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Abstract: This article explores how leaders can demonstrate their strategic thinking skills to key stakeholders through various actions and outputs. It first defines strategic thinking and its main components, including environmental scanning, future orientation, synthesis, adaptability, and intuition. The article then discusses how leaders can communicate strategic thinking through comprehensive yet accessible strategic planning documents, ongoing messaging and communication about strategies and progress, effectively managing organizational change, strategic decision-making, and fostering continuous learning. Specific best practices and examples are provided for each area. The article aims to provide concrete guidance for leaders seeking to exemplify their strategic orientation in tangible ways. Developing a consistent repertoire of actions emphasizing environmental scanning, future visioning and adaptation can help leaders and organizations strengthen their strategic dexterity to navigate today's dynamic business environment.
Strategic thinking is a critical skill for leaders in organizations to possess. It involves the ability to anticipate future challenges and opportunities, understand the environment in which the organization operates, see the 'big picture', connect the dots between seemingly unrelated issues, and adapt strategies over time (Kaplan & Norton, 2008). However, demonstrating strategic thinking can be difficult, as it involves thought processes that are not always tangible or easy to quantify.
Today we will explore how leaders can actively demonstrate their strategic thinking skills to key stakeholders through various actions and outputs. Through applying research on strategic leadership combined with practical examples, leaders will gain understanding and ideas on putting strategic thought into practice.
Defining Strategic Thinking
Before exploring how to demonstrate strategic thinking, it is important to understand what the concept entails. Researchers have studied strategic thinking extensively and identified several common elements (Mintzberg, 1994; Laud, 2020):
Environmental scanning: The ability to closely monitor trends, disruptions, competitors and broader forces shaping an industry. This involves collecting diverse perspectives.
Future orientation: Thinking 3-5 years ahead and envisioning plausible future scenarios, both positive and negative, to guide current decisions.
Synthesis: Drawing insights by connecting disparate pieces of information and seeing how they fit together into a coherent whole.
Holistic perspective: Considering all facets of an organization, from finances to operations to culture, and how they interact as an integrated system.
Adaptability: Recognizing when strategies need adjusting due to shifts inside or outside the organization and being comfortable with ambiguity.
Intuition: Relying on judgment and experience, not just data analysis, to develop an insightful big picture view.
This foundation provides a starting point for discussing specific actions leaders can take to communicate their strategic thinking abilities to others.
Demonstrating Strategic Thinking through Planning Documents
One of the primary ways leaders showcase strategic thinking is by developing comprehensive yet accessible strategic plans. Research finds that effective plans involve (Bryson, 2004):
Formal mission/vision statements: Concise descriptions of an organization's purpose and long-term goals that inspire and guide decisions.
Environmental scanning analysis: A thorough review of trends, opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses using both qualitative and quantitative data.
Strategic issues identification: Focusing on 2-5 overarching challenges/areas requiring attention, not day-to-day tasks.
Multi-year objectives and strategies: clearly defined and measurable objectives for the next 3-5 years to work towards the vision, along with high-level strategies for achieving them.
Resource allocation linkage: Alignment between strategies, objectives, initiatives and budgets to enable execution.
Effective communication: Using straightforward language and visuals to engage all stakeholders in understanding big-picture priorities.
For example, shipping giant Maersk realized it needed to transform beyond shipping containers by sea alone. Its new strategic plan outlines a coordinated long-term ‘blue’ strategy focused on sustainable, digital and integrated logistics solutions by 2030 (Maersk, 2021). By proactively scanning disruptive trends and crafting multi-faceted strategies, Maersk demonstrates to investors its adeptness at strategic thinking.
Demonstrating Strategic Thinking through Communication
Once a strategic plan is in place, continuous communication is important to demonstrate how strategic thinking guides decisions and initiatives on an ongoing basis. Research reveals several best practices (Hrebeniak, 2005):
Executive messaging: Sharing high-level mission, barriers encountered, and progress made towards priorities through all-staff meetings, emails, videos to inspire stakeholders.
Linking activities to vision: Relating daily activities back to overarching strategic objectives to show “big picture” orientation and purpose, even in mundane tasks.
Inviting feedback: Actively soliciting input during changes from those impacted to refine strategic thinking based on diverse viewpoints.
Storytelling: Using real-world success stories to bring strategies to life and reinforce their reasoning through various media.
Adapting messaging: Tweaking communication approaches based on audience to ensure relevance and clarity of strategic messaging across levels.
For example, global consulting firm Accenture invites client feedback quarterly on industry trends to strengthen strategic foresight for its services. Its leaders then share insights gained through brief communications, demonstrating how strategy evolves iteratively based on environment scans. This communication mindset sustains strategic focus.
