Building Leadership Skills: Strategic Thinking An Infopeople Workshop George Needham and Joan Frye Williams, Instructors Spring 2009
Today’s agenda Leadership and strategic thinking The long view The FAST approach to strategic thinking Moving ahead
1. Know what difference you want to make 2. Choose your actions accordingly
What’s their strategy? vs.
Why think strategically? Save time and effort Make the most of limited resources Attract funding Get people on board Enhance chances of success Increase job satisfaction
Why think strategically? Save time and effort Make the most of limited resources Attract funding Get people on board Enhance chances of success Increase job satisfaction Try to take over the world!
What difference do you want to make? Your community Your library Your team/work group Personally/professionally
The long view Target, not detailed steps Principles, not techniques Strengths, not weaknesses Keep it simple
“Vision” implies that other people can PICTURE what you’re talking about.
Leveraging your assets Starts with appreciation Vision-led, not problem-driven Concentrates on abundant resources
Strategic positioning: Five approaches that work
From exception to mainstream
Bottom line Less gate-keeping, more convenience
From altruism to return on investment
Bottom line Less perfectionism, more efficiency
From a focus on the past to a focus on the future
What kinds of changes do you think will affect your community in the future?
Bottom line Less caution, more flexibility
From frill to necessity
Bottom line Less reticence, more urgency
From information to transformation
Think of a favorite book, movie, play, poem, or piece of music… What is it? Why is it important to you? How has that affected your life?
Bottom line Relationships trump transactions
Think FAST Focus Accelerate Support Tie it all together Adapted from Hagel, John et al,“Shaping Strategy in a World of Constant Disruption,” Harvard Business Review, October 2008.
Focus Use real data/evidence Look for patterns Ask “what if” Estimate likelihood Imagine consequences
Accelerate Identify actions that will move you toward your target most quickly Use resources you already have Decide how you’ll measure progress
Support
Who else wants to see the same kind of difference you do? Community segments and stakeholders Elected officials, power brokers Other providers who share your audience Friends and colleagues
Discovering common ground
Maintaining strategic relationships
Tie it all together Constantly check near term performance against target Adjust as you go along Repeat as necessary
Uncovering strategic opportunities
Evaluating strategic opportunities Will it show? Can it grow? Does it flow?
Evaluate your choices: show
Evaluate your choices: grow
Evaluate your choices: flow
Tell a compelling story Ideas have to fit the audience’s values Person telling the story has to be believable Integrity Commitment
Understand that objections are… Normal, and… Less threatening than risking failure on something new, but… Not insurmountable
Handling objections
Show the passion!
Thank you for participating! Please complete the evaluation.