As a leader, your employees want three things from you: competence, competency, and clarity. Competence is the knowledge to perform at a high level. Capabilities include the resources and skills that transform expertise into value. Clarity is knowing the direction to your destination. Are you ready to lead people out of confusion, uncertainty, and reactivity to competence, capability, and clarity? If so, here are eight barriers that prevent your team from thinking, planning, and acting strategically.
Eight Obstacles to Strategic Thinking
Obstacle one: unclear direction
A Gallup study of 10 million managers found that only 22% of employees feel that their leadership team has set a clear direction for the organization. Utilize a simple strategic thinking process to identify the current situation, a path toward achieving the goals by defining desired goals for success, and allocating resources.
Obstacle Two: Fire Drill
Is your company culture obsessed with the adrenaline rush of putting out urgent but unimportant fires, distracting your team? If so, establish a basic agreement to identify the cause fire drillwho should specifically evaluate them, and the criteria by which they should be focused, delegated, or fired.
Obstacle 3: Silos
My study of 880 managers found that only 35% understood strategy in other functional areas of the organization. Establish an intentional collaborative rhythm with peers in other fields to understand each other’s strategies and find common ground for coordination.
Obstacle 4: Too many priorities
According to research by Professor Hansen at the University of California, Berkeley, nearly a third of employees blame their bosses for setting too many priorities. How many priorities does your team have? Anything more than 3-5 means you are spreading your talents and resources thin and haven’t yet devised a strategy to make the necessary trade-offs.
Obstacle 5: Reaction
There’s nothing better than spending a summer afternoon riding bumper cars at the local carnival from one accident to the next, but that’s not an efficient way to run a business. Build the discipline to focus on a few priorities and don’t get distracted by short-term rewards and those mouth-watering funnel cakes. Don’t act recklessly, be strategic.
Obstacle 6: No time
Jeff Weiner, former CEO of LinkedIn, said: “The key to time management is to set aside time to think, rather than constantly reacting. If you don’t take the time to proactively think, you will find yourself reacting to circumstances more and more, and Instead of compromising it, set aside time in your calendar to think strategically about your business each week and make it a fundamental part of your work.
Obstacle 7: Ineffective meetings
Business is a combination of conversations, and the primary vehicle for these interactions is meetings. Research by Leslie Perlow, a professor at Harvard Business School, found that 83% of senior executives said Meeting Not using time efficiently. Use the scaffolding of the strategy meeting framework I designed to ensure each meeting incorporates intention (agenda, purpose, preparation), decision-making (eliminating topics from future time), and insights (learning, action items, and next steps).
Obstacle Eight: Tactical Weeds
Richard Parsons, former chairman and CEO of Time Warner, said: “When you have non-critical thinkers on your team, they are always chasing rabbits. They hinder the quality and results of discussions because They ask the wrong questions or focus on the wrong issues, which ultimately limits what you can achieve as a team. Set aside meetings for purely strategic conversations and quick “parking”. tactical theme when they appear.
Overcoming eight barriers to strategic thinking
A young woman was hiking on a mountain trail she had never explored before. After hiking for an hour, she passed several older women. They waved and said, “You are hiking too fast. Why don’t you slow down and enjoy the scenery?” So the young woman slowed down.
An hour later she encountered two men sitting on a rock. They smiled and said, “If you want to reach the top of the mountain and back before dark, you’d better speed up your pace.” So the young woman walked over quickly.
As she neared the top of the mountain, she noticed a young man walking on another path above her. He said, “Why are you walking there? The scenery is more beautiful here.” So the young woman changed her direction and walked higher. path of.
She finally reached the top of that beautiful and breathtaking mountain and soaked in it. “My child,” the monk said, “you look like you are in a hurry. Sit here, breathe the fresh air, and become one with the mountain. So the young woman sat down, closed her eyes, and meditated. By the time she finished speaking, night had fallen Down came the darkness. She stood up and walked straight away…from the edge of the cliff. She was indeed one with the mountain.
There will always be people telling you, “Do this, not that… hurry up… no, slow down… stop here, no… stop there…” criticizing your every move. While you should read what others are saying to gain relevant insights, you’ll primarily rely on the greatest navigational instrument ever designed…your mind. If you chart your course by continuing to develop your ability to think, plan, and act strategically, and use these skills as your compass, your journey will be as fulfilling as your destination.
Strategic Thinking Podcast
Are you tactical or strategic? Research shows this is the difference between bankruptcy and Kevlar’s competitive advantage. In today’s world, poor strategy is the leading cause of business failure, only a quarter of leaders use strategic thinking, and strategic adaptability is a meta-skill of elite executives.
In Strategic Thinking, you’ll join New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Rich Horwath in conversations with distinguished leaders and world-class experts to learn new ways to think, plan, and act strategically. You’ll discover game-changing insights, tips, and techniques to improve your performance and make you a true game-changer in your field.
Following the in-depth guest interviews, stay tuned for three valuable segments: “Practice Creates Profit,” where Rich shares tools and techniques for practicing becoming more strategic; “Strategic Thinking Alliance”: Rich answers audience questions Questions; and “Winsights”: Rich ends with a quote and questions that apply to your business.
subscription Strategic Thinking Podcast page on YouTube or Submit your question Strategic Thought Alliance section.
