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Developing Strategy05-Apr-2010

Q – I’ve gotten feedback from my boss that I need to be more “strategic.” When I ask him for specifics, he says I need to “bring more to the table” in terms of big ideas. I’m not even sure what this means… my team is doing great work, and I’m well liked by my peers and my direct reports. What am I missing?

A – Your boss wants you to to demonstrate “thought leadership”– that is, he wants you to develop a specific point of view about three things, each of which needs to be grounded in the context of the company’s position in the marketplace. Do some research about your industry, your competitors, and your own company’s capabilities, and then answer these three questions: 1) how can your team’s current products or services be enhanced to produce even greater results for the company? 2) where can you develop new products or services that will help the company move forward? 3) how can you partner more effectively with the rest of the organization (or with external partners) to help the company be successful? Leaders who get a reputation for being “strategic” do so by looking into the future and positioning their teams for success – they paint a picture of where the team needs to go,and chart a course for getting there. Leaders need to do more than just execute what’s right in front of them… they also need to create a vision for what’s next and a strategy for getting there.

Q - My team has developed a pretty good strategy for the new year - but I don't feel like it's connected to anything truly inspiring... any advice?

A - You need a vision and a mission to go with your strategy.  A vision explains the "why" for your team - why are we here?  What's this all for?  The vision should be aspirational, something that you're striving for - a reason to come to work every day.  Then, you need to declare the specific mission you're on - the mission is the "what".  It's what you are trying to achieve to realize the vision.  Imagine the vision to be something that gets people really excited, and the mission as something that focuses them on a specific goal.  The strategy, then, becomes the "how" - it's a blueprint or a roadmap for accomplishing the mission.  Spell all of this out for the team on a 1-page document (see the 1-Page Templates section) and you'll be ready to lead a motivated, focused team.