Am I 'strategic enough'?

Stepping up into leadership - Getting to the C-Suite, Leadership Course

“You need to be more strategic” – this is very common feedback given to senior executives looking to move into leadership roles. Whether you are seeking a stretch promotion or to move into the C-Suite, demonstrating your ability to work at a more strategic level is crucial. 

Yet ‘being strategic’ is notoriously hard to define let alone evidence at interview. Headhunters have told us that women, in particular, find it hard to accurately describe their strategic thinking in a professional scenario.

We have produced a brief self-assessment to help you reflect on how developed your own strategic thinking skills are, and where you may need to develop. 

Download our strategic thinking self-assessment.

Although most organisations have a clear strategic process in place, 'being strategic' is more than simply writing a strategy. It is a way of thinking that can be applied to tasks and challenges at all levels in your work.

Being able to clearly articulate your strategic thinking at interview is also vital to succeed at the highest levels. This requires learning the language of strategic leadership and being able to differentiate between thinking, planning and management.

We share a core toolkit of strategic techniques in the Leading Strategically module within our Getting to the C-Suite programme, developed by global consultancy UGM. Crucially this toolkit provides you with the framework to use and language to articulate strategic thinking.

Our straight forward self-assessment enables you to start to determine how developed your strategic thinking skills are. Invest a little time considering your use of strategic thinking to pinpoint which elements may be holding you back from realising your potential as a leader.

#strategy #leadership #C-Suite #womenonboards