The Path to Strategic Leadership –
Part 2: Your Most Important Meeting

Now that you have created strategic space after completing the “Drop and Give Me 20” exercise from last month’s issue, it is time to take a look at the most effective way to use it. Keeping strategic space free of to-do clutter and daily fire drills is critical when wearing the hat of the strategic leader. This is where the most important meeting of your career comes in: your Strategic Meeting With Yourself.

Feel like you can’t afford to take the time away from fighting the daily fires? The reality is that you can’t afford not to make this time a priority over the daily grind. This single action has the power to transform an effective tactical manager into a successful strategic leader.

1. Put your SMWY (Strategic Meeting With Yourself) on your calendar as a recurring event. Start with a minimum of one hour per month, with a goal to have one hour per week dedicated to strategic time. Consider this meeting as important as scheduled time with the company President. Don’t allow yourself or others to devalue this time by scheduling over it or rescheduling it to an eternal “later date”.
2. In the week(s) prior to your SMWY, create a prioritized list of key issues and opportunities to work on during your session. Before you add an item to your list, ask yourself, “Is this a proactive item that deserves my strategic focus?” This is a time to develop the top five goals for your department’s next quarter. This is not a time to create the presentation about it for your next meeting. Some suggestions for your list:
   - Outline a permanent solution for the top recurring problem in your organization
   - Prioritize all staff members by performance and design a development program for the bottom 10%
   - Identify the weakest interdepartmental relationship and draft a plan for immediate improvement
   - Develop a short-list of untapped opportunities that your department has been unable to take advantage of
   - Review your own development plan and take action on the top gap
3. Create an environment free from interruptions (email bells, vibrating blackberries, phone calls, drop ins, etc.). If you have an unlimited open door policy or feel constantly pulled by the piles in your office, you may want to select a different location for your SMWY. Until you are able to schedule a weekly SMWY, resist the pull to use email or the phone during your strategic hour. Instead make a list of strategic actions to take once your session is complete.
4. Once you’ve cleared your mind of the daily clutter, begin with the first item on your strategic list. Give it all the time and attention it deserves during your session – this is not a time to rush or multitask! You will be amazed at how creative you can get and how energized you feel during your SMWY.

Next month we’ll cover Part 3: kNOw Your Way to Success.

Need a strategic mindset to address complex problems? Read this Forbes article Upping Your Complexity Quotient.

For some specific examples of How Leaders of Leaders Differ from Leaders of Followers, check out this CEO Refresher article.