Demonstrating Strategic Thinking through Managing Change Effectively
Change enables strategies but many initiatives fail from poor execution. Strategic leaders demonstrate thinking by successfully piloting changes (Kotter, 2012):
Create urgency: Communicate why status quo jeopardizes mission to gain buy-in for bold steps
Form coalition: Build cross-functional teams empowered to experiment fast and learn through failures
Develop vision: Align change around compelling strategies with tangible objectives
Communicate relentlessly: Over-communicate vision and goals through consistent, influential messaging
Remove barriers: Eliminate policies, structures obstructing innovative ideas from teams
Create short-term wins: Recognize and scale high-impact pilots to reinforce momentum
Build on change: Continuously refine based on feedback until transforming culture fully
Netflix famously disrupted itself through agile changes like unlimited streaming and original content creation. By rapidly testing new strategies, removing silos, and iterating offerings driven by membership behavior data, Netflix demonstrates strategic dexterity essential for industry leadership.
Demonstrating Strategic Thinking through Effective Decision Making
Strategic leaders don't just plan—they strategically decide how to allocate capital and resources. Research shows how to display this skill (Bonn & Christodoulou, 1996):
Consider alternatives systematically: Weigh pros/cons of options versus strategic priorities through structured frameworks before deciding
Avoid irrelevant fixations: Do not get drawn into non-strategic debates unrelated to mission or sticking stubbornly to suboptimal ideas
Embrace calculated risks: Weigh upside potential of innovative ideas versus downside risks and select bold options periodically to transform
Remain future-oriented: Use a ‘line-of-sight’ decision lens of how options impact long-term success versus short-term gains alone
Solicit diverse perspectives: Integrate input from throughout organization before finalizing to mitigate blindspots
Tesla demonstrates strategic decision-making by prioritizing autonomy and electric vehicle innovations over near-term profits to shape mobility long-term. Its calculated gambles like entering new markets demonstrate foresight valued by investors.
Demonstrating Strategic Thinking through Continuous Learning
Innovation arises from ongoing refinement of thinking. Strategic leaders display this by fostering learning environments (Dinh et al., 2014):
Conduct after-action reviews: Evaluate what went well and flaws after key initiatives to update understanding
Encourage experimentation: Tolerate failures from testing new approaches and replicate successes cross-functionally
Cultivate idea generation: Enlist employees' perspectives outside normal roles through brainstorming sessions
Disseminate lessons learned: Systematically share case studies and performance data across organization
Update strategies iteratively: Revise periodically based on evolving contexts instead of rigidly adhering to obsolete plans
For example, global logistics company Hermes actively pilots emerging technologies across its multi-country network to rapidly learn. By welcoming ideas from staff regardless of role and transparently sharing knowledge, Hermes exhibits strategic thinking's foundation in continuous refinement.
Conclusion
Strategic thinking enables anticipating challenges and opportunities to outmaneuver competitors with coordinated responses. However, demonstrating this critical leadership skill presents challenges itself given its intangible nature. This essay aimed to provide concrete guidance based on research for leaders seeking to more visibly exemplify their strategic orientation.
From crafting accessible strategic plans to communicating the bigger picture behind changes to empowering ongoing learning, leaders now have an approach for “putting strategy into practice” through specific actions. While no single activity fully captures strategic thinking, a consistent repertoire emphasizing environmental scanning, future orientation and adapting to shifts will develop organizational strategic dexterity valued in today's dynamic business climate. By applying these recommendations, leaders can tangibly share their strategic mindset to drive long-term success.
References
Bryson, J. M. (2004). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement (Vol. 1). John Wiley & Sons.
Bonn, I., & Christodoulou, C. (1996). From strategic planning to strategic management. Long Range Planning, 29(4), 543-551.
Dinh, J. E., Lord, R. G., Gardner, W. L., Meuser, J. D., Liden, R. C., & Hu, J. (2014). Leadership theory and research in the new millennium: Current theoretical trends and changing perspectives. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 36-62.
Hrebeniak, L. G. (2005). Making strategy work: Leading effective execution and change. Pearson Education.
Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (2008). The execution premium: Linking strategy to operations for competitive advantage. Harvard Business Press.
Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change. Harvard business press.
Laud, R. (2020). Strategic thinking: Concepts, tools, processes and practice. Pearson Education.
Mintzberg, H. (1994). The rise and fall of strategic planning: Reconceiving roles for planning, plans, planners. Prentice-Hall.
Jonathan H. Westover, PhD is Chief Academic & Learning Officer (HCI Academy); Chair/Professor, Organizational Leadership (UVU); OD Consultant (Human Capital Innovations). Read Jonathan Westover's executive profile here.
Suggested Citation: Westover, J. H. (2024). Strategies for Showcasing Your Strategic Leadership Skills. Human Capital Leadership Review, 14(1). doi.org/10.70175/hclreview.2020.14.1.5
