What Do You Get When You Mix Strategic Leadership with a Recipe Book?
On February 27th of last year, I turned in the Strategic FUEL for Nonprofits manuscript. I remember the date clearly because I had an end-of-the-month deadline, but I wanted to finish at least a day ahead of time and had somehow missed that there was an extra day in February due to the leap year. But because I’d previously blocked that week’s calendar for writing time, turning in the manuscript early meant I was in creative mode with nothing much to do.
Fortunately, two things were hanging out in the back of my mind. First, when writing Strategic FUEL for Nonprofits, I was also working with a nonprofit client on strategic planning, and my conversations with the CEO kept coming back to what was required of her leadership to turn the strategic vision into reality. And while the manuscript addressed strategic leadership at a high level, I realized that leaders could benefit from specific examples of what it looks like.
Second, I was taking culinary courses at the local community college, which meant reading many recipe books. The books I found most useful explained cooking at a conceptual level, which was helpful when I wanted to go deep on a topic. However, I realized that the books I kept for reference were those that also provided specific recipes. If I wanted to find something interesting to try on a weekday evening, those books could also help me out. I thought the same could be true for strategic leadership.
With that spark, I spent the next few days scouring my notes and compiling ideas for my next book. I’m pleased to announce the result: Everyday Strategic Leadership.
What Is Strategic Leadership?
When I mention strategic leadership, people sometimes imagine those people whose only role is sitting back, observing the clouds, and thinking about the future. These are the kinds of people who have “strategy” in their titles.
Organizations need those people, of course, but that’s not what I mean.
On the other hand, there are leaders who are only focused on delivering today’s results. Every organization needs these people as well, but because they are so focused on getting things done, they are more likely to miss changes happening around them. They often also neglect to communicate effectively so that others understand what they’re doing, which makes it harder for them to get the resources they need to get things done.
When I talk about strategic leaders in the book, I mean leaders who operate between those extremes. They are responsible for today’s results, but they also act to create the conditions to achieve tomorrow’s results. More precisely, these leaders effectively shift back and forth between thinking and doing so they can deliver strategically aligned results.
Finally, strategic leaders…well, they lead teams. It is not good enough for them to be strategic as individuals. Instead, they design their management routines to enable their teams to achieve important results, continually refocus on the strategy, and update it over time.
A Recipe Book, You Say. What’s In It?
A couple of years ago, a client received the feedback, “You need to be more strategic.” In our next coaching session, he asked, “What does that even mean?”
Part I of Everyday Strategic Leadership tries to answer that question. It describes six approaches that enable strategic leaders to drive results and to be perceived by others as strategic. This is the conceptual part of the recipe book.
Part II includes a self-assessment on strategic leadership to help the reader identify what may have the greatest impact on their team and development.
Part III, The Strategic Leadership Toolkit, is the vast majority of the book. It contains specific tools to help readers understand what they might try to lead more strategically, along with examples of leaders from various sectors who have used them. These are the recipes.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll share some of the key ideas from the book.
If You’d Like to Engage and Support, Here’s How You Can Do So
1. Buy the book.
Request #1: Share the book with others.
Having sent excerpts of the book to many of my clients, I know there’s something in the toolkit for leaders across sectors and seniority levels.
That said, the conceptual insights about strategic leadership are especially relevant for those stepping into larger roles where they’re expected to handle strategy and lead others, often without much guidance on what that shift requires. The “you need to be more strategic” feedback usually comes right before or after critical promotion points.
Request #2: Let me know your thoughts!
An exciting part of this project is that Everyday Strategic Leadership will be a living book. I’ll update it as I find additional insights and anecdotes about strategic leadership and as readers provide feedback. If you read it and see things you love or disagree with, I’d love to hear them. And if you have stories about exceptional strategic leadership, I’d love to talk.