True Strategic Thinkers do not spend too much time on
day-to-day activity. Here are some ways
to become the strategic leader your business needs.
1.
Anticipate
Don’t just focus on what’s directly ahead.
Look for opportunities to take advantage of potential new ideas at the leading
edge of your industry. Use external networks to search for ideas beyond the
current limits of your business.
2.
Think
Critically
Don’t just follow conventional wisdom and
play safe. Critical thinkers question decisions continuously. To strengthen
this skill within the company challenge managers to examine root causes of
problems, test current mindsets, and work to eliminate bias in current decision
processes.
3.
Interpret
It is important to eliminate ambiguity but
don’t rush to fast and possibly wrong decisions. A strong strategic thinker
seeks and processes information from several sources before developing a point
of view. Encourage the organization to use multiple sources of data and challenge
prevailing assumptions for problem solving.
4.
Decide
Don’t fail to decide because of “analysis
paralysis”. Develop decision making
processes and have the organization follow them. Frame the problem and balance
the need for speed with quality answers. Leave perfection for others and take a
stand even if information is incomplete. Achieving consensus is rare so lead
the team by acting.
5.
Learn
An organization learns from successes and
failures. To continue to grow owners should encourage rigorous debriefs of
decisions to learn improved performance. If mistakes are made, change
directions as soon as errors are discovered.
Learn from successes and failures.
No manager has elite ratings in all of these
skills but nevertheless you must strive to fill whatever gaps exist in your
skillset.
No comments:
Post a Comment