Get Curious: Do They Have It?
Let's start with what it means to be strategic.
Individuals who are strategic have the ability to think beyond day-to-day tasks, focus on long-term goals, connect dots between seemingly dissimilar ideas (from a broad range of sources), evaluate factors inside and outside of your team and organization, identify potential challenges, and make informed decisions that effectively weigh risks and benefits.
Clearly, this is not a simple skill, nor is it one that comes naturally to most.
Before we build the skill, we need to know where your leaders are currently. Get curious to evaluate the strategic ability of your leaders. Start by reflecting on a recent situation with one of your leaders:
- What challenges did they focus on?
- Did they focus solely on solving immediate operational issues, or did they connect their tasks to the larger business objectives?
- Did they consider the situation with a long-term perspective?
- Did they ask questions that probed beyond surface-level issues, such as “What are the implications of this decision?” or “How does this align with our overall strategy?”
Strategic thinkers often seek perspectives from different departments or functions, so they can better understand how various parts of the organization interact. Ask yourself:
- Did this person seek cross-functional input?
- Were they aware of external factors impacting the business or team?
Repeat this thought exercise for each of your leaders.
If you're evaluating the strategic ability of emerging leaders, identify team members who exhibit a natural curiosity about how things fit together. Take note of team members who frequently ask, “What if?” questions. These are signs of strategic thinking.
Once you’ve identified where your leaders’ strategic abilities stand, the next step is to help them build on it.
Insight: Developing the Skill
Strategic thinking is a skill that can be developed through intentional practice (The Art of Strategic Leadership by Steven J. Stowell and Stephanie S. Mead). Start by encouraging your team member to connect their current tasks to long-term objectives. Help them see how daily actions and decisions contribute to broader organizational goals, fostering a future-focused mindset.
Strategic leaders must be able to step back and view situations from a systems perspective (Becoming a Strategic Leader by Richard L. Hughes and Katherine Colarelli Beatty). You can help leaders develop this skill by involving them in cross-functional projects where they must consider how various departments or processes interact. Guide them to ask questions like, “How does this decision impact other areas of the business?” or “What ripple effects could this choice create?”
Building strategic ability takes time and practice. Encourage your leaders to reflect on and assess their decision-making. Prompt them to think about what worked, what didn’t, and why. By creating space for them to learn from their experiences, you’re helping them build the awareness needed for long-term strategic thinking.
Here are 10 questions to share with your leaders to help them think and act strategically:
- What are we trying to accomplish and why?
- Who'll be impacted by this decision or action and who needs to be involved?
- What internal and external factors do I need to consider, and how do they interrelate?
- What are the short and long-term implications that I need to consider?
- What are potential risks?
- What are potential benefits and how do they outweigh the risks?
- What obstacles am I anticipating?
- How does this align with current and future team and business priorities and objectives?
- What do I need to do to turn this strategy into actionable steps?
- How will I evaluate the efficacy of this strategy?
Action: Opportunities to Apply It
Give your leaders ample opportunities to contribute to long-term planning to strengthen their strategic thinking. Assign projects that require foresight, involve complexity, and call for alignment with broader goals. For example, task them with analyzing a potential market expansion or with planning a product launch, giving them enough scope to connect everyday tasks to strategic objectives.
It's essential to create a culture where strategic thinking is recognized and encouraged. Celebrate team members who consistently ask insightful questions and propose long-term solutions, as this signals that strategy is valued over short-term results. When people see that thoughtful, forward-looking contributions are rewarded, they’ll be motivated to think more strategically themselves. By encouraging your team to think and act strategically, you'll build leaders who contribute meaningfully to the organization’s long-term growth and goals.
Thank you for reading. Feel free to forward this to anyone who might find it valuable.
Have a wonderful week ahead!
Cheers,
Del
