Building Strategic Thinking in your Senior Team Delphia E. Croft Managing Principal Croft Consulting Group, LLC Brian Acton President/CEO BMWC Constructors

© 2014 Croft Consulting Group, LLC2 A True Story…

© 2014 Croft Consulting Group, LLC3 Strategic Thinking Being a strategic business leader requires both business acumen and leadership readiness. It requires higher order thinking, in-depth knowledge and understanding, well-developed mental and emotional capacity, a great deal of energy and ability to focus.  Thinks from the outside in—can link back from the inside out  Thinks from the future to now—then, can link decisions/actions from now back to the future − Sees the impact of today’s decisions on the future − Takes a broad, long-range approach to problem-solving and decision-making − Being able to think in multiple time frames—identifying what they are trying to accomplish over time and what has to happen now, in six months, in a year, in three years to get there − Involves objective analysis, thinking ahead and planning  Can visualize the whole organization − Links disparate pieces of information, across boundaries, multiple constituencies

© 2014 Croft Consulting Group, LLC4 How important is it…a recent study  60,000 managers/executives, 140+ countries, 26 industries  22 leadership practices and 20 measures of effectiveness −Leadership practices examples: innovation, persuasion, communication, results orientation −Effectiveness measures examples future potential, credibility, business aptitude, people skills Strategic approach to leadership on average…  10 x more important to the perception of effectiveness than other behaviors studied  2x as important as communication (the second most important behavior)  Almost 50x more important than hands-on tactical behaviors (Does NOT mean that tactical behaviors aren’t important, but they don’t differentiate the highly effective leaders from everyone else)  Leaders who scored well were −6x more likely to be seen as effective as the leaders that were low on them— independent of any of their other behaviors −4x more likely to be seen as individuals with significant future potential within their organizations

© 2014 Croft Consulting Group, LLC5 Developing Strategic Business Leaders  Encourage managers to set aside time for strategic thinking and planning (alone and with others). Learning to think strategically and develop a strategic approach takes time. Help them understand that it should be a regular part of their job.  Keep your leaders/managers abreast on what is going on in the market, the industry, with customers, competitors, new technologies, etc. that will impact your business now and in the future  Keep people informed on what is happening internally. Actualizing a vision and executing a strategy requires a free flow of information across organizational boundaries  Connect leaders with a strategic mentor—someone who can help keep people focused on strategic objectives and the impact of their actions.  Communicate your organizational intentions throughout—philosophy, mission, goal statements etc.  Reward people for evidence of thinking, not just reacting, wherever possible—should be part of your culture—proactive vs. reactive—generate solutions with the future in mind not just for today  Promote a future perspective by incorporating into training and development programs −Teach what strategic thinking is −Encourage “why” and ‘when” questions −Ask questions with a link to a specific strategic initiative, future impact or impact on customers or internal stakeholders

Board of Directors Executive Leadership Team Operations Leadership Team 1.President 2.VP Construction 3.Director of HR 4.VP Marketing & Sales 5.CFO 6.Corp. Controller 7.President Western Region 8.General Manager Munster 1.VP Construction 2.Manager IS 3.Director of Quality 4.VP Project Services 5.Corporate Counsel 6.President Western Region 7.GM Indianapolis 8.GM Munster 9.Director of Safety