How to “be more strategic”
This weekend, a friend told me about feedback she got from her manager: "Be more strategic."
It's something most leaders hear, especially when they're navigating an increase in responsibility. And on its own, it's… not helpful. In my experience, "be more strategic" is shorthand for one of four things:
You're spending too much time on execution and not enough on direction and priority. The fix isn't doing more, better. It's literally moving time on your calendar from doing the work to deciding what work matters.
You're making decisions without enough context about how they fit into the bigger picture (i.e., long-term plans or goals and incentives beyond your team). The fix is investing in relationships and information flows that give you that context. Often, that means more conversations with peers and your boss, not more analysis.
You're not communicating the why behind your decisions, so your team and stakeholders can't see the strategy even when it exists. The fix is listening to your inner middle school math teacher — show your work!
This the hardest one to hear — your evaluator doesn't believe you understand the work at a fundamental level (yet). If you hear questions about whether this role is the "right fit" for you, that's a signal this may be what's going on. The fix is harder here, and you'll likely have more to prove to reverse course. It may be helpful to go back to basics (and have frank conversations with your boss and other stakeholders) to build the core awareness, capabilities, and judgment required to do the job.
"Strategic" is not a magical quality, nor is it a synonym for "ruthlessly optimized." It's not about being forceful or supportive. Rather, it's a complement to (read: opposite of) being operational. It's an invitation to shift your focus away from how hard you and your team are rowing, and towards the question of in which direction, on what path (and of course, why!).
The most useful thing you can do when someone tells you to "be more strategic" is to clarify: "Can you give me an example of what more strategic behaviors would look like in my position?"
The answer almost always points to one of these. Then you have something real to work on.
