Thinking and Working Strategically: A Key Competency for Effective Leadership
Welcome to Monthly Best Praxis, Talent Praxis's newsletter dedicated to sharing actionable insights and proven strategies for leadership development. Each month, we dive into key topics and competencies that help leaders drive performance, align teams, and create lasting impact. In this issue, we explore how thinking and working strategically is essential for effective leadership.
Strong leaders don’t just focus on today’s tasks—they anticipate what’s coming next. Thinking and working strategically means spotting patterns, preparing for challenges, and positioning yourself and your team to take advantage of opportunities.
Thinks and Works Strategically is the competency of anticipating future challenges and opportunities to guide decision-making and intentional planning. Practicing this behavior helps leaders stay ahead, make better choices under uncertainty, and keep their teams aligned with long-term success.
Achieving Success Through a Combination of Skills, Attributes, and Experience
Thinks and Works Strategically- Anticipates future challenges and opportunities to guide decision-making and intentional planning.
Below are examples of skills, attributes, and experiences that support the potential for the competency. Infinite combinations of strengths in various skills, attributes, and experiences can generate success in this competency.
Examples of skills supporting:
Environmental Scanning – Monitoring market, organizational, and industry shifts to anticipate risks and opportunities.
Scenario Planning – Creating and testing different future models to inform flexible strategies.
Systems Thinking – Understanding interdependencies to evaluate both immediate and long-term impacts of decisions.
Examples of attributes supporting:
Analytical – Approaches problems by breaking down complex issues and identifying root causes.
Forward-Thinking – Consistently considers how today’s actions shape future outcomes.
Decisive – Makes timely, well-grounded choices even in uncertain or shifting environments.
Examples of experience supporting:
Strategic Planning Cycles – Leading or contributing to annual and multi-year planning processes.
Market Expansion Initiatives – Evaluating and positioning for new opportunities in unfamiliar contexts.
Crisis Navigation – Managing disruption while protecting long-term priorities and organizational resilience.
A self-assessment worksheet for leaders to reflect on how effectively they think and work strategically, using a scale from "Never" to "Always."
Practical Steps for Leaders to Develop This Competency
Look for patterns while reviewing information- When you scan reports, updates, or industry news you already read, pause to notice trends and connections rather than only immediate details.
Frame decisions with “what if” thinking- As you make choices, practice asking a quick “what happens if this accelerates?” or “what if it doesn’t go as planned?” This builds foresight without slowing action.
Explain the long-term link- In regular team updates, highlight how today’s priorities move the team closer to long-term goals. This shifts communication, not workload.
Use existing conversations to broaden perspective- In cross-functional meetings, ask one or two questions that surface different viewpoints. This strengthens strategic thinking without adding extra sessions.
Reflect briefly after decisions- At the close of projects or milestones, consider how the outcome positioned the team for the future. Use that insight to shape your next decision.
Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them
Getting Stuck in Day-to-Day Execution
Leaders often feel pulled into urgent tasks and firefighting, leaving little space for future thinking.
Overcome it: Integrate strategic reflection into existing work—look for patterns while reviewing metrics, debriefs, or updates instead of creating separate sessions.
Struggling with Uncertainty
The future is unpredictable, and some leaders hesitate to plan when outcomes feel unclear.
Overcome it: Use scenario thinking. Instead of predicting one future, outline two or three plausible paths. This builds flexibility and reduces the fear of “getting it wrong.”
Overlooking Diverse Input
Strategic blind spots often come from relying only on your own perspective or immediate team.
Overcome it: Actively seek perspectives from other functions or levels during discussions you’re already having. Different views sharpen foresight and reveal risks early.
Linking Strategy Too Loosely to Action
A plan may look good on paper but fail to guide daily priorities.
Overcome it: When communicating, connect long-term objectives to current work so the strategy becomes tangible for your team.
Connecting to Other Leadership Competencies
The ability to think and work strategically is closely connected to other leadership competencies. It is strengthened by Builds Trust and Relationships, since credibility allows leaders to bring others along on long-term decisions. Shapes a High-Performance Culture ensures that strategic priorities translate into daily behaviors and norms. Shares Information Effectively helps leaders communicate foresight in ways that create alignment, while Leads by Example reinforces that strategic thinking is not abstract but modeled through consistent choices and actions.
Apply Your Learnings
In your next team discussion, highlight one external trend or shift you’re watching and invite your team’s perspective on its potential impact.
As you make a decision this week, pause to ask one “what if” question to test for future implications.
In your next project update, connect the work to a longer-term objective so your team sees how today’s efforts build tomorrow’s success.
Explore More
Porter’s Five Forces: Understanding Team Dynamics
Adapt Porter’s framework to examine your team’s environment: What internal or external groups influence your priorities (e.g., other departments, stakeholders, or service providers)? This helps anticipate where pressure or opportunities may come from and how to position your team effectively.
SWOT Analysis: Turning Insight Into Team Strategy
Use SWOT to reflect on your team’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This exercise clarifies how internal capabilities and external demands intersect, guiding where to focus effort and resources.
Pre-Retrospective Questions for Team Alignment
Apply a forward-looking retrospective within your department: “In the next 3–12 months, what must be true for us to succeed? What challenges could derail us if we’re not proactive?” These questions help teams anticipate roadblocks and align on strategic actions before issues arise.
About Talent Praxis
Cultivating Leadership Impact
Our work at Talent Praxis focuses on helping senior leaders identify the strategic behaviors that drive success, so they can lead with greater confidence, clarity, and impact. We partner with organizations to design custom leadership development programs that integrate executive coaching, assessments, and training, delivering measurable results and elevating leadership effectiveness.
Why custom leadership development programs?
Leaders define the direction and culture of an organization. Leadership development programs result in:
Increased Productivity and Performance
Higher Employee Engagement and Retention
Improved Financial Performance
As your company and market evolve, so must your leadership. Our custom leadership development programs are designed to meet your organization’s unique needs, empowering leaders with the skills to drive engagement, foster success, and deliver measurable results.
