and curiosity.

The Challenge Network and Confident Humility

Borrowing from organizational psychologist Adam Grant, Brueckmann advocates for “challenge networks”—trusted peers who question assumptions without hostility. These networks create psychological safety for candid reflection. Within this circle, confident humility flourishes: trust in one’s abilities balanced with doubt in one’s completeness. Leaders who “live above the line,” open and curious, outperform unconscious leaders stuck below it—defensive and right-seeking.

Collaboration as a Strategy Tool

Combining strategy and team development yields exponential dividends. Collaborative design processes help organizations overcome dysfunction. Brueckmann recounts how Nokia’s downfall resulted not from poor products but from internal rivalries and an absence of trust. Collaborative cultures dismantle such silos and replace secrecy with co-creation.

Insight

Strategy isn’t written on whiteboards — it’s forged through conversation. Conscious collaboration transforms plans into purpose-driven community action.

One of the book’s most practical contributions is its eight-step process for designing organizational identity through strategy. Brueckmann shows that strategy design shouldn’t feel mystical—it’s systematic, inclusive, and repeatable.

Step 1–2: Laying the Groundwork

It begins with executive interviews to gauge readiness and strategic acumen. This diagnostic phase reveals cultural and emotional data that shape later stages. Then, in foundation sessions, teams clarify organizational strengths, align on urgency, and articulate mission, impact, and principles—the cake’s base layer. These discussions surface tensions between comfort and change, helping leaders overcome complacency (the “Intel Effect” described by Andy Grove as Only the Paranoid Survive).

Step 3–6: Crafting Strategy

In the “chocolate buttercream” phase—strategy workshops—leaders create vision statements, define KPIs, and design workstreams grouped into strategy maps. Goals are made SMART, measurable milestones are defined, and interdependencies mapped out. Successful teams prioritize rigor over perfection, action over debate. Research and refinement follow, including testing assumptions, gathering data, and integrating insights through cross-functional views. Workstream charters become operational bridges linking strategic aspiration to execution tasks.

Step 7–8: Codifying and Reviewing Identity

Finally, the organization consolidates learning into an organizational intent document—a narrative manifesto describing its purpose, values, strategy, and future roadmap. Regular review sessions ensure relevance in evolving markets. This cyclical approach transforms strategy into a living, evolving organism rather than a static plan gathering dust.

Practical message

Strategy design isn’t a secret ceremony. It’s a disciplined conversation. By embedding identity into each step, leaders turn process into legacy.

According to Brueckmann, strategy fails not in design but in execution. The bridge from planning to performance lies in two elements: targets and capabilities.

Targets: Accountability with Humanity

Targets make contribution visible. They cascade strategic goals into individual tasks, creating transparency and engagement. Brueckmann compares this to his teenage football experience, where lack of clear targets led to confusion and demotivation. In companies, unclear targets cause the same: employees wander without understanding how their work contributes to strategy.

Proper target systems reward accountability, not fear. He urges leaders to focus on the 20 percent of measures that make 80 percent of the difference—avoiding bureaucracy. Qualitative targets complement numbers, translating values into lived behaviors. Performance reviews should evaluate both results and how they were achieved, reinforcing culture and ethics.

Capabilities: The Hard Side of Soft Skills

Capabilities define whether strategy lives or dies. Brueckmann reframes the phrase “soft skills” — calling them critical capabilities that are hard to master. He identifies six essential leadership competencies: inspiration, collaboration, communication, strategic acumen, leading by intention, and selflessness. These combine technical skill with emotional intelligence.

He advises integrating capability building into strategic planning from the outset. Training should align with business goals and measurable returns. Leaders must move from transactional management to transformation-driven coaching. When organizations fail to develop these skills, strategy remains theory, not reality.

Bottom line

Strategy without capability building is wishful thinking. Targets provide direction; capabilities provide fuel. Together, they turn ideas into impact.

In the final chapters, Brueckmann explores management systems—the hidden frameworks that can either sustain identity or sabotage it. Like buildings in Cuba supported by wooden scaffolding, organizations need internal structures that reinforce transformation rather than resist it.

Form Follows Function

Borrowing from architect Louis Sullivan’s principle, Brueckmann insists that organization design must follow purpose. Management systems—processes, incentives, governance, HR structures—should embody the new identity. If reward systems contradict cultural values (for example, paying bonuses for short-term results in a sustainability-focused company), identity disintegrates.

Governance and Support Structure

He outlines three governance bodies: an Implementation Board (ensuring operational rollouts), a Strategy Review Board (assessing long-term relevance), and a Project Management Office (providing structure and data). These entities keep strategy alive beyond leadership transitions. Without institutional scaffolding, initiatives collapse when charismatic champions leave—a phenomenon he witnessed firsthand in a tech firm where progress halted after a director’s departure.

Communication as the Magic Wand

Communication powers all change. Brueckmann shares a corporate merger case where leaders turned transformation into celebration through relentless dialogue. Transparent, two-way communication turned new identity into shared belief. He urges leaders to “overcommunicate” during change—listen actively, involve employees early, and personalize messages. When people co-create the narrative, they sustain it.

Essential principle

Form follows function: adjust systems to fit purpose, not vice versa. Management systems should anchor legacy so deeply that even when leaders move on, identity endures.