Often, becoming a strategic leader isn’t a question of capability – it’s about capacity.
It’s common for leaders to find themselves trapped in operations because their professional lives are filled with meetings, day-to-day problems, deadlines, and decisions.
While tackling these everyday issues may seem productive because it delivers immediate value, the very habits that support operational success can become the biggest barrier to being a strategic thinker.
This is because strategic thinking can’t be confined to just 10 minutes in between Teams calls.
Strategy demands dedicated space and time, allowing leaders to look beyond today’s problems and towards future opportunities.
Those who can shift their mindset from ‘What needs doing next?’ to ‘What matters most?’ are the ones who will escape operations.
What is the difference between an operational leader and a strategic thinker?
If you want to learn how to become a more strategic leader, it’s important to identify the differences between strategic thinkers and operational leaders.
Covering topics such as how they spend their time, how they think and how they approach being a leader, there are many key differences between operational leaders and strategic thinkers, including:
Operational leaders don’t create time to think
Typically, a lack of strategy isn’t indicative of a lack of intelligence, it’s a lack of thinking time.
Many leaders fill every single minute with activity because they believe that activity equates to accomplishment, but strategic leaders protect their thinking time.
They know that strategy can only emerge when dedicated time is created to think, which means crowbarring thinking time in between meetings and an already overflowing schedule just isn’t going to cut it.
Leaders need time to look at the way they’re doing things, challenge the status quo and explore possibilities that may otherwise go unnoticed
Once you realise that thinking time isn’t time spent away from work – far from it, it is the work, and it’s what leaders are paid to do. You can achieve a better balance between supporting everyday operations and planning for the future.
Strategic thinkers lift their eyes above the horizon
One of the biggest differences between these two types of leaders is that operational leaders focus on today’s performance, while strategic leaders focus on tomorrow’s reality.
Strategic leaders are always thinking several steps ahead. They’re able to take a step back and ask themselves key questions, such as:
- What’s changing around us now?
- What challenges do we think might come?
- What opportunities do we think are emerging within our area or sector?
- What will matter in six months, a year, or even five years?
It’s this long-term thinking that really sets strategic leaders apart from operational ones because the further ahead a leader can see, the better prepared they can be right now.
Strategic thinkers focus on asking better questions
A lesson we learn at school is that the people who get the answers right are rewarded, which is exactly what operational leaders do. Strategic thinkers on the other hand, reward questions – not answers.
If you want to transition from an operational leader into a strategic one, you need to start rewarding questions, curiosity and thinking, rather than immediately trying to fix any issues that might arise.
This is because when leaders become more curious, they begin to recognise patterns and identify the root causes of problems rather than simply addressing the symptoms. They can also start to work out unintended consequences and how they’re impacting the organisation.
One of the easiest ways to aid this transition is to stop asking ‘How do we solve this?’ which is what an operational leader might ask, and instead question, ‘Why does this keep happening’ and ‘What can we learn from this to improve in the future?’.
Operational leaders spend too much time in the job
Often, individuals secure leadership roles because they’ve made themselves indispensable through continuous problem-solving.
While problem-solving is a key part of leadership, adopting this as your default operating model leaves leaders stuck in the weeds of the day to day operations rather than leading from the front with strategic insights.
Strategic leaders spend less time fixing recurring problems and more time designing environments and cultures where fewer problems arise in the first place.
They build the capability, processes, culture and clarity needed for strategy, rather than simply doing.
A simple way to think about this is to compare it to a construction project. In this scenario, strategic thinkers are the architects and operational leaders are the builders.
Ask yourself: is your leadership approach more like that of an architect or a builder?
Strategic thinkers have mastered the discipline of reflection
One of the simplest, yet most powerful leadership habits is reflection.
While it’s common for people to say experience is a great teacher, it’s the evaluation of the experience where lessons are learned.
In short, if you don’t take the time to evaluate and the reflect, then you’re unlikely to learn anything from the experience. The most effective leaders regularly take a moment to ask themselves a series of reflection questions, such as:
- What’s working and what’s not?
- What am I learning from this?
- What do I need to change?
Asking a series of questions that promote reflection can help to prevent experience from being turned into useless repetition. It’s only through reflection that an experience can transform from mere repetition into wisdom and make leaders smarter.
How to transition from operational leader to strategic thinker
Crucially, transitioning from manager to strategic leader isn’t about becoming less productive – which is a big and valid worry for leaders – it’s about becoming more intentional.
We see it all the time.
The leaders who create the greatest impact within an organisation are not necessarily the busiest in terms of meetings. This lack of meetings can make it appear like they’re not doing very much, but the reality is they’re intentionally dedicating this time to strategic thinking.
By creating time to think, gain clarity and see further ahead, they can act with more purpose moving forward. Because while action will inevitably drive progress, strategic thinking determines the direction of this progress.
And if you’re heading in the wrong direction, it doesn’t matter how fast or slow you’re moving, you’ll never arrive where you want to be.
What skills need developing to achieve this change?
Some of the most vital strategic thinking skills for executives include:
- Curiosity – not being afraid to ask questions
- Reflection – reflecting on experiences and what they can learn from this
- Time management – ensuring their time is invested where it creates the greatest value
- Proactive planning – anticipating future challenges and opportunities
Professional leadership development support
If you need expert support transitioning from an operational leader to a strategic thinker, speak to the Drew Povey Consultancy today.
We offer tailored leadership coaching for strategic growth that addresses specific concerns and objectives, equipping individuals and teams with the skills needed to make the change from operational leadership to strategic thinking.
To learn more about our services or how we can best support you, please don’t hesitate to fill out the online enquiry form. We’ll be in touch shortly to find out more!