Episode 44
Be More Strategic in Business with Diana Thomas and Stacey Boyle
November 12, 2020
In all the disruption of 2020, certain basic principles of strategic leadership have become even more critical to surviving and thriving. In episode 44, guest host Mary McNevin interviews Diana Thomas and Stacey Boyle about their book, Be More Strategic in Business: How to win through stronger leadership and better decisions. They discuss the gamut of issues facing leaders in the talent space today, including the importance of driving business results, how to connect with people remotely, investing in your own career, and what the next year will hold.
Being Strategic in Business: Key takeaways from Episode 44
Strategic leaders show how they’re driving the corporate strategy and adding real value. They’re tuned into the needs of the business and understand how their contributions influence broader objectives. They use data to think through consequences and make smart decisions. All strategic leaders bring different talents to the table, but they share a focus on making an impact.
The principles of strategic leadership become ever more important in a disruptive environment. People need leaders who can set a strong vision and motivate a team to move forward.
In 2020, talent champions became frontline workers almost overnight as the pandemic hit and companies scrambled to respond. Now that most businesses have adapted to their new business models, talent champions at public companies are shifting their focus to a new SEC requirement to disclose the material value of their human capital in earnings reports. And finally, the social unrest this year also highlights the continual need to stay focused on diverse and inclusive leadership.
Stacey’s L&D SWOT analysis highlighted the importance of strategic planning—those L&D leaders who had a strong grasp of the business value of their contributions have come through the year stronger and better prepared for the future than those that scrambled to create a strategy as the pandemic unfolded.
Most leaders seem to have their formal communications down in the remote environment and are looking for ways to recreate the informal interactions that naturally occur in an office environment. Some ideas for connecting, rather than one-way communication, include casual check-in calls or texts, arriving early or staying late in virtual meetings, and eating lunch together on a video call.
Looking forward, digital thought leadership is becoming a critical skillset for strategic leaders. If you don’t have strong technical skills, this is an opportunity to invest in yourself and learn about hot topics in the tech world.
Create and prioritize your personal development plan. You can’t wait for someone to recognize you and promote you—you have to go after it. You also need to accept the likelihood of dramatic changes throughout your career and be as prepared as possible by acquiring skills that transfer well. Keep a growth mindset and follow your intellectual curiosity.
Additional Resources
Be More Strategic in Business by Diana Thomas and Stacey Boyle
EdCast: an AI-Powered Knowledge Cloud solution for unified discovery, personalized learning, and knowledge management across the enterprise, including work teams that are more remote and highly distributed than ever before.
First-Ever Crowd-Sourced L&D SWOT Analysis: participate and access the last report
Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto: The Pyramid Principle will show you how to communicate your ideas clearly and succinctly.
