If you’ve ever received feedback that you “need to be more strategic,” you know how frustrating it can feel. To add insult to injury, the feedback rarely comes with any concrete guidance on what to do about it. One of my coaching clients, Lisa, a vice president of HR, was in this situation and explains, “I was just told to think bigger picture and to be more strategic. It felt like I had been given the definition of a word by using the same word. It just wasn’t helpful.”
4 Ways to Improve Your Strategic Thinking Skills
If you believe that strategic thinking is only for senior executives, think again. It can, and must, happen at every level of the organization; it’s one of those unwritten parts of all job descriptions. Once you’ve accepted that it’s part of your job, focus on developing four key abilities that demonstrate your strategic prowess. First, routinely explore the internal trends in your daily work, like issues that come up repeatedly. The second ability is asking tough questions: “What does success look like in Year 1? What could impact the outcome in a negative way? What are the early signs of success or failure?” Next, structure your written and verbal communication in a way that helps your audience focus on the core message. Group and logically order your main points, and keep them as succinct as possible. Finally, make time in your busy schedule for reflection. Stop going to meetings you don’t need to attend, and block out thinking time on your calendar. At first, you may feel disoriented as you challenge your own assumptions and gain comfort with conflict and curiosity, but when you’re able to contribute at a higher level, you’ll be glad you took the risk.