“To manage strategy is to craft thought and action, control and learning, stability and change.” , claims Henry Mintzberg, a thought leader in the field of management. I shared this quote with Barb, a client with a large financial organization who wanted to expand her strategic thinking capabililty as a result of a 360 degree feedback exercise that she had been recently engaged in.  

Barb had been left with the assignment of researching the subject of strategic thinking in support of her desire to deepen her awareness of the subject and to strengthen her competency in this area.  

“So what did you come up with?” I asked. She responded with considerable pride over the phone, “Well, it’s basically about my abililty to understand my organization’s strengths and weaknesses, being in the position to clarify whatever opportunities and threats that exist in the market we’re operating in, as well as being able to identify trends and opportunities that can help us enhance my organization’s business performance, and as a result be able to provide us with a clear focus and direction for what we need to make happen . . .  organization wide, within our operating units, and right down to each staff member. Like thinking and operating at the 30,000 foot level.”  “Superb!” I responded.  

”So what’s another other way of looking at strategic thinking?” I continued. “Well, based on what I’ve been able to dig up it could also be looked at as a way of getting clear as to where we are as an organization, where we want to be, and how we’ll get there from here. I’ve concluded that having a written strategic plan is not really the end-all, but rather a benefit of the strategic thinking which has created a collective understanding of our business—now and in the future—and just as importantly, among a critical mass of our people. It’s about being smart about allocating our limited resources toward achieving our collectively crafted strategy.”

“You’ve clearly done your homework Barb. Great on you! I can’t wait to hear more. And on that note, what’s in the importance of strategic thinking for you personally?” I asked her.

“That’s pretty easy.” Barb said,  “First I’ve discovered that it gives me a solid foundation and context for developing our overall strategies, goals, objectives, action plans, decisions and daily actions that we can individually and collectively take from moment to moment. Particularly when our people have actually been involved in its initial creation. It helps us all focus on our customers and their needs. Oh yeah, it also helps us to be in a much stronger position to anticipate and respond to the unbelievable changes every organization is experiencing these days! Bottom line, it positions us to specifically define our short- to long-term competitive position so that we come out of the current economic mess on a wave of success.”  

“Well given what you’ve discovered from your homework, when do you think you’d use these strategic thinking competency muscles you’re developing?” I asked her.

“Well, as I’ve inferred already, our business climate is changing so darn rapidly that we, I, need to continually contribute to the ongoing reassessment of our strategies and tactics and make sure they’re constantly being revised quick enough to respond to these whitewater conditions. It’s a mad house out there right now, not to mention our competitors are making constant moves that we need to turn-on-a-dime and respond to!”  

“Ok, that makes complete sense. For you, what’s the connection between strategic thinking and strategic planning?” I asked.

Always quick on her feet, Barb shared, “Basically they go hand in hand. Michael Porter has written some great stuff around strategic planning typically at the portfolio, business and functional levels. I found out that there’s a whole framework for strategic thinking and planning. Do you want to hear more?”

“Unfortunately there’s not much time left in our call for that, but I’ve got a few more questions to quickly  ask you though. What is it that you might do Barb to enhance your strategic thinking muscles?” 

“Actually there are a few things I could do.” She said. “Starting with my own division, this might include:  

• conducting a SWOT analysis of my division’s internal (strengths, weaknesses) and external (opportunities, and threats) environment.
• Identifying key performance indicators to monitor our progress toward achieving my division’s strategy.
• clarifying what opportunities we will not pursue, making sure we put our limited resources in those fires with the highest payoffs, because I’ve concluded from what I’ve read that the true essence of strategy is in fact denial!
• clarifying the needs and expectations of our key internal and external constituencies.
• clarifying what our division really needs to look like in the future in order to outperform our competition, and they’re fierce; here I’m referring to our vision.
• once we’ve done this, we can then selectively allocate sufficient resources behind the strategy we’ve come up with.
• its critical that as we move forward with this we be open to new information that may require a shift in our thinking.
• last, but definitely not least, make sure we’ve got our folks at every level continuously taking a hard look at how attractive our industry continues to be and our own competitive position with a focus on improving the quality of our overall assessment and thereby assuring maximum buy-in and commitment to our resulting strategy by our people. How’s that?”

