Great Leaders are Strategic Thinkers

We have all met the leader who micromanages our every move. This type of leadership is clear and decisive but may lack the current big picture of their organization. According to Harvard Business Review, leaders who are strategic thinkers spend their time asking and answering questions in these four areas, instead of micromanaging their workforce:

• Why does the organization exist and what is its purpose?
• What does it offer (and does not offer) its customers, and how and why this offer delivers value to these customers?
• What value or benefit does this produce for the business and for shareholders — the critical outcome metrics by which the organization will be judged?
• How will the people within the organization behave — toward customers, other stakeholders, and each other?

Consistently focusing on these areas provides clarity and certainty that your workforce is strategically heading in the right direction. It allows the leader to focus on the direction needed for the mission while allowing their workforce the freedom to be creative in the process of getting there.

And it is up to us as leaders to find ways to be strategic without having the benefit of money to fund new programs and methods. It is at this point, that the strategic leader maximizes everyone’s potential.

For more information on strategic leadership, click here to view Strategic Leadership in a VUCA World. U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Dr. Jonathan Woodson provides an interesting perspective on strategic leadership as volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous.

What are your thoughts about strategic leadership?

Janis Burl is part of the GovLoop Featured Blogger program, where we feature blog posts by government voices from all across the country (and world!). To see more Featured Blogger posts, click here.