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Intentional Leadership — D5, W4, M10 — Strategy

Good morning and Happy Friday! It’s been kind of a soothing week here, soft rain…kind of nice, actually. The trees continue to change color, although the rains have caused a lot of leaves to fall, so we have a lot of naked trees, already!

I’ve been thinking about strategy a lot this week, as I suspect we all are, since it’s our area of focus this month. In fact, I spent some time reading about it just yesterday, as I’ve recently completed the StrengthsFinder assessment, and my strongest talent/strength is strategist. The description depicts one who quickly picks up on patterns, envisions the diverse paths one could take, quickly considers the various consequences, culling options all the while, eventually landing on the most effective path to the desired outcome.

It’s a timely concept as I have been working towards a significant transition in my life and it is coming closer…in fact, I’ll be able to share more details with you very soon. As I’m in this “wiggly” space, I am, in fact, very much in a strategizing mind-set. And, as I don’t believe in coincidence, this month’s focus on strategy has been a little more thought provoking for me than some of the other topics we’ve covered to-date.

Having reached this turning point, finally, I intend to “celebrate” this afternoon by treating myself to a scoop of Hershey’s Peanut Butter Cup ice cream (it is suspiciously nearly exactly the same as Baskin Robbins’ Peanut Butter and Chocolate…which isn’t available locally!) on my way home…and then we begin the weekend.

As usual, mine will be a mix of work and family time. I need to go back through some bookkeeping (not my strong suit and I’m learning a new system) and make some corrections. We’ve been invited to an “end of summer” party at a friend’s house. Some writing time, some resting time, and yoga. I am also looking more seriously at what’s going on the next couple of months — not just holidays but also end-of-year activities and planning for 2014.

How will you spend your weekend?

What thought have you given to the next 2-1/2 months?

Have you taken an inventory of your accomplishments and your progress-to-date towards your 2013 goals?

What can you do this weekend to prepare yourself for the week and weeks ahead?

What can you do to nurture yourself this weekend?

Who else needs your time and attention?

What have you been putting off that you just finally need to tackle?

However you spend it, I hope it’s intentional!

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Intentional Leadership — D4, W4, M10 — Strategy

You’ve likely heard me say this at some point, but if we don’t intentionally take time to stop and reflect on our experiences, we merely have a string of experiences in our lives, rather than gaining the wisdom from the lesson. In fact, I encourage everyone I work with to intentionally set time aside for “lessons learned” reflection after completing any significant effort or project. And the lessons are around both what they did well and what didn’t go quite so well, as you see, you can carry forward both kinds of lessons.

As a leader, it’s critical that you do this exercise and analyze past results. Then, consider what measurements you’ve put in place to gauge your ability to execute current and future strategies. Remember to incorporate your lessons learned as you prepare future strategies.

You have the opportunity to integrate strategy as a hallmark of your organization’s culture if you are thoughtful about this practice. You are significantly more likely to be successful in the future if you are able to strategize effectively during your down times, and then it will come as “second nature” during pressure-filled times in your business.

What can you do today, to move your team/organization in the direction of thinking and acting more strategically in all avenues of your business?

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Intentional Leadership — D2, W4, M10 — Strategy

How well do you know your team / organization? If you are to capitalize on your opportunities, it’s important that you know them extremely well; you need to know each person’s strengths and capabilities.

Strategies often fail during implementation because of an organization’s or team’s failure to scope the correct amount of time, capital, and talent necessary to fully embrace the opportunity.*

To avoid finding yourself in a similar situation, take some time today to think ahead…

What opportunity is in your future that you need to take advantage of?

What errors, obstacles, challenges do you envision encountering on the path to your goal? How can you minimize your chances of stumbling over any of them?

What else is going on in your organization that might cause additional challenges or restricted resources as you pursue this opportunity?

Who else needs to know your plan? What other teams/areas of your organization will be touched by this opportunity?

Whose talents do you need on your team to move strategically into this opportunity?

How soon can you meet with the necessary individuals to work through your strategy, map out some actions, and get started moving forward toward this opportunity?

*From Intentional Leadership, by Giant Impact.

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