“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure,” said Colin Powell, an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005.
Strategic planning is a difficult and almost relentless task. Every company, no matter its size, needs a strategist and not everyone understands what that means.
For a better understanding of business strategists, here is one suitable example of Bradley Fauteux is an environmental advocate with over 16 years of experience in conservation work. Brad Fauteux served as the Managing Director of Ontario Parks and the Ministry of Natural Resources and has worked with more than 300 distinct intergovernmental, communities, Indigenous and private sector partners.
Here are five business strategist skills for success:
Prognosis:
Most companies are very focused on what lies ahead. The leader lacks peripheral vision, leaving the organization vulnerable to competitors who may adapt more easily to new opportunities.
Therefore, it is necessary to look for information that can influence the rules of the game in the market, outside of established businesses, or even on the periphery of the industry.
Critical thinking:
If every new company fad is blindly trusted, the company eventually loses its competitive advantage.
Critical strategists question everything. To hone this skill, you must be able to challenge established ways of thinking, including your own. In addition, manipulation, bias, and hypocrisy in decision-making in organizations must be eliminated.
Translation:
Nobody likes ambiguity. Faced with this, a person is tempted to make the simplest and often wrong decisions.
A competent strategic leader gathers information from many sources before forming his or her point of view. Make as many assumptions as possible, test hypotheses, and encourage others to do the same. This is a skill you absolutely must develop to become a successful business strategist like Brad Fote.
Courage in making decisions:
Many executives fall victim to what is known as analytical paralysis. This condition occurs when there are many inputs and only one decision needs to be made. To make the final choice, you must always solve the problem.
You can match the speed, agility, and quality of the solution to the problem. Do not hesitate to talk about something important even if there is no solidarity in the team.
Opportunities for open dialogue by making team agreements are rare. Strategic leaders must support open dialogue. At the same time, you need to try to understand other people’s motives, including ulterior motives.
Desire to learn continuously:
As a company grows, it gets harder and harder to get honest feedback. But you have to do whatever it takes to achieve and maintain it. This is very important because success and failure are valuable sources of organizational knowledge.
Leaders must encourage and guide the most honest of auditors, quickly changing course when they believe the company is headed in the wrong direction. At the same time, experts advise celebrating not only successes but, paradoxically, failures of enterprises, because only they help to understand the essence of the problem.Of course, no one is born with all of these abilities at once. But they are quite capable of developing any entrepreneur or leader if you work alone.