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I had this exact same situation - you’re not alone! I think this is more often the definitive experience for strategists than otherwise. This is why there are such dedicated communities of strats like Sweathead and Ladies Who Strategize and trainers like Michael Pollan, Rosie and Faris, Julian Cole, and so many others.
Other people may have the lingo, processes and frameworks but they don’t have the unique experience and insights that *you* bring to the table.
Chances are the people who hired you did so INTENTIONALLY knowing you would not be a strategist from the strat factory. The best thing I can recommend to you is set your impostor syndrome aside and put your curious learning hat on. Get time with strat, account and creative and ask them to explain the usual process, give you example briefs etc. I promise this will be well received and a lot of them will have the same questions as you.
In the meantime, take other strats in this thread up on their offer to help guide you. You can do this and deserve to be here!
Thanks so much for the kind words. It's nice to know that this isn't a unique situation however much it may seem like it.
I actually signed up for Julian Cole's program a few months back, and regularly attend his seminars. Though if I'm being honest, that's part of what makes me feel a bit like a faker.
I am incredibly lucky to have a great working relationship with my Strategy VP and they've been very receptive to educating me on some of the gaps I have experience wise. May try and lay out more formally the areas I think I need to improve on and see if we can set time aside to work through them with some sort of regularity.
As a senior strat I know I'm not expected to know everything and I do need to keep that in mind. Again, thanks for the advice and taking the time to write a thoughtful reply. Much appreciated!
I've come to an impasse in my career - going on 6 years in marketing, with about 2.5 in "strategy" roles (one was strategy by nomenclature only) and a variety of roles in creative and production previously. All at small, nondescript agencies.
I'm now a senior strat at a well known agency and starting to realize how underexposed to REAL strategy I've always been. Realistically, this feels like my first true "strategy" role and I often feel like I'm far below my peers (even junior strategists) in skill and understanding. Shit I didn't even know what strategy WAS until a couple of years ago..
This has gotten to the point where I'm not sure if this is even the right career path for me, not sure where to go from here. I never had the formal training that some larger agencies provide to juniors as they move up the ranks and was plagued with bosses and "strategists" that played it vague and left me to figure my own way out. So far I've gotten by, but I really want to give myself a shot to figure out if I'm cut out for this.
Feel like at my level (sr strat) calling attention to my lack of formal understanding of what strategy is and how it works just puts a target on my back.
Any advice, feeling a little lost at the moment..
Would always be happy to lend a hand and chat to tell you what helped me. I did the same, joined at the same level as you at a huge agency. It’s scary but you’re probably better equipped than you feel, but totally hear you.
I can absolutely relate to your experience. I’ve always “done the strategy work” but had other titles, ranging from concept to creative. I officially switched to strategy three years ago and during the last year built the entire strategy department from scratch - dealing with insecurities the entire time 😅
One thing I can guarantee: when hiring I know who’s a “traditional strategist” and who’s the hybrid, the ones that bring unique perspectives and I hire them on purpose.
If you feel you lack formal training by all means, get some additional education or push for regular exchanges with your colleagues but your thinking is what got you the role and you can be sure there’s a reason for that!
Thanks for taking the time to reply!
That's definitely a part of the struggle.. being what I like to call a "strategy generalist."
I can identify and build the basic parts of what makes a strategy, but I don't have the depth of channel knowledge or specialization that say a digital strategist or a brand strategist has.
Props to you for coming into it and diving into the deep end to build a department. That's very impressive, I'm sure it's not an easy endeavor.