Have you ever been told that you are too tactical? If you feel stuck in place and have difficulty being seen as having a high potential for an executive position, you just need to flex those strategic muscles more often.

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Transcript

Have you ever been told that you are “too tactical”? Maybe you have and maybe you haven’t, but if you feel like you are stuck in place and having a hard time being seen as a high potential for an executive position, you may need to start flexing those strategic muscles a bit more. The more time you spend taking a strategic view, the easier it will get, until you almost don’t want to take any action without considering how it will affect larger organizational goals. When you really understand the strategic view of your organization, you’ll have an expansion in your mind, one of those where once you realize it, you won’t be able to unsee it. In this case, that’s a good thing. You will clearly start asking if this is the ultimate vision, why is this team taking these actions? You will start to notice when something is out of alignment and you will feel uncomfortable when you notice things out of alignment and you will feel super-empowered when you know you are taking actions fully in alignment with clear strategic intent. It is my opinion that while you can be too tactical, you really cannot be too strategic. Especially when you are looking to make a bigger impact in an industry that you love.

A couple years prior to being selected to the executive position I am currently in, I interviewed two times for the same panel for two different positions at another organization prior to the current position I am in now. For the first of those 2 previous interviews, I talked to the hiring manager and he gave me feedback that I had a good interview, but I was “not strategic enough”. That was the only actionable feedback I received – “Not strategic enough.” So, then after that, a position for the Head of Strategic Policy and alignment came open in a different organization I read the requirements for that position and considered applying, but decided not to, mostly due to timing. Before I 100% decided not to apply, I did read a few books about Strategic Thinking, including:

“Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why it Matters” by Richard Rumelt and “Vision Driven Leader” by Michael Hyatt.

That is around the time that the second of the two previous positions I had interviewed for opened. I was called for a second interview and in preparation for that interview, given all the feedback I had received from the same hiring manager, I went on a Strategic Mission. I prepared answers to common questions ahead of time, that included alignment to Strategic Messaging in that organization and the industry, in general. I read about how the industry was moving at a global scale, I also included my strong vision for what I would do if given the opportunity to serve in that capacity. Since this was the second time I was interviewing with that panel, and I had worked with several of them over the previous 15 years, they knew me and did clearly recognize that I had stepped up my game big time. In fact, at the end of that interview – all three of them gave me highly positive acclimations and affirmations that I had interviewed VERY well. One of them even said, WOW, Tami – great interview in the moment. I did not get that position either but… they knew the executive position I eventually DID get promoted into (only six months later) was about to open, and they asked me, at the end of that interview, if I had applied for this current executive-level position. I told them that it was not yet open for applications, so no, I had not. It turns out that it was a blessing in disguise that they did not hire me that day. I would have 100% taken it, if they had, and I would have missed the opportunity for the executive position I am in today. I would have accepted the other position, which was senior, but not at the executive level because I thought it was not very likely that I would be “the one” chosen for this current position I am in – which highlights an upper-limit problem I had for myself. The hiring manager did call me once they had made their decision for that last interview to tell me that they were very impressed and that it was very “close” but that they decided to go with a different candidate. I was a bit bummed, but decided to go all-in on the executive application which included a pretty intense package of information. Looking back now, that I am in this current executive-level role – I realize those couple of years where I spent time interviewing for positions out of my comfort zone, listening to feedback from hiring managers, and then taking active steps to improve myself, given their feedback, 100% prepared me for when I did interview for this executive-level position I am in today.

I tell you this because it is possible for you to elevate your thinking and to strengthen your strategic thinking muscles. In fact, it is essential. Still, if you haven’t yet considered this or if you are still getting feedback that you are not strategic enough or too tactical, I want you to know that you have the power to improve your situation. As you do, you will begin to make an exponentially bigger impact and will surprise yourself at who you are able to become.

Dr. John Sullivan, who is a professor of management at San Francisco State University said: “I’m often asked by executives what percentage of employees in a firm should be strategic thinkers, leaders, and innovators. My answer is always the same: You can’t have too many. Unfortunately, few companies ever end up with a surplus of this exceptional talent.”

What is the difference between Tactical and Strategic thinking?

Strategic thinking is when you take time to focus on the larger goals and direction of an organization, a project, or even your life. Where to you want to go? Why? How does this vision interrelate with shifting economic sands or world events? Where is the industry heading overall? When you create a strategy, you create a path that the organization can follow. If you are not the CEO yet, when the strategy is set, this gives direction to the employees of the organization at all levels on the general direction the company has decided to travel.

