Effective executives (strategic leaders) understand that to set the organisation’s strategic direction and drive performance, they can't act solely as representatives of the teams or divisions they directly lead.
They know that they need to:
consider in their decision-making the interdependencies between the different divisions and between the organisation and its external environment
appreciate how all of the pieces combine to enable achievement of the organisation’s strategic goals
offer to help and seek the help of other strategic leaders and organisations in their jurisdiction or industry
think about how resources and insights can be shared across the organisation and beyond so that collective capacity is lifted
consider the wider community, as the organisation’s vision can’t be effectively achieved without the support of their external stakeholders.
But how do you get to this level of understanding, particularly if you are a middle manager that has only ever worked in one part of the organisation?
Start by taking an interest in what others do and how it all fits together.
Try doing one or more of the following:
1. Read about what other teams/divisions do and how things work at the organisational level (and beyond).
Start with the annual report, strategic plan, internal newsletters and other information on the organisation’s external website and the intranet. This will help you learn about what the organisation is aiming to achieve and how each of the divisions is contributing towards this.
2. Consider organisational-level goals as part of your business planning and individual performance planning.
This may already be embedded into your organisation’s templates and processes, but try giving this some real thought and consider how your team or role fits into the bigger picture.
3. Reach out to your peers in other divisions to build relationships and learn from each other.
If you are in a core business area, chat to your colleagues in finance, HR, comms, procurement and governance functions, who work across all divisions and may have a better understanding of how things fit together.
If you are in a back office role, contact your peers in front office functions to make sure you understand the true purpose of the internal services you provide. Even better, try sitting amongst your internal clients one day per week or month – they will also appreciate having a real person to talk to rather than writing to a generic inbox.
4. Challenge yourself by getting involved in organisation-wide or industry-wide work.
Join an advisory committee, working group or joint project where you can step outside of your comfort zone.
Check if your organisation has employee mobility programs, such as secondments or exchange programs with organisations in other jurisdictions, your network of charities or your group of companies, as applicable to you.
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It doesn’t matter whether you are interested in progressing to the executive level or not.
Broadening your horizons will improve your thinking, increase your network of contacts and open up more opportunities for you in the future.
More importantly, you will be able to help more people as you learn about what they do and need.
I hope this is helpful.