Are you clear on your strategy?
In this week’s How to Take the Lead discussion, Carrie-Ann and I are unpacking the importance of developing your own leadership strategy.
How much thought have you given to your personal leadership strategy?
It’s something that often comes up in conversations I have with leaders.
When they’re trying to understand how they can better connect with and inspire the people around them to take the actions needed.
Or when they’re looking for that next role and wondering how to stand out in a field of other Xs (insert your job title of choice here).
As leaders, we can spend so much time thinking about the big picture, organisational strategy - which is important - that we forget what our own position is in that big picture.
You might think that doesn’t matter so much; if your teams know the direction of travel, why should they be concerned with your personal strategy?
But as a leader, your personal strategy IS the way you help connect the dots. You show what’s important and why. You provide an approach so others don’t need to fumble around in the dark. Your strategy is how you inspire and motivate and take people with you.
And we can probably all recognise leaders we’ve worked with who perhaps aren’t so clear on their strategy. Maybe they keep changing their mind and approach. Perhaps you’re uncertain what they stand for and that lack of clarity means you don’t know what to get behind. You’ve possibly remarked to others that they lack spark or energy or any pizazz around what they do.
It may not scream to you ‘they lack a strategy’ but that’s what it boils down to.
Struggling for a stocking filler? Gifting someone a subscription to the How to Take the Lead substack community could be the perfect solution. Not only will they learn to lean into being a modern leader but everyone around them will benefit too!
Getting clarity on your personal leadership strategy will help you to:
connect with your team, earn trust and take people with you - they’ll know what you stand for and your values
act authentically and with integrity - you’ll have your compass to guide your decision-making
know what organisations, roles and situations suit you best - you won’t apply for the turnaround role if you know you’re a culture-building leader for example
articulate to your Board what makes you different and the value you’ll specifically add when applying for that next role.
So, if you haven’t considered it necessary to have a personal leadership strategy before, I hope that this week’s episode has given you pause for thought.
All the best … Lee
If you are a paid subscriber keep on reading for:
prompts to help you start developing your leadership strategy
signposting to extra resources that will help you
the opportunity to ask questions and share your thoughts on the topic.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to How to Take the Lead to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.