Be More Strategic in Business. Diana Thomas
•Engages in active listening with the intent to learn
•Asks questions in a way that shows a genuine curiosity and desire to learn
•Proactively advances knowledge and capabilities through a robust individual development plan
•Reflects on experiences and applies lessons to future experiences
•Adapts quickly and easily to new or changing conditions
•Identifies patterns/trends and apply them to new or unfamiliar situations
•Experiments with new ideas or approaches to determine what works best
•Brings out the best thinking in others
•Encourages others to experiment with new ideas and respectfully challenges others to think in unconventional or unprecedented ways
•Shares ideas and best practices with other parts of the organization to help strengthen the business
Tactical Taylor behaviors
•Reacts defensively to feedback
•Is unaware of her own development needs (has significant blind spots despite being given clear feedback)
•Demonstrates overconfidence in her knowledge or abilities
•Fails to apply information broadly or to new experiences
•Becomes overwhelmed by complexity or ambiguity
•Resists new ideas or approaches
•Prefers to think and act in standard ways, consistent with what has been done in the past
Quick and Dirty Takeaways from This Chapter
Are you ready to take your leadership to the next level? Here are a few things to remember from this chapter:
•Change is a constant state of being, and it drives the need for strategic leadership. Don’t let yourself become obsolete in an ever-evolving world. Build your strategic leadership capabilities and show your organization how vital you are in achieving business results.
•Don’t be passed over for another promotion. Get the missing pieces in place and take your leadership to the next level.
•Smart decisions that drive change are rooted in data. You need data to be synthesized into information that builds organizational intelligence in order to make strong decisions that drive winning results.
•Winning leaders focus on the vision, themselves, and winning. Start thinking about your personal development plan, and don’t forget to develop your team, too. Make sure you understand the difference between strategic and tactical. We’ve all been tactical in our careers, but strategic leadership requires you to delegate the tactical elsewhere.
Six Factors for Strategic Leadership
When executives tell you to be more strategic, they want you to see the big picture, not just of your department, but of the organization, industry, and market. The higher you move within an organization, the easier it becomes to see the big picture. You have conversations at a higher level and are privy to information that applies to the entire organization (versus a narrow focus on your specific area of responsibility). You also benefit from broader exposure to people who already think in a big-picture way. It can seem like a catch-22, because you can’t get to the higher levels without looking and acting strategic, but it isn’t always obvious how to get a big-picture understanding (let alone show executives you have that ability) without being a part of those executive circles. When you’re starting out, the onus is on you to build up your strategic leadership capabilities. If you haven’t heard it yet, don’t wait for someone to tell you to be more strategic—desire to do that on your own.
Stephen R. Covey uses an analogy of producers cutting through a jungle to help explain leadership and big-picture thinking:
Envision a group of producers cutting their way through the jungle with machetes. They’re the producers, the problem solvers. They’re cutting through the undergrowth, clearing it out. The managers are behind them, sharpening their machetes, writing policy and procedure manuals, holding muscle development programs, bringing in improved technologies, and setting up working schedules and compensation programs for machete wielders. The leader is the one who climbs the tallest tree, surveys the entire situation, and yells, “Wrong jungle!” But how do the busy, efficient producers and managers often respond? “Shut up! We’re making progress.”8
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