Strategic leader does not equal a management role.
I've worked with some amazing strategic leaders but they should NEVER manage people. Managing people was not in their skillset and, thankfully, they were aware of it.
Whenever there were meaty strategy sessions going on I wanted them in the room. They were great at asking thought-provoking questions, getting to the root of the challenge, and brought a lot of industry experience to the discussion.
The 3 qualities I have noticed in great strategic leaders:
👉 understand how their area of the business impacts other areas of the business,
👉 have a healthy appreciation for budgeting (and tracking costs),
👉 constantly performs active listening and stays curious about the business.
If your strategic planning sessions are missing the mark you may need to invite someone who has these qualities to be engaged in the discussion.
I'm going to list out three things that I think make a really great strategic leader.
One is understanding how your portion of the business impacts the larger company. A lot of things, whenever it comes to a leadership role, it's a catch-22 decision. If you make a decision in this part of the business, it means you may be removing resources from another part of the business. So really understanding the holistic nature of the business and how your specialized area impacts the company as a whole.
The second thing is having a healthy appreciation for budgeting. Being able to work closely with your financial team, being able to track a budget, especially from a marketing world because we have a lot of discretionary spending within the marketing plan. It's understanding the ROI of what's happening in marketing and be able to have those conversations with other company leaders.
And then the third thing is really to be an active listener to everyone in the company. Not just those that are in your business unit, but other aspects of the business. And staying curious about how the business is functioning, why some projects are being pursued and not other projects, new tech rollout happening, even if it's not within your department. Just staying curious and being an active listener and being inquisitive of how other people are operating and how they're doing their jobs. It's going to make you a better strategic leader.