I don't know if this question has occurred to you but it is fair to ask - why should the strategist get involved in the messy pragmatic business of making things happen? Isnt that the job of the project manager. Well yes it is just as strategy falls within their remit but increasingly in many companies there is a separate individual or department resposible for the strategy. And implementation needs to be just as much the strategist's job as the managers.  Because a strategy is only a way of thinking about a possible reality.  A strategist who never concerns themselves with the implementation of their strategy is rather like an architect who doesn't concern himself with the building of his designs. Theoretically possible but pointless and his designs would have no credibility if the architect cannot demonstrate that they can really be built.

The reason I think strategists need to get involved with the business of motivation and communication is because strategy does not belong to the individual but to the group.  The strategist is consequently better placed to brief and motivate that group and to ensure that the groups stays on track. the manager on the other hand is concerned with process and delivery - often to an external client. The organising of the people and systems is what management is about. The strategist on the other hand needs to concern themselves with the direction and momentum of the idea. Because you can have a team of people working at full tilt and making good use of the time. They are making something.  But its drifting off strategy. In the days when the strategist or planner as they are known in advertising agencies used to set up the creative direction using a creatve brief - it was customary to be a lot less invovled as the advertising was made and distributed. But if optimisation is part of strategy then there really is no excuse for not being involved. The strategist needs to think about how they can improve the focus and effectiveness of the idea as it is being executed. I would suggest that this also is the job of the strategist not the job of the manager.