Leo MacLeod, The Daily Record Newswire
When people assess a talent pool to identify future leaders, there is a must-have skill set. It often includes strong interpersonal skills, respect of clients and peers, and a certain fire in the belly to either take on challenging projects or be the first to volunteer when extra work is required.
What’s often overlooked, however, is the ability to think beyond today and plan for the future. It’s easier to find someone who is a competent manager, but harder to find the person with vision and the ability to take the organization where it needs to go. For firms to continue to evolve and change with challenges and opportunities, strategic thinkers at the helm are critical.
According to a 2013 Harvard Business Review article, a strategic approach to leadership was, on average, 10 times more important to the perception of effectiveness than other behaviors studied. In an international study by the Management Research Group, the ability to think strategically is twice as important as communication (the second most important behavior) and almost 50 times more important than hands-on tactical behaviors. How can you ensure that the next line of leaders are strategic thinkers?
Know your people
Just as some people are naturally inclined to be good communicators, some are more strategic by nature. Strategic thinking can be learned, but some people more easily push back on ideas and ask the bigger questions about how a particular action will affect the future outcome of the business. It requires mentally shifting between today, six months from now and three years ahead and seeing the consequences of how things may change.
Engineers and designers may be able to manage projects and people successfully, but are leadership candidates curious about the future of the business? Do they express interest in trends by reading books and attending symposiums? There’s much to be said about picking people who naturally gravitate to imagining the future, rather than only managing the present.
Invite them to participate
It’s never too early to bring emerging leaders into discussions about the future, whether it’s sitting down over coffee one on one or participating in a planning retreat. Let them experience firsthand how strategic thinkers interact with each other. Ask their opinion on areas they have experience in. Strategic thinking isn’t something we generally get much formal training for, so help them learn on the job.
Provide a model
When I coach leaders, I often share my approach to a strategic plan and go over my thinking with them. I don’t care if they use it as a template. That’s what I did at some point anyway. Find a model and tweak it to be your own.
I sent a current client a business development plan and what he came back with was much more detailed and comprehensive than mine. When he saw the thinking behind the plan, he was able to bring his own thoughts by creating his own version. I simply provided the inspiration and road map.
Show emerging leaders what you’ve done before and talk candidly about what worked and what didn’t. Strategic thinking is as much about improvisation and adaptation as it is about creating and sticking with a specific course of action.
Give emerging leaders short assignments that have shorter time frames. It’s not reasonable to expect someone to look creatively five years down the road if they haven’t had to before. Ask them to develop their own plans – a six-month business development plan, for instance – and present them to management so they can practice making the case.
Anchor it in data
A good strategic plan is not just someone’s creative scenario. It is rooted in what’s happened historically and with data to support trends. Where has most of your firm’s revenue come from in the last three years? How can it be broken out to provide better direction on planning for the future? Has profitability declined over time? What are the factors that we can identify? Involve junior staff in research – both internal fact gathering and external data research – to teach them the value of supporting their assertions with facts.
Coach from the sidelines
After engaging emerging leaders in the strategic process by giving them an assignment, give them rope to make mistakes – but give them a hand. Pose questions to their ideas.
How might this affect the business in terms of revenue in the next two years? Why does it make sense for us to pursue this strategy? What are some trends you’re seeing in the industry that will support that strategy? What kind of resources will you need? What are the biggest challenges, and how will you tackle them? Tell me your thinking on what you’re proposing.
Strategic thinking is essentially inquiry. Teach people to ask good, forward-thinking questions.
Strategic thinking is critical in leadership, and much of it can be taught. Introduce staff to your strategic process, provide models so they can see what plans look like, give them small assignments, and push them for facts and to ask good questions.
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Leo MacLeod is a strategic consultant and a leadership coach for professional services firms. Contact him at leo@leomacleod.com.