 “I’m truly impressed my friend. Can I arrange to have you join my upcoming university class in Management when I teach the Strategic Management section?” I asked. Barb responded with a curt, “Sure, as long as you pay for my flight  and accommodation from Dallas.”   

Barb had made the commitment to strengthening her strategic thinking competency based on the invitation from those who had participated in her 360 feedback exercise and had clearly done a wonderful job of doing just that. She’s clearly well on her way from not only becoming good at being a strong strategic thinker, but also becoming great at this critical leadership competency.

Is this a leadership competency you would like to enhance? What strength do you have that will help you become even more effective in your leadership role? What aspect might hold you back? I’d love to hear your feelings and thoughts on the subject. Take care.

“I can’t believe those people. They just don’t get it!” was the response of my executive coaching client, Gerry, who heads up a key line of business with a leading defense contractor. I typically start off coaching conversations with a check-in question. After listening to Gerry further, I asked “So what’s in the anger my friend?” For a moment there was silence on the phone. I had learned long ago to always let silence do the heavy lifting! “Hmmm . . . , ” he expressed and then went on, “I really resent the fact that we had agreed on what had to be accomplished last week, and they haven’t even started on it. It’s simply damned unacceptable. I really feel let down. I could tear my office door off the hinges right now. I’m going into a meeting with them shortly and I think I’m going to straighten them out . . . make them new rear ends if I have to!”

“Well before you charge on in, are you game to take a few minutes to step back and take a look at what’s happening with you right now?” I asked. Gerry, to his credit had always been very open to self-exploration and said “Yeah, let’s go for it coach?” I love his honesty and candidness.

“So, if your boss was this angry with something you did or didn’t do, and stormed into a meeting with you having the same intent, how would you react?” In his typically succinct and earthy way he quickly responded, “Well I’d probably hang back, not offer much and look for an opportunity to get the hell out of there!”. “Given that, then what would you predict your people will do when you give them the old what for?” “Got it!”, he said with a bit of a snicker.

“So coach, I’d like to hear what the heck you think?” Gerry asked. “Sure. First of all, it’s not about them, it’s about you Gerry! Anger is actually a gift, not a weakness. It only becomes a weakness when this strength is taken too far. Kind of  like manure in the system that gets clogged up. Need I say more? Does that make sense?” “Completely.” Gerry responded.

“So, having said that, what’s in just enough anger for you?” I asked. “Well, for me,” Gerry shot back, “It certainly gets me up and running. Actually a source of energy. It sort of acts like a catalyst for making things happen. Come to think of it, if I become more aware of it in the moment I can actually use it to be more effective, otherwise it can get in my way. I think I prefer the former. Any thoughts on what I can do to regulate myself when the old fuse gets a tad short?”

“That’s a great question. Why don’t we take a quick moment and brainstorm some approaches?” “Ok”, Gerry said, “Maybe I should start not to sweat the small stuff as they say. Hell, if I learn how to better spot it when it shows up, I’d be better able to dial down the intensity a tad, not shoot first and figure out what I shot after the fact!”

“I love what you’ve come up with.”, I said. “You might also consider talking yourself down, for example saying to yourself, hey, this is no big deal, can I put this issue on the backburner for the time being? Perhaps I should give this some thought before I shoot. Why don’t I take  a couple of minutes to just let every muscle in my body, from my toes right up to the top of my head, just relax and decompress. You do whatever works for you.”

“So, when you do walk into the meeting after decompressing, how do you need to be?” I asked. “As opposed to what I would do?”, he responded. “Yes, exactly,” I retorted. Gerry then continued, “Probably be calm, more focused on them rather than me. I need to be honest with them in a respectful way, by sharing what my thoughts are in a fairly specific way, how I feel about it all in terms of its importance to me and what it is I think we should consider doing about it.”

