Abney Ramsay Associates: How to Get Your Employees to Think Strategically

1
How to Get Your Employees to Think Strategically
Abney Ramsay Associates
2
Abney Ramsay Associates
What leadership skill do your employees,
colleagues, and peers view as the most important
for you to have? According Robert Kabacoff, the
vice president of research at Management Research
Group, a company that creates business assessment
tools, it's the ability to plan strategically.  
3
Abney Ramsay Associates
He has research to back it up In the Harvard
Business Review, he cites a 2013 study by his
company in which 97 percent of a group of 10,000
senior executives said strategic thinking is the
most critical leadership skill for an
organization's success. In another study, he
writes, 60,000 managers and executives in more
than 140 countries rated a strategic approach to
leadership as more effective than other
attributes including innovation, persuasion,
communication, and results orientation. But
what's so great about strategic thinking?
Kabacoff says that as a skill, it's all about
being able to see, predict, and plan ahead
"Strategic leaders take a broad, long-range
approach to problem-solving and decision-making
that involves objective analysis, thinking ahead,
and planning.
4
Abney Ramsay Associates
That means being able to think in multiple time
frames, identifying what they are trying to
accomplish over time and what has to happen now,
in six months, in a year, in three years, to get
there," he writes. "It also means thinking
systemically. That is, identifying the impact of
their decisions on various segments of the
organization--including internal departments,
personnel, suppliers, and customers."   As a
leader, you also need to pass strategic thinking
to your employees, Kabacoff says. He suggests
instilling the skill in your best managers first,
and they will help pass it along to other natural
leaders within your company's ranks. Below, read
his five tips for how to carry out this process.
5
Abney Ramsay Associates
Dish out information.   Kabacoff says that you
need to encourage managers to set aside time to
thinking strategically until it becomes part of
their job. He suggests you provide them with
information on your company's market, industry,
customers, competitors, and emerging
technologies. "One of the key prerequisites of
strategic leadership is having relevant and broad
business information that helps leaders elevate
their thinking beyond the day-to-day," he
writes.
6
Abney Ramsay Associates
Create a mentor program.   Every manager in your
company should have a mentor. "One of the most
effective ways to develop your strategic skills
is to be mentored by someone who is highly
strategic," Kabacoff says. "The ideal mentor is
someone who is widely known for his/her ability
to keep people focused on strategic objectives
and the impact of their actions."
7
Abney Ramsay Associates
Create a philosophy.   As the leader, you need
to communicate a well-articulated philosophy, a
mission statement, and achievable goals
throughout your company. "Individuals and groups
need to understand the broader organizational
strategy in order to stay focused and incorporate
it into their own plans and strategies," Kabacoff
writes.
8
Abney Ramsay Associates
Reward thinking, not reaction.   Whenever
possible, try to promote foresight and long-term
thinking. Kabacoff says you should reward your
managers for the "evidence of thinking, not just
reacting," and for "being able to quickly
generate several solutions to a given problem and
identifying the solution with the greatest
long-term benefit for the organization."
9
Abney Ramsay Associates
Ask "why" and "when.   Kabacoff says you need
to promote a "future perspective" in your
company. If a manager suggests a course of
action, you need to him or her ask two questions
First, what underlying strategic goal does this
action serve, and why? And second, what kind of
impact will this have on internal and external
stakeholders? "Consistently asking these two
questions whenever action is considered will go a
long way towards developing strategic leaders,"
he writes.   Visit our website
http//www.araainc.com/