Strategic thinking in leadership is a huge topic. Yet, one fun Brainzooming client asked us to distill a complete learning experience that would bolster its newly formed leadership team's strategic thinking into a half-day Idea Magnets workshop on strategic thinking in leadership.
The challenge? We could deliver THREE days of Idea Magnets-based content about strategic thinking in leadership!
As a resource for them (and for you), here is a mega-compilation post on strategic thinking in leadership.
Strategic Thinking in Leadership
From our perspective, strategy and strategic thinking are different.
In the Brainzooming world, strategic thinking is addressing what matters with insight and innovation. Its goal is to create a willingness to address challenging issues and to inspire people to use their imaginations as they envision many possibilities, turning the best ones into realities.
While setting strategy may be the responsibility of senior management, we FIRMLY believe and readily share an important idea: strategic thinking and leadership need to happen throughout any organization.
Here’s how we contrast these two important business functions.
Strategy involves:
- Setting the organizational direction
- A subset of people with responsibility for determining it
- Specific time windows where it is reviewed and determined
Strategic Thinking & Leadership involves:
- Shaping & implementing the strategic direction
- Engaging everyone in the organization to participate
- Daily attention and focus
What Is Strategic Thinking in Leadership?
Strategic thinking in leadership incorporates seven elements:
- Focusing on what matters
- Uncovering and leveraging robust insights
- Continually identifying innovation opportunities
- Timely and sound decision making
- Engaging employees
- Anticipating change
- Delivering consistent performance
Emerging from that definition of strategic thinking in leadership, these 43 Brainzooming articles expand how to strengthen your capabilities in this vital area:
Strategic Thinking
Strategic Thinking Focuses on What Matters
- Strategic Thinking Questions to Identify What Matters for a Brand
- 9 Strategic Thinking Questions to Start Strategic Conversations
- Creative Thinking: Tesco Homeplus Virtual Subway Store
- What Kind of Perfection Are You Looking For?
- 3 Critical Thinking Perspectives
- Three Strategic Voices to Include on Your Team
- 15 Questions to Identify Heads Up People
Strategic Thinking Depends on Insights
- 12 Ways Project Teams Can Stay out of the Weeds
- 3 Ways to Keep Strategic Priorities Front and Center with Executives
- Keep Going!
- From Market Research to Business Insights
- 9 Fundamentals to Turn Talk into Strategy
- Can You Change Your Look?
- Time Is Always Short
- Improve the Success of Your Recommendations!
Strategic Thinking Leads to Innovation
- Innovation Opportunity – Knowing When New and Innovative Becomes Status Quo
- 3 Questions to Decide What’s Strategic
- Creating Change and Change Management – 4 Strategy Options
- Would you like S, M, L, or XL Creative Ideas?
- 24 Ideas for When a Great New Idea Is Lacking
- New, Innovative Ideas – Strategy Planning with What’s It Like
- 12 Triggers for Finding Strategic Connections
- A Creative Thinking Skills Recharge with 49 Powerful Questions
Leading Strategically
Quick Decision Making
- Strategic Thinking Exercise – Simply Making Big Decisions
- Making Decision Making Easier – She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not
- Making a Decision – 7 Situations Begging for Quick Decisions
- Prioritizing with Pain
- Making Quick Decisions During Strategic Planning – 5 Key Questions
Engaging Employees
- The Brainzooming Results eBook
- Employee Engagement Strategies – Pigs, Chickens, and What Great Leaders Do
- 5 Keys to Engaging Employees in Innovation Strategy – Our Buy-In Manifesto
- Strategic Thinking Success – 3 Critical Thinking Perspectives
- Strategic Thinking Perspectives – Three Strategic Voices to Include on Your Team
Anticipating Forward-Looking Change
- A Career-Changing Business Quote – 10 Years Later
- Creating Strategic Impact – 15 Resources on Strategic Agility
- Strategic Thinking Exercises – Creating Strategic Impact with a Twist
- A Strategy for Predicting the Future More Accurately
- Strategic Thinking Exercise – Black Swan Events in Your Plan
- Strategic Planning – 4 Steps to Plan for Unplanned Events
Delivering Consistent Performance
- Implementation Strategy – How to Create Strategy for Results
- 9 Strategic Thinking Questions – Helping Teams Execute Strategy
- 5 Questions to Move Creative Thinking into Action
- Strategic Thinking Exercise – Who Can You Trust?
We conclude the workshop with an important idea: ultimately, all you can control is the integrity of your effort. That, in many ways, is your one job. Everything else springs from this. – Mike Brown
Engage Stakeholders & Improve Results
FREE Download: "Results!!! Creating Strategic Impact"
Leaders need high-impact ways to develop employees that can provide input into strategy and then turn it into results. This Brainzooming mini-book, "Results - Creating Strategic Impact" unveils ten proven lessons leaders can use to boost collaboration, meaningful strategic conversations, and results.
Download this free, action-focused mini-book to:
- Learn smart ways to separate strategic opportunities from the daily noise of business
- Increase focus for your team with productive strategy questions everyone can use
- Actively engage stakeholders in strategy AND implementation success
