22 Feb An Epidemic- Senior Leaders Becoming Tactical

Without knowing, many executives and senior leaders dedicate their scarce time, energy, and other resources to tactical thinking and execution…

I don’t blame them. Daily pressures such as immediate needs, acute problems, emergencies, deadlines, and short-term priorities predispose them to let go of strategic thinking.

By the way, I’m not undermining the usefulness of tactical thinking. I’m not lionizing strategy, either. We need both!

However, in a given team or organization, we should be clear about who focuses on strategic thinking and who takes care of tactical thinking and implementations.

The senior a leader becomes, the more they should spend most of their time thinking strategically while delegating tactical thinking and execution to others.

One habit leaders should develop is to stop occasionally and recognize how much of their time is dedicated to strategic and tactical thinking. And then make adjustments according to where they are in the hierarchy.

If you’re a team leader or supervisor, you’re expected to focus more on tactical thinking and execution. If you’re a middle leader, you should balance between the two. Most of your time should be spent on strategic thinking if you’re an executive.

How much of your time should be dedicated to strategic thinking at this juncture in your leadership? Is that optimal, or should you be taking more time to strategic thinking? Who can take over the tactical thinking and execution from your table? How do you delegate this responsibility effectively and empower your delegee (s) to execute flawlessly?