Are You A Strategic Thinker?

Myths and facts about one of the most sought-after leadership competencies in business.

When it comes to evaluating someone’s leadership potential, few traits are more present than “strategic thinking”, defined broadly as the ability to understand the “high level” implication of problems, take a “big picture” approach, “connect the dots” (especially when they are not obviously connected), and both formulate and communicate a long-term and future-oriented vision.

Like most traits (including abilities), strategic thinking can also be understood by its theoretical reverse, namely tactical thinking, which is about focusing on the details of the “here-and-now”, “seeing the trees but missing the forest”, and favoring action and implementation over creative ideation. After all, as Mike Tyson famously noted, “everybody has a plan until they are punched in the face”.

To be sure, the idea that people are either tactical or strategic is based on a false dichotomy, since great leaders are often able to move quite effortlessly from high-level strategy to the tactical nitty-gritty of operations and execution. As Carl von Clausewitz (who was even more interested in strategy than Mike Tyson is) argued, strategy and tactics are deeply interconnected, in the sense that strategy must adapt to tactical realities and tactics can shape strategic outcomes.

That said, a great deal of leadership development and training assumes that managers are often ill-equipped for strategic thinking, which ought to be addressed in order to prepare them for more senior leadership roles.

So, how can you tell if you are good strategic thinker? Strategic thinking is a multifaceted cognitive process influenced by various individual differences. Some of the most salient and generalizable predictors of strategic thinking include:

1. Expertise

Expertise provides a foundation of knowledge essential for strategic decision-making. You cannot be strategic about stuff you don’t understand. Deep understanding of a domain allows individuals to recognize patterns and foresee potential outcomes, enhancing their strategic capabilities. It is necessary but not sufficient for strategic thinking, just like knowing how to play a musical instrument is necessary but not sufficient for creative performance with that instrument. Well, there may be a random circumstance where you could end up being strategic “by chance”, even if you don’t understand much about the subject matter – but it won’t replicate…

2. Openness to Experience

Openness to Experience, a dimension of the Big Five personality traits, reflects an individual’s receptiveness to novel ideas and experiences. Research indicates that Openness is a strong predictor of creative achievement and divergent thinking, both crucial for strategic innovation. Studies have found that Openness significantly predicts creative achievements in the arts, while Intellect (a related construct) predicts creative achievements in the sciences. Since Openness is linked to unconventional, original, and non-conformist thinking, it is a logical enabler of strategic thinking (more on this in point 4). Furthermore, openness is also the main personality characteristic of highly curious individuals, and curiosity is also a consistent predictor of strategic thinking.

3. Intelligence (IQ)

Intelligence, particularly analytical intelligence, contributes to strategic thinking by enabling individuals to process complex information and solve problems effectively. Although IQ is often dismissed in the business world, it is by far the best single measure of learning potential, learning speed, and reasoning capability, all of which are key for engaging in strategic thinking, especially when informed decision-making requires processing and making sense of complex information and data.

4. Creativity

Creativity involves generating novel and useful ideas, a vital component of strategic thinking. The Investment Theory of Creativity suggests that creative individuals “buy low and sell high” in the realm of ideas, persisting with novel concepts until they gain acceptance. This persistence and willingness to take intellectual risks are essential for effective strategy formulation. To be sure, strategic thinking requires going beyond what everybody sees, and just like Openness, creativity is an important ingredient for that.

Although the above variables are more trait- than state-like (meaning they cannot be influenced at will or modified significantly after a certain age), there are also some behavioral correlates of strategic thinking that are more susceptible to manipulation and training. Paying attention to these factors can help you improve your reputation for being strategic:

5. Ask “why?”

A good way to come across as strategic is to display curiosity for the root causes of things, and asking “why?” during strategy discussions will help you and others to think of the bigger picture and refine your causal models and assumptions. In contrast, questions about the “how?” are typically more operational and tactical, though of course it is pointless to come up with a strategy that hasn’t paid sufficient attention to the execution (back to von Clausewitz… and Mike Tyson!).

6. Listen

People who think of themselves as strategic often talk and talk, but those who are actually good at it are often better at listening, a rather underrated quality in talented leaders and employees. In fact, talking is a performative act often aimed at impressing others; but if you pay attention to others and listen carefully, you may incorporate key lessons and learnings to fine-tune your strategy content, and be better at selling your strategy to others (since you will have probably understood what they want and need).

7. Learn

While we may not be able to influence our dispositional curiosity, we all have the power to invest more time and effort into studying, and there’s no substitute for learning as much as you can if you want to be seen as strategic. If expertise (see again point 1 above) is the essence of strategic thinking, because without expertise there is no strategy, there is no expertise without learning. Indeed, you may be born with a predisposition towards Openness, curiosity, IQ, and even creativity, but nobody is born an expert, and the only concrete and solid driver of expertise is putting the time in to learn.

8. Learn to communicate

Even if you have great ideas, including a knack for strategic thinking, nobody will care unless you can express and communicate them adequately. This requires connecting with people not just on a rational, but also emotional level, which explains the importance of emotional intelligence (EQ), empathy, people-skills, and political skills vis-a-vis strategic thinking, and especially having a reputation for someone who is good at that. Indeed, our world (and especially the business world) often values style over substance, and most people are not very good at judging wether you are strategic or not. However, they will be impacted by your influence and persuasion strategies, including how eloquent, polished, and impressive you are in both your verbal and non-verbal communicational skills. Contrary to popular belief, this doesn’t mean using empty management jargon (e.g., “let’s take this to the next level”, “we need to be more agile”, “we need to think outside the box”, and “this is a strategic priority”), but actually explaining things in a compelling and insightful way (which tends to require some expertise and intelligence).

To be sure, you can be a great leader even if you are not naturally good at strategic thinking. Leadership is about influence, decision-making, and empowering others—not just high-level strategy. Some of the best leaders excel at execution, culture-building, or problem-solving, relying on strategic thinkers around them to shape direction. Delegating strategy to those with that strength allows you to focus on what you do best. Fundamentally, organizations don’t need dozens of strategies – just one would do. So, even if you are not the one setting it, making an effort to understand it, and playing your role to execute it, is what truly counts.