HBR - How To Demonstrate Your Strategic Thinking Skills

Leadership Development
How
Strategicto Demonstrate Your
Thinking Skills
by Nina A. Bowman
September 23, 2019
Daniel Day/Getty Images
Summary. Developing your strategic thinking skills isn’t enough to get you
promoted. In order to advance in your career, you need to demonstrate them.
Leaders want to know what you think, and they view your worthiness for promotion
through the lens of how ready you are to... more
Ler em português
We all know that developing strategic thinking skills is important,
but many don’t realize how critical it is to your career
advancement to show these skills to your boss and other senior
leaders. Showing strategic thinking skills tells your bosses that
you’re able to think for yourself and make decisions that position
the organization for the future. It assures them that you aren’t
making decisions in a vacuum but are considering how other
departments might be affected or how the outside world will
respond.
When I’m helping my coaching clients learn to think more

strategically, I emphasize that developing and demonstrating
these skills are very different challenges.
Developing great strategic thinking skills requires you to

gain exposure to strategic roles, synthesize broad
information, participate in a culture of curiosity, and gather
experiences that allow you to identify patterns and connect
the dots in novel ways. That’s why high-potential and
leadership development programs often include job
rotations, cross-functional projects, and face time with
senior leadership — these all accelerate the development of
strategic thinking.
Demonstrating strategic thinking, on the other hand,

requires that you are simultaneously a marketer, a
salesperson, and a change agent. Proactive and widespread
communication of your strategic efforts combined with the
courage to challenge others and initiate and drive your
strategic ideas are what make your boss and peers take
notice.
The case of one of my coaching clients illustrates the steps you

need to take to show off your strategic thinking skills. Tim Waters
(not his real name), vice president of the U.S. supply chain for a
growing medical products company, hoped to be named global
senior vice president of supply chain but sensed that his
promotion discussions were stalled. Tim had a good reputation
for responding to business unit leads, and he worked tirelessly
and effectively to keep the supply chain functioning well. He was
therefore surprised to receive informal feedback from the head of
HR, a longtime colleague and friend, who said that a few
influential executives had voiced concern that Tim “wasn’t
strategic enough.” These executives felt Tim was good at keeping
the trains running, but he had not driven proactive change in the
organization or set a strategic vision for supply chain. Tim was a
strong strategic thinker, but he wasn’t doing it in a way his bosses
could see it. He decided to engage an executive coach to help him
learn how to demonstrate these skills.
Bring a point of view to the table

Your leaders want to know what you think, and they view your
worthiness for promotion through the lens of how ready you are
to make bigger decisions. By asking yourself, “Do people know
where I stand?” you can sharpen your ability to demonstrate this
skill.
Tim made efforts to update his understanding of trends and to

refresh his network but realized that he wasn’t putting the
knowledge learned to good use. One of the first changes he made
was to instruct his assistant to block out 30 minutes on his
calendar before important meetings. He knew that barely having
time to collect his thoughts before going into meetings made him
unprepared, less vocal, and less capable of synthesizing and
sharing his knowledge. Just a half hour, once or twice a week,
would allow him to shape his point of view on important issues.
Tim’s efforts began to pay off over time, and he was able to shift
his contributions in senior executive meetings from operational
input to strategic input. He took time to package his ideas into a
vision for the organization and engaged his peers in new
discussions about how the vision could impact their areas.
Having greater clarity of vision also enhanced Tim’s effectiveness

as a supervisor. Tim was able to see how his team was missing the
specific skills needed to support the vision. Now, instead of
having reactive discussions with his HR business partner, he was
able to engage in forward-looking discussions about strategic
hiring and leadership development opportunities for his team.
Demonstrating that you think strategically about hiring and
talent development is a surefire way to make your leaders notice
you.
Show that you can initiate innovation and bring strategic change
To be viewed as a strategic thinker, you must also demonstrate
that you can use your knowledge to put new ideas into action. No
matter your level, you can demonstrate strategic thinking by
executing an innovative project that shows that your
understanding extends beyond your current function.
Tim channeled the new energy and vision he had gained into a
strategic planning process that culminated in formal
recommendations for the supply chain group. Tim
communicated the project and its milestones across the
organization, allowing the executive team to see that he could
lead a strategic initiative; previously, Tim would have kept it
behind the scenes. Boldly suggesting value-added changes was a
welcome shift to both Tim and his colleagues. Tim felt he had
greater control, projecting greater confidence because he was no
longer just reacting to others’ suggestions and issues, and Tim’s
colleagues also appreciated that he was initiating improvements
without their prodding.
Tim’s journey to demonstrating strategic thinking took him

longer than he had expected, but over time, his boss, peers, and
team noticed the changes and viewed them positively. Tim was
promoted to the global role a year later and was ultimately better
equipped to navigate the role.
Adapted from the HBR Guide to Thinking Strategically by Nina
Bowman.
NB
Nina A. Bowman is a Managing Partner at
Paravis Partners, an executive coaching and
leadership development ﬁrm. Previously, she
held various advisory and leadership roles in
strategy. She is an executive coach and speaker
on issues of strategic leadership, leadership
presence, and interpersonal effectiveness. She
is also a contributing author to the HBR Guide
to Coaching Employees and HBR Guide to
Thinking Strategically.
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Leadership Development

Daniel Day/Getty Images

When I’m helping my coaching clients learn to think more

Developing great strategic thinking skills requires you to

Demonstrating strategic thinking, on the other hand,

The case of one of my coaching clients illustrates the steps you

Bring a point of view to the table

Tim made efforts to update his understanding of trends and to

Having greater clarity of vision also enhanced Tim’s effectiveness

Tim’s journey to demonstrating strategic thinking took him

Recommended For You

6 Ways to Screen Job Candidates for Strategic Thinking

Make Strategic Thinking Part of Your Job

Middle Managers Should Drive Your Business Transformation

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