In recent days I’ve been writing about developing your strategic thinking and in this posting I come to the question of how to share your strategy with others.

This question implies that you do have a strategy.  It’s been interesting to me in recent days, reading Richard Rumelt’s recently published book Good Strategy, Bad Strategy, to notice how he differentiates between having a strategy and communicating it.  The bottom line?  It’s not enough to be charismatic and engaging – you need to engage people in a strategy that is more than just “fluff”.

In case you want to develop your skills in communicating strategy and getting people on board, I offer a number of suggestions below:

• Observe how others communicate and engage others:  Any number of historical figures have had to communicate a vision to and engage others, including Churchill, Gandhi, Martin Luther King and more recently, Barack Obama.  Even as I write, my list gets longer, and I am especially thinking of people who were successful in engaging others in a vision for the future that was subsequently realised.  Desmond Tutu, for example, is widely associated with South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission which played an important role in a successful transition to post-apartheid South Africa.  In the UK Aneurin (“Nye”) Bevan is recognised as championing what has become known as the National Health Service – free health care for all Britons.  Not all such leaders have been popular or have championed causes which win modern day support – any number of political or rebel leaders nonetheless successfully championed a cause.  The more you engage with their story the more you develop your understanding of the many different ways in which leaders engage others in a vision and strategy for the future;    
• Get behind the examples to understand the theory:  My old favourite, Goleman’s book The New Leaders, outlines research which identifies different leadership styles and how they work in practice.  It’s a great place to start if you want to understand the impact of communicating a vision and how you can cultivate this style as one of a number of styles you need to lead effectively.  For an example of what different leadership styles look like in practice, you can do worse than hunker down with the grainy old war film, Twelve O’Clock High.  This film shows two different leaders leading the same group of men in different ways and with dramatically different outcomes.  If you can get past the subject and the age of the film it is the perfect companion to Goleman’s book;
• Develop your communication and speaking skills:  If it’s speaking that’s holding you back, there are many ways to develop your skills.  Toastmasters has often been used by leaders to develop skills in speaking publicly.  Others have trained in neuro-linguistic programming (or NLP), nonviolent communication (NVC), Roger Schwarz’s Skilled Facilitator Approach and other approaches in order to develop a wider range of communication skills.  Of course, you don’t need to go through training to develop your skills in communication.  As an alternative you might want to seek out opportunities both inside and outside work to practice and develop your skills.  These may range from sitting down with your team to talk about the future to speaking at conferences or facilitating discussions.  A good coach can support you in identifying steps you can take which provide growth as well as supporting you in re-framing old fears about speaking.

This is my last posting – for now – on how to develop your skills in thinking strategically.  It’s been quite a series – and at the same time, I recognise the limitations of these suggestions:  if you want to develop your abilities in this area, you need first to identify what specifically you need to develop in order to move forward.  “Strategic thinking” involves quite a bucket-load of skills.

If you have questions that you’d like me to grapple with, please share them using the comments box below.  Many of my postings are inspired by and reflect my work with people in leadership roles.  Equally, if you have other comments or suggestions that could help readers to develop their ability to think strategically, please share them.