Happy Thursday,
There’s a strange idea in leadership that being “strategic” starts when you reach a senior role or make the executive team. I don’t buy it, and neither should you. In fact, if an organisation reserves “being strategic” for its higher echelons, I’d bet that organisation isn’t particularly strategic at all. Because to succeed, you need leaders at every level thinking strategically, in their own way. Here’s how you can shift that and help every leader be strategic.
🧠 LEARN something.
At its simplest, strategy is about choices. All those fancy business buzzwords, catchy phrases, vision statements, long-term plans, big-picture or future thinking mean absolutely nothing if they don’t help people make better choices today. And this is where many strategies designed in boardrooms become disconnected from the frontline and fail in execution. Because they don’t really help leaders on the front line make real choices that happen every single day, at every level of your organisation. Or worse still, your people are making choices anyway, but those choices and decisions are not aligned with where you want to go. A team leader deciding which problem deserves attention first is making a strategic choice. A manager questioning whether a process that worked three years ago still serves the organisation is thinking strategically. A leader protecting their team from low-value work so they can focus on what matters most is behaving strategically.
The shift happens when you stop asking, “What do I need to do?” and start asking, “What are we trying to achieve, and what does that mean for what I do now?” Research into strategic thinking consistently points to the ability to connect decisions across time, systems, and consequences. A leader who understands context and connects today’s choices to tomorrow’s outcomes is being strategic, and that happens at every level without requiring the word “strategy” in your job description. You might not decide where the organisation is going, but if you understand where it is headed, you can make better decisions. That’s the distinction. And if leaders at every level aren’t doing that, how strategic can your organisation really be?
🤔 REFLECT on an idea.
Porter’s point is exactly why strategy can’t belong only to the executive team. The strategy might be set at the top, but the choices that determine whether you achieve it are made by leaders every day, right across the organisation. If those choices aren’t connected to the strategy, then the strategy is really just a plan.
😊 SMILE a little.
There are two types of “strategic” leaders:
1) The whiteboard type, who draw circles, add some arrows, say “ecosystem” and “synergy” every third sentence, and speak like they’re in the final round of interviews at McKinsey.
2) And then there are leaders who make decisions and tough choices.
Which one would you rather report to? 😂
✅ DO IT to get results.
If you want strategic thinking and decision-making to cascade across your organisation, everyone needs to understand the strategic direction so they can act in accordance with it. But that’s not a call for another strategy video, presentation or town hall. Instead, ask yourself one question: Do the leaders reporting to me understand the strategy, intent and context in a way that actually makes sense to them? That’s it.
Then expect those leaders to do the same with their leaders and teams. Strategic communication isn’t a polished speech from the CEO. It’s a cascade from leader to leader, where the strategy gets translated at every level in a way that’s meaningful enough to guide decisions at that level. Because ultimately, that’s what you need every leader to do: make better choices today, with tomorrow in mind.
🌱 How can we support you?
We provide strategic leadership solutions tailored to align with your business strategy, size, and budget. We can support you with:
-
Individual Coaching (for leaders and doers)
-
Team Coaching (for group and leadership teams)
-
Workshops, off-sites, and team building
-
In-house Leadership Programs to suit your scale.
Kia pai tō wiki
Kenny Bhosale
CEO & Founder, The Bridge Leaders
