3 Keys To Healthy Strategy

Mal Fletcher Added 19 April 2009

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Unleashing The Power Of Strategic Thinking

Leaders at any level, in any field or endeavour, recognise the importance of vision.

In fact, so much is said and written about vision today that it is in danger of becoming nothing more than a buzz-word. In some quarters, vision has become an industry in its own right; entire bookstores tell us how to set goals and targets for achievement.

For a leader, though, vision must be seen as much more than a buzz-word, something to put in the title of a seminar.

Vision keeps us alive. Vision keeps us focussed and disciplined; it enables us to say that most difficult of words, 'no', to things that will distract us from our core purpose.

Without vision, we are in danger of losing our grip on what is essential for us, becoming emergency-driven responders rather than purpose-motivated leaders.

Sadly, vision is all too often replaced by things that seem easier to control. For example, a reliance on administration and management techniques. Many corporate leaders hope that 'power management' skills alone will help expand their brand. Or that new internal structures that help maintain the status quo, will somehow substitute for a real heart-felt, inner conviction.

Thankfully, in the current economic downturn, many leaders are now throwing off all this baggage and asking the big, vision questions again. Why does my company, enterprise or organisation exist? What change are we hoping to bring; what value do we add to people's lives? How can I inspire my team to stay focussed during the downturn - and even to sharpen their effectiveness by aligning their actions with the big pictue vision? How can I and my team position ourselves for greater influence once the dust of recession settles and new opportunities emerge?

Leaders who ask these questions realise that the bottom line is just the bottom line; that teams of people can only be ever be really 'sold' on something when it connects with them emotionally. And feeling is usually the result of vision, not administration. Nobody gets excited about bureacracy...

Having said that, some leaders who develop a clear vision do not stay with the 'incubation' process long enough to see the vision evolve into a strategy. If our dreams are going to bring us greater influence, prominence or market share, purposes must be married to concrete plans.

There are at least three things that are true of strategic thinking:

1. Strategic Thinking is focussed on the Long-Term.

Real influence is not born in a week, a month or even a year of networking conferences, sales meetings or trade shows. It comes only as a result of long-term strategic focus and a determination to stay with the programme until tangible change has been achieved.

And influence can't be measured simply in terms of the metrics of sales figures, pie charts and the like. Influence is a by-product of changed thinking, a shift in paradigms. You will never have real influence as a leader or a company, unless you can look beyond your own interests and see those of the broader community of human beings, of which you are but a part.

This is a fundamental difference between management and leadership. Management looks for best practice, leadership for big principles.

The key strategic question for every leader, in any field of endeavour, is this: 'What kind of city do you want people to be living in, ten years from now - and what will you do now to help set that in motion?'

To succeed in leadership, we need a vision of a preferred future, not just for our team or company, but for the community that company serves. Only this kind of mega-think can breed strategies that produce major change and add real value to human lives.

2. Strategic Thinking calls for Alliances.

Strategic thinkers are good at building alliances with other leaders because, for them, the goal is more important than the method or style. By 'goal', I don't simply mean the narrow focus of moving a particular product or service line - I mean the change that this will bring to people's lives.

NGO's and other charitable organisations have long understood the power of alliances. They extend your resources and your reach; they add the weight of numbers and a multiplicity of creative talents to push forward a worthwhile agenda. The bring momentum, because they add mass.

Today, we're seeing alliances built between leaders of companies and organisations old and new, large and small.

The new organisation strengths of vision, passion and ease of mobility stand well alongside the older organisation strengths of proven credibility, financial resources and visibility.

Alliances are forming between groups that have very different histories, emphases and modes of operation - both within one industry and across industry lines.

Once new technologies and approaches are born out of alliances, individual groups can then break away to develop these into marketable products and services.

In an increasingly competitive world - and crowded markets - we know that there must be greater emphasis on collaboration; partly because recent events have shown us that rampant, unbridled competition gets us into hot water.

Besides, if we're to tackle some of the really big problems affecting people's lives today, we must work together, pooling precious resources.

In tough times, people become even more wary than usual of companies they perceive to be 'on the prowl', whose only drive is to sell something. People are looking for ways to solve problems and make their lives a little less confusing and anxious. Building alliances can help leaders of organisations to find ways of offering that.

3. Strategic Thinking demands Sacrifice.

In the end, growth and influence in any field will always shift toward those who have the strongest convictions, those who are willing to lay everything on the line for the cause.

In leadership, there simply is no substitute for passion. Again, this is why vision and not product must come first. Vision, if it is focussed on adding value to human beings, produces strong convictions which can help see you through even the toughest recession.

In many ways, your own convictions about any situation, product or service are the dominant message your team will receive. No matter how big you 'talk', if your life doesn't match the grandiose words, people's energy and commitment will fall away.

Institutional entropy sets in when there's no example of sacrifice from the top. You can talk a good game all you want, but only big actions truly inspire people to go 'the whole nine yards' and make short-term sacrifices for potential long-term gains.

The drive of the pioneer leader is to 'boldly go where no-one has gone before.' In an already recession-weary world, faced as they are by external pressures and internal stress, some leaders are sinking into defensive mode. It's the Rip Van Winkle syndrome: 'Just wake me up when the worst is over; I'm not available till then...'

To turn things around, we need less maintenance mentality and more innovative, divergent thinking - more of the pioneer spirit! AS DH Burham once wrote: dream no small dreams, they have no magic to stir the blood of men.

Wise risks taken now may not produce immediate results in terms of bottom line growth, but they will inspire your team to greater exploits and they will create the culture of confidence needed to help you achieve your strategic goals.