Advancing from an Operational Manager to a Strategic Leader

Become an innovator, an influential leader, and a strategic change advocate. This comprehensive seminar equips you with the practical experience and skills needed to close the gap between your current capabilities and where you want to advance professionally. You will conduct SWOT analyses, discover strategic opportunities for organizational growth, and foster a culture that encourages appropriate risk-taking and innovation.

Make a meaningful impact in your organization. This training program develops the skills that allow you to create value for your organization and move your team forward with clarity and momentum.

Ideal Participants:

Managers with fewer than five years of management experience who aspire to advance into more strategic leadership roles and responsibilities.

How You Will Benefit:

• Inspire and guide your team toward greater readiness and competitive strength
• Apply strategic thinking to create organizational value by understanding customer needs and market expectations
• Look ahead, innovate, and create strategies that connect organizational vision to core strengths
• Identify and leverage opportunities to extend your influence and build strategic partnerships
• Use strategic thinking to assess your team's strengths and address weaknesses
• Build a team culture that embraces appropriate risk-taking and encourages innovation at all levels
• Develop persuasive communication skills to gain support for your strategic vision

Main Topics Covered:

Balancing Operational and Strategic Management Skills

• Create a clear definition of operational management and operational responsibilities
• Identify the essential qualities and characteristics of today's strategic leaders

Creating a Strategic Frame of Reference

• Understand the fundamental components of the strategic leadership model
• Develop your own strategic leadership approach for your work environment

Understanding Your Current Operational Mission

• Strategic thinking means expanding from a narrow focus to a broader organizational perspective
• Learn how to apply SWOT analysis to assess your team's position
• Develop a mission statement that defines your work group's operational purpose and focus

Developing a Strategic Vision

• Identify the critical issues that will create your strategic advantage
• Support and cultivate innovative solutions and thinking
• Create a preliminary vision statement for your work group

Making Your Vision a Reality

• Build and apply persuasive skills to influence key stakeholders
• Explore different approaches and options for influencing others

Your Personal Strategic Plan

• Develop communication strategies to build support for your strategic vision
• Have key conversations that encourage innovation and risk-taking

Course Outline:

Learning Objectives

• Develop strategic thinking capabilities in all managers and employees
• Foster a culture where all employees participate in creating and pursuing a strategic vision
• Encourage continuous reflection on how you can contribute to organizational goals and success

Lesson One: Developing Your Operational and Strategic Skills

• Define operational management responsibilities
• Identify the key characteristics of strategic leaders
• Assess and balance your own operational and strategic capabilities
• Evaluate your current skills and strengths

Lesson Two: Creating Your Strategic Frame of Reference

• Explain the components of the strategic frame of reference
• Identify key outputs and deliverables
• Build your own strategic leadership approach

Understanding Your Current Operational Mission

• Clarify your work group's core purpose and focus
• Write a mission statement for your team
• Perform a SWOT analysis on your team's position

Lesson Three: Developing Your Strategic Vision

• Understand customer needs, desires, and expectations
• Develop an approach for gathering customer data
• Use an importance and performance matrix in analysis
• Connect your mission statement to your vision
• Recognize the transformational power of a compelling vision

Lesson Four: Making Your Vision a Reality

• Apply persuasive and influencing skills
• Explore different options for influencing key stakeholders
• Evaluate your ability to foster and support innovation
• Conduct five essential conversations to advance your vision

Your Personal Strategic Plan

• Complete your strategic frame of reference
• Practice communicating your mission and vision statements
• Identify a key conversation you plan to have when you return to work
• Finalize your personal strategic action plan