What are some creative ways to incorporate Thought Leadership into strategic planning meetings?

1 Use a framework

A framework is a tool that helps you structure your thinking, communicate your ideas, and guide your actions. There are many frameworks that you can use to facilitate strategic planning, such as SWOT, OKR, SMART, or BSC. Choose a framework that suits your goals, context, and style, and use it as a basis for your thought leadership. For example, you can use SWOT to identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and then use OKR to set your objectives and key results.

2 Invite feedback

Feedback is essential for thought leadership, as it helps you validate your assumptions, learn from your mistakes, and improve your performance. However, feedback can also be challenging, as it may trigger defensiveness, resistance, or conflict. To overcome these barriers, you need to create a safe and supportive environment for feedback, where everyone can share their opinions, questions, and concerns without fear of judgment or retaliation. You can use techniques such as active listening, appreciative inquiry, or peer coaching to invite feedback in your strategic planning meetings.

4 Challenge assumptions

Assumptions are the beliefs that you hold about yourself, others, and the world, that influence your decisions and actions. While assumptions can help you simplify and streamline your thought process, they can also blind you to new possibilities and perspectives. To avoid falling into cognitive biases and traps, you need to challenge your assumptions in your strategic planning meetings, and test them against evidence and reality. You can use tools such as critical thinking, scenario planning, or hypothesis testing to challenge your assumptions and explore alternatives.

5 Seek diversity

Diversity is the variety of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives that you have in your team and network, that enrich your thought leadership. While diversity can help you generate more ideas, insights, and solutions, it can also create challenges, such as misunderstandings, conflicts, or groupthink. To leverage diversity in your strategic planning meetings, you need to foster a culture of inclusion, respect, and collaboration, where everyone can contribute their unique value and voice. You can use methods such as brainstorming, co-creation, or cross-functional teams to seek diversity and harness its benefits.