- Postcards It’s easy to forget that the main reason many employees don’t think more strategically is a lack of information. …
- Gamification. …
- Bring-a-Friend Staff Meetings. …
- Field Trips. …
- Mentoring Circles. …
- Teaching Operations Reviews.
How To Succeed As A Leader By Looking At The Big Picture
How to succeed as a leader by looking at the big picture. It can be valuable to draw up a high-level activity flow chart for the major milestone stages in the core process threads you have been analyzing. By doing this, you will realize the assumptions you have been making about the design. You can test your assumptions and see where some additional creative thinking is required or some significant design issues remain to be resolved. It will give you the opportunity to test how well your process picture works for you and whether you are ready to move on to exploring the present organization to understand what needs to be kept, tossed, or created to make the process vision a reality.
Big picture thinking is a way a person looks at problems, opportunities, and situations. A big picture person often likes to brainstorm and come up with many ideas. They are idea generators, often thinking of huge changes, large projects and substantial opportunities to create new business.
Leadership needs to focus on seeing the big picture before anything else.
Ways to get your employees to see the big picture
In order for leaders to find the answers that will empower others to do their job, they need to:
Create Guardrails
Defining what you are not—what you do not strive for, what you do not deliver, and how you do not behave—helps gain clarity around who you are and why you matter. Creating guardrails forces leaders to think through the consequences of positioning and the various trade-offs of a strategic decision. This kind of clarity can inform your brand and business moving forward—informing how you speak, how you look, where you’re headed, and how to make each decision down the road.
Think Strategically, Not Tactically
Big-picture thinking means strategic thinking. Brand strategy and business strategy are all about seeing the whole picture. Considering things in a silo never creates an impactful strategy. And often, leaders get hung up on tactical details that stall powerful, strategic thinking. Although it’s important to occasionally check validity by considering your thinking on a micro level—how actually would you implement this?—it’s important to think big.
Listen to Everyone
Often, seeing the whole picture requires widening your perspective. It’s not just about what the C-suite has to say. Everyone should have a voice. Listening is key here. Alignment demands good listening. Give everyone within your company the chance to have a voice and even consider involving an outside perspective that might help put it all into context, identify gaps, and change the conversation.
Focus on the Future
In the end, every leader is responsible for driving their business into the future. And there must always be something worth moving toward. A clear vision increases employee productivity and commitment. And being clear about what that future could hold has the power to fuel innovation and empower the people most important to making your vision a reality. It’s easy to feel caught up in the present, stuck in today, and unable to think toward tomorrow. But being a leader is all about the ability to look forward. Then you go back and rally the troops who will make that possible.
If you want your business to succeed, you must focus on the big picture.
About the Author
Dr. Jeff Evans
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