Strategic thinking is one of the most important traits in an effective leader. This mindset should not only be reserved for mangers and executives. All employees should be empowered to plan and think strategically.
According to a 2013 Harvard Business Review study of 10,000 senior executives, 97% cited strategic thinking as the most critical leadership skill for an organization’s success. Strategic thinking includes forward thought and the ability to plan ahead. This involves objective analysis and systematic thinking.
Executives need to first empower managers and then managers can instill it in their teams. Utilizing the collective thoughts of an entire organization can help a company see all aspects of operation in a new light. Remember, it’s important to see the bigger picture as a team!
How do you promote a culture of strategic thinking? There are four easy steps:
- Transparency– When management shares information regarding the current market, industry, customers, competitors and goals it keeps everyone up to speed. When an entire organization is enlightened, they can collectively work towards the organization’s goals.
- Promote solutions– Many times we operate in reaction mode, placing bandages on problems. Make sure your team is not only reacting to the problem but thinking of ways to fix it and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Think longterm!
- Assign mentors– Everyone should have a mentor. Make sure that new hires as well as existing employees have a mentor or someone Every manager should have a mentor that sits at the executive level. Mentors help with training, accountability and most importantly growing within the position.
- Promote future perspective– This is directly related to promoting solutions. Encourage everyone to ask two questions when proposing a solution. How does this serve our goals? What impact will it have on those goals?
Creating and nurturing a culture of strategic thinking taps into the collective education and experience of an entire organization. It also helps to identify natural leaders that can be promoted to more senior positions as they are needed.