Tactical thinking is not bad, it is essential. Tactical thinking and tactical actions are the steps and processes that will eventually make the strategy a reality. The thing is that sometimes, people never lift up their head and look around to see that they have spent so much time working on this one piece of the puzzle, that they didn’t even notice that the company doesn’t even make carts to be pulled by a horse anymore, they have moved on to electric cars. <> You know I’m being a little facetious, but companies do move on and there is usually some percentage of the company who has a hard time transitioning.

If you want to set yourself up as a person who is a high-potential for an executive position, You need to spend some percentage of your time focused on strategic thinking. For whatever you are in charge of now, think to yourself: am I leading this area of the company in a way that is leading it toward where the current CEO and strategic documents are signaling? You can always think of ways to move further ahead and to innovate, so even if you think you are going in the right direction – take time to consider if you can do more or improve further. I schedule this time on my calendar and then do my best to honor it.

You can tell the companies that spend their time in the day-to-day and usually the people who keep their head down and don’t pay attention to the larger organizational goals. They spend time reacting, going from fire to fire, and they are usually annoyed because things keep changing. Maybe they get left out of important conversations, or feel completely ignored. The way to get in the mix or to stay in the mix and start advancing to more senior levels, is to align yourself to the current strategy and then actively demonstrate how your actions or the actions of your team are exponentially moving the company goals forward. A company or a person who only focuses on tactical thinking will have a much higher chance of being seen as mediocre, or even sub-par. The ones who are willing to learn the vision and direction of the current strategy will be seen as leaders and will start to float up.

The way this shows up in job interviews is that when you are asked a question, you answer it in a very specific way, as if you are a subject matter expert on the widget. They can see that you might be the best widget maker they have met. When you answer the same question with strategic thinking involved, you spend a little time going into some detail about your area of expertise. You then transition to your vision for how a simple innovation in the process would set up this company to lead the industry, because of a supply chain solution that would drive. It would save the company 10-20% on raw materials and the ability to keep the product in inventory would keep their customer base on as loyal-repeat business. Do you see the difference? In both responses, you are a tactical subject matter expert, you clearly understand what you are talking about in the technical realm. The difference is how you connect your deep knowledge to ways the company can solve an industry-wide problem or drive a higher profit.

One point of caution: It is not really possible to think strategically too much, but ONLY thinking strategically without good tactics to progress the plan will keep you in dreamer mode and nothing will ever be achieved – so you do have to take intense action, all the while making sure you are doing it in line with the current strategy.

If you think you are spending too much time in tactical thinking vs strategic thinking – what can you do to change it?

The good news, you 100% can improve your strategic thinking muscles. It does not take much time, mostly just awareness and a willingness to learn and grow!

Here are some actions you can take today:

• In the organization you are in now, or the one you most want to work in, go to their company websites and download all the strategic documentation you can find. If it is the company you work for currently, they have probably sent links to you with vision statements, updated strategic plans, and annual goals. Take time to read them, and note key points of interest you haven’t noticed before and highlight any key point that 100% applies to your department or team.

• Now, do the same thing for your overall industry and maybe for a different industry as well.

• Brainstorm 5-10 things your department could do, beginning immediately to move to be more in alignment with the current strategy.

• Mark at least one hour (or more if you can) on your calendar, every week or two to doing nothing but think about the strategy and if your team is heading the right way. Including always thinking about new ideas to improve and innovate. Eventually it will be natural.

• Talk to the current team you lead and discuss what you have been thinking about and the ideas you have for moving more toward the vision. Ask them if they have any ideas. Then, decide as a team, that you are going to work to implement a few of the ideas. If they need to be approved by a higher level, prepare proposals to get a decision made – highlighting why this is good for the organization and will result in a strategic win.

• When you know you’re going to interview for another organization, this is the exact reason people always say to “read about the company” ahead of time. It is not just so you know the name of the CEO, but rather doing research ahead of time will allow you to have an idea about how to discuss how your visions for the new position will help the company in a way that moves them forward strategically, while also demonstrating that you are a technical expert.

It is important that executives take the time to step back from day-to-day problems and do the work that aligns their job with the company’s strategy. If you want to be an executive, the sooner you teach yourself to do this the more helpful it will be as you get promoted to more successive positions.

Ok, so from this day forward, make the decision that no one is going to tell you that you are “too tactical” again. Just like going to the gym and lifting the heavy weight – you can work your strategic muscles and become a person who is able to connect the tactical steps to industry and organizational strategy