Strategic Thinking Competencies
The feedback that you “need to be more strategic,” can be just as frustrating as it sounds. To make things worse, the feedback seldom comes with any constructive guidance for a direction toward redressal. The hint here is to focus on your Strategic thinking competencies.
So, what relevant steps can you take toward being more strategic in your existing role? Start by altering your outlook. If you believe that strategic thinking is solely for senior executives, rethink. It is vital to make sure it takes place at every level of the organization; it’s one of those implied aspects of all job descriptions. Ignoring this fact is tantamount to inviting the risk of getting passed over for a promotion, or having budgets compromised owing to unclear department’s strategic contributions.
How To: Strategic Thinking
To bump up your Strategic thinking competencies, you need a solid understanding of the industry context, trends, and business drivers. Intellectual gratitude towards the importance of taking in current data and following trends isn’t enough. It is a necessity to make it a repetitive exercise to explore and synthesize the internal trends in day-to-day work. Additionally, being proactive about connecting with peers from an organizational culture standpoint to comprehend their observations of the marketplace, is of paramount importance. Then, transmit your findings across your network. With a new perspective on the understanding of trends and issues, practice using strategic thinking by asking yourself, “How do I expand my horizon on what I consider?” Questions are the medium of the process of integrating one’s Strategic thinking competencies.
More often than not, life and past experience may present an exceptional, yet short-sightedness, strategic lens. So, we need to shore up on perspective-taking and review skills. By becoming more inquiring, the ability to reduce this myopia and reflect on different possibilities, and approaches, becomes a fact.
When working on an employee retention project one needs to reflect on himself or herself in terms of matters. These include what success looks like or what could possibly bring about a negative outcome. Business partners need to comprehend certain factors vital to success, keeping in mind that outcomes support the strategic goals of the organization.
Benefits of Strategic Thinking:
Addressing these tough questions provide for better engagement with colleagues as well as senior executives. These may result in benefits for the project, something that would help shape the direction of being cognizant and strategic. Strategic thinkers rank and organize their thoughts in verbal and written communication in a manner that benefits their addressee’s attention on their central theme in messages. They contest with the status quo and motivate people on discourses about underlying assumptions.
The quest to build your Strategic thinking competencies can be rough. At first, you might feel like you’re kicking up sand in the ocean. Your vision will be blurred as you manage through the unsettling feelings that come with challenging your own assumptions and gaining comfort with conflict and curiosity. But once the dust settles and you’re able to underwrite at a higher level, you’ll be happy you took the risk.
Contact us if you are interested in a strategic thinking training program that is tailored to the needs of your organization or team.
