Tools to *actually* be more strategic at work

First, Linkedin News featured my latest Fast Company article, Are You Too Reliable To Be Promotable? Give it a read and I would love to read your comments on how you keep your plate from being too full.

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Have you ever been told that you needed to “be more strategic?” “This is such a vague phrase that is often meant to be well-intended feedback, but what does that even mean? 

Does it mean that you lock yourself away in your office and design scenario plans? Does that mean that you can no longer jump in to help?  Without specific, behavioral feedback this feedback isn't all that actionable. How each organization defines strategic thinking and planning might be different. 

This is exactly what frustrated a client of mine recently. On a call, she had mentioned that her entire career she had received feedback to “be more strategic” but no one could tell her what that actually looked like. So, we spent some time reflecting on some basic questions and then covering two tools (included for you below!) to help her level up and think more broadly and intentionally about her team's future plans. 

There are two common traps I see leaders fall into that keep them labeled as unstrategic. 

Reason 1: Trapped by completion bias

In short, completion bias is the zing of joy we feel when we cross items off our list. Task completion, even as something as simple as getting your inbox to zero, sending an email or clicking “complete” on your weekly task items, releases a dose of dopamine. An unhealthy relationship with completion bias helps you when your job is straightforward and your role is to accomplish as many projects, phone calls or client requests in a day as possible. 

However, the drive for doing can backfire for leaders who want to lead more strategically. Not only are they drawn to the easier tasks they can check off a list, which can be a distraction from the harder, more ambiguous strategic challenges to solve, but it can also make them more fatigued when they finally must face them. They have less brain power and creativity available for the longer, more nebulous opportunities that require them most.

Reason 2: Free time paralysis

The first thing we worked on with my client was to audit her time to see where she was spending too much of it in busy work that could be dumped, delegated or outsourced. Then, we made a plan for how to spend the extra 90 minutes she found in her week. She admitted, “When I do find myself with a free hour, I feel almost paralyzed in how to use it or in the how to be strategic. Then I just resort back to my task list.” I

t's normal for free time to feel paralyzing (Where do I start? What do I do?). It requires a different part of the brain and can easily be hijacked by the dopamine hits from short-term relief we enjoy by crossing items off a list or responding to emails in the spirit of help. Having tools you can access can help you get into action and that's where I started with my client.

🔥 The bottom line when it comes to being more strategic is that leaders have a critical choice here – to remain stuck in completion bias, resorting back to accomplishing tasks that feel good or are assigned to them, which keeps them trapped. Or, they can push through the short-term discomfort that comes with enduring longer, more open-scope strategic problems to solve that ultimately pay off in the long term. 

PUT THIS IDEA INTO ACTION

A fun fact about me that you may not know is that I taught management courses at the University of Nebraska in Omaha for just over four years. My absolute favorite section to teach was management strategy and how organizations could use this information to grow, outsmart competitors or fuel innovation. If I had to boil down the strategy tools that I taught my students, it would be evaluate these four questions:

1. What's happening on the inside

2. What's happening on the outside

3. Exploit where the insides align with the outsides

4. Make changes or mitigate where the insides don't align with the outsides

Note: This may look long, but don't let it scare you!

Step 1: What's happening inside

You may have heard of a SWOT analysis - that stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats. A SWOT analysis, while deceptively simple, is frequently called “the starting point of strategy.” 

It begins with a simple assessment of:

1. What our are strengths as a team/organization? What are we best at? Where are we uniquely skilled? What competitive advantages do we have? What unique talents do we have?

2. What our are weaknesses as a team/organization? Where are we under-resourced? Where do we lack critical skills or competencies? What capabilities are underdeveloped? Where are we falling short or bottle-necking?

Step 2: What's happening on the outside

This is the part of the SWOT that most people get wrong. When they assess Opportunities and Threats, they often assess them inside the team or organization. The correct way is to scan for O & T outside the organization in the external environment with a PEST(I) analysis. 

This is simple, and you can use Google or ChatGPT to help you! Basically you are asking, in the industry and/or field my company exists in, what is happening in the:

1. Political environment? (What regulations, tarriffs, laws, etc may impact your org)

2. Economic environment? (Are we in a recession? Interest rates impacts, price impacts for our goods/services?)

3. Sociocultural environment? (culture trends, viral videos impacting preferences, consumer preferences changes, etc)

4. Technological environment? (AI, new technologies, efficiencies, etc)

5. International environment? (If applicable, impacts on an international scale)

Now ask: What opportunities and/or threats to my organization exist in these environments? (It's important to understand the market context in which your company exists so you can understand how your team uniquely adds value.)

Step 3: Highlight alignment

Where do our strengths align with opportunities in the external environment? Basically, this is where you can identify the good things happening on the inside that match what is working well externally. Some examples include:

• Unique product offering that is in demand with Gen Z

• Remote work culture for talent who prefers it

• AI technology that complements your product

• A team of skilled legal analysts who can decode tariffs impacts quickly for adjustment

Ask: Where do we need to double down, fully resource or exploit where our strengths match opportunities in the market? How does our team uniquely contribute to this for our organization?

Step 4: Mitigate misalignment

Where do our weaknesses leave us exposed in our current market? Where are trends heading that we aren't equipped for? This is where you identify where what's going on inside may not match what is trending outside. Some examples can include: 

• Falling behind on technology to effectively serve clients

• Lacking in skills required to develop in-demand products

• Lacking a product offering in demand

• Offering a product or service that is heavily tariffed or losing demand

Final Step: Based on the above analysis, ask yourself

1. What do we need to stop doing?

2. What do we need to start doing?

3. What are we doing well and should continue to do?

Congratulations! If you can complete this simple analysis, you've done more strategy work than most leaders in your organization. This is not about getting it perfect, it's about gaining a better understanding of how your company exists in the market and where you, and your team, can grow and develop to take advantage of opportunity. 

Try this next: What is the best “thinking time” of the day for you and how can you carve out 60 minutes to try a strategic exercise like this?

Kelli Thompson is an award-winning author, keynote speaker, and executive coach who specializes in helping high achievers advance to influential leaders in their organizations. She is the author of the critically acclaimed book, Closing The Confidence Gap: Boost Your Peace, Your Potential & Your Paycheck.

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