The most under-rated skill in business

Welcome to the Strategic Leader newsletter! In each edition, I give you a perspective, resource (e.g. a tool, framework), and a recommendation (for a book, article, talk, service, or person).

If we haven’t met yet, thank you for joining me! You can learn a little more about me?here ?and by watching this short?video .

Perspective

Much of business life is about doing. Delivering. Executing (dreadful word btw). When times get tough, put your head down, and graft.

Take a look at a typical day. If you’re working in an organisation, the obvious things dominate – meetings, emails, writing reports. Some of it’s necessary.

But much of it is mindless doing.

We’re not clear about the reason we’re doing it. The impact we want to have. The problem we want to solve for.

We’re on autopilot. Too afraid, too lazy, too comfortable to start thinking. Our thinking muscles have atrophied.

Perhaps we don’t see the need. Things are “fine”. Or because we’re not taught to think or rewarded for it.

“That’s something we do on our away day” or “my thinking time is in the shower or on my bike ride at the weekend” I hear a lot. Both can be productive. But it leaves a lot of other time available.

Look around us. We’re facing recessions. Big systemic problems. Just doing what we’ve done before won’t cut it. Organisations face important choices about where to focus, how to win, how to work. Individuals do too. Thinking clearly has never been more important.

There is cause for optimism.

Executives and entrepreneurs tell me that 'thinking about what matters' (and doing something about it) is their top priority. It's also the biggest change they need to make in their mindset and practices.

They also tell me that they’re tired. Wondering if they enough left in the tank to go again in 2023.

Being more intentional about how we think and what we think about might just be the catalyst for greater organisational AND personal success; smarter thinking and working, with less effort.

One CEO I worked with this year changed his schedule, strategically focusing on what matters – thinking time, engaging with customers and employees, and making decisions. Within a week he made some radical shifts, working less, working better. Cue more energy, enjoyment, and exploration.

What does it take to think more effectively?

• Create time in your schedule to think. Figure out the different ways you can do it – on your own vs with others, the best places, the attention you want to give (“I’m going to think about this issue” as opposed to letting an issue roam around your mind while you do something else).
• In meetings, check yourself. Stop. Prepare. Be ready to think.
• Frame the thinking time carefully. Ask: what are we here to do? How should we think about the topic? How can we examine this issue through different perspectives? What can everyone contribute? What have we learnt before that can help us? A framework, tool, experience. What are the possibilities, obstacles, options we should consider?
• Listen to what others are saying, don’t interrupt. Listen to yourself too.
• Keep thinking. Don’t be lazy. Hold your attention to the problem or the possibility ahead of you. Invite others to challenge you, improve your thinking.
• Learn when it’s enough. Call it to a close and make a decision.
• Trust your gut instinct. I did that when I was making my decision to start a new chapter. I’d asked for advice, thought through my needs and options. My head was full. I then listened to my intuition. I let my soul talk to me.
• Start doing, learning, rethinking.

Don’t confuse thinking with isolation, quiet reflective time. Yes, sometimes that’s necessary. Shut everything out, practise deep breathing, notice what you’re feeling, and think deeply about an issue. It works for some people.

But our best thinking can be in the moment, with other people too if we’re feeling good, conscious of the opportunity around us.

What will you do to create more thinking moments in your schedule and your life?

Andy Woodfield, author, entrepreneur, and PwC partner, encourages his teams to think hard about their genius and uniqueness. Everyone has it, even in difficult circumstances. It just takes time and interest from others to discover it. He reminds us that “people perform better when they can be themselves” and think for themselves. He riles against leaders hiring people and then doing their job for them. I couldn’t agree more.

You can listen (and watch) here . Andy shares his own story of figuring out his own uniqueness and his place. He describes his ways of discovering the best in other people, methods that have become movements.

Resource

It's that time of year – the time to be generous so I’m sharing more resources and recommendations than usual!

I was lucky enough to work with Nancy Kline, the author of Time to Think (and other books). She developed the concept and practice of creating Thinking Environments in which we ask incisive questions, hold our attention, show interest in other people, and avoid interrupting – all based on a curiosity and fascination in what the other person thinks. It may sound straightforward but it’s very hard to do well in practice. My work with her has been one of the most transformative experiences of my career and I incorporate her methods into my work with individuals and teams.

Roger Martin, one of the world’s leading CEO advisers and strategy practitioners, challenges conventional wisdom in management. He encourages us to think more clearly, identifying the right framework to use to work through complex strategic and organisational problems. I talked to him about his latest book A New Way to Think in my podcast .

Recommendation

We send a lot of emails. Many without enough thought. Some in anger. Chris Fenning has just published a book called Effective Emails that helps us to write emails with more impact. I’ve read it and used it immediately to improve the clarity of my emails.

I learned about storytelling with Neil Bearden having been introduced to him by my friend, Scott Newton. Neil is a former Insead professor. He was a masterful teacher. He’s developing a group of people who want to learn to live their lives more intentionally. His Strong Intent newsletter and LinkedIn posts are demanding and stimulating. Have a read here . I love his philosophy: “We can become progressively better versions ourselves through disciplined practice motivated by?strong intent”

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Wishing you well for this festive period (Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah for those celebrating). This is the last newsletter of 2022. I’m off to Thailand with my family tomorrow – to clear the mind, opening it up to new possibilities in 2023 and beyond.

Thank you for subscribing and for your support – it means a lot to me.

All the best,

David.

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Thank you for reading this edition of the Strategic Leader newsletter. I hope you found it insightful and useful. Here are some ways to access further perspectives, tips, and resources:

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