“That sounds like a superb approach, but what might you do even before that?” I asked. “I think I know what you’re driving at. Rather than adversely pre-influencing them in a way that they think they’re getting my orders, it might be a hell of a lot better if I asked them collectively and individually what they thought, felt and wanted regarding the issues at hand, and then do the former. Yeah, that’d work a lot better. Probably generate a lot more information and data that would help us make much more informed decisions. Man, that’s my game plan!”

“What are some other potential payoffs of your taking this approach? I asked. “Obviously, it’ll be a heck of a lot safer place them, we’ll build more trust, they’ll feel heard, buy in will clearly go up, and the solutions we collectively come up with will  probably be a lot more effective as a result.” said Gerry.

“So what’s the take away for you my friend?” I asked in bringing our meeting to a close. “Well I guess it’s that I can use my anger in service of myself, my folks, our customers and our organization, or I can quite frankly let it control me and then blow it!” “If it is the latter,” I asked, “What might be the adverse consequences for you?” “I don’t want to even think about it . . . too scary!” Gerry concluded. “May the force be in you my friend with the upcoming meeting. I know you’ll be more than successful!” I offered.

Does your temper rise at times and get away from you?  Do you find that under stress your anger, anxiety, fear and/or shame show up a tad too quickly?  Do you even notice it?  If you do notice, what do you do with it?  I’d love to hear your insights and experiences. Take care.

Any transition to a new role, while exciting and an acknowledgement of what the organization thinks of us, is a time of anxiety for the newly transitioning leader.

A few of the common errors of a new role leader include trying to do too much too soon, failure to understand the de facto culture/sub culture, and/or misinterpreting the expectations of their superior. Danger lurks ahead….. in the form of mistrust by others, leader fatigue, compounding anxiety with over preparation, and creation of an unsafe environment for employees. As stress intensifies for the new role leader, can you really be making the best decisions for the organization as a whole, your team and yourself?

A recent research article from the University of Washington reported the findings of imposing stress on rats. It took only one uncontrollable stressful episode to greatly effect the behavior of a rat. It actually took the rat several days to recover from the effects of the stressor and return to normal decision making ability. The learning of the stressed rat control group was delayed. As well, this group was unable to readily adjust to alterations made in the imposed stress exercise. Stress altered the ability to learn, the ability to remain agile, and the ability to make decisions. How does this convert to humans? Well, the scientific community has been using rats as study participants for years…there must be something to their selection.

As I look to newly transitioning leaders whom I have coached over the past 5 years, I relate to the news of the above study. Stress has a tremendous effect on performance levels and at a time when a leader is under the microscope and readily judged by others. Clients have shared with me how this has manifested for them and projected in all areas of their life. Many suffer from extreme sleep disturbances and/ or dietary challenges.

I have worked with leaders who admitted that they had hardly slept in two months and leaders who existed on a pop and pizza diet. It is rewarding as a coach to support leaders in these circumstances and be part of the process that allows them to gain back a feeling of balance and control……rewarding them with restful nights rather than a continuum of wide eyed 3 AM note taking sessions. With invested and targeted support, these leaders can bring about greater contribution to the organization in a shortened time frame as they learn to manage their stress, embrace the transition, garner early credibility and move powerfully forward with their leadership.

What is the cost to an organization of not readily investing in the transitioning new role leader? As this is an area of continued research for me I repeatedly see transitioning phases of 14 – 24 months in executive level roles. More complex portfolios can exceed this timeframe. This is not just about the leader’s transition. One must take into consideration the transitional impact on those who surround the leader and the cost to the organization when their performance falters as a result of how the new role leader shows up for others.

What is your personal experience in a recent transition, either as the leader or as a direct report to a newly transitioning leader? While you are drinking from a fire hose, what soothing techniques have you found that help to manage anxiety and stress for you? In hindsight, how do you feel your decision making during a recent leadership transition may have been impaired?