Welcome to the new manager podcast.
I'm your host, Kim nickel. Hello and welcome.
I'm glad you're here. I hope you're doing well.
And today, we are just going to Dive Right In.
I want to talk with you about the skill of strategic thinking.
It's one of the top skills that come to light that people need
as they move into people manager roles.
And the first thing I want to tell you about.
This is what That tricky is that you think it's something you
don't know how to do, or there's this realization of, oh,
strategic thinking. That means thinking differently
than how I am now and that's true, but it's helpful to
remember that right now. You do think strategically, but
you just call it thinking, are you just call it?
Well, obviously, this is how things work.
Because, remember, when we're thinking about, what does it
mean to think strategically? We were thinking in terms of
relationships between people resources.
You know, how thing, how one thing influences our effects
another. And so when you move into a
manager role, you already have had years of strategic thinking
in your own life and in your own career, you've had thoughts that
informed the decisions you made that shaped the choices that you
saw a available to you. There are so many subtle ways
that just didn't stand out in your mind as an intentional,
strategic choice or it might have bright.
Like sometimes if you if you intentionally change Industries
or you realize you're an underrepresented person in your
industry or in your company that sense of distance will create an
awareness of. Okay.
Like, how am I going to do this? And the way that you answer that
question, how am I going to do? This that is your strategy.
That is your strategic thinking so you already have it and part
of the work I do with my clients is helping them to understand.
How are they currently thinking strategically?
What's your current operating strategy?
Because once you have clarity about that, it makes it a lot
easier to begin to expand the way that you think
strategically, so that you can then grow and That internal
strategic operating system. So, for example, a lot of folks
that I work with have the Strategic thinking of, in order
to be successful. You work hard seems obvious,
right? Like that's my strategy.
I'll simply work really hard. I'll keep my head down.
Don't want to draw too much attention to myself.
I'll just work hard. Keep my head down, you know,
don't want to B2 self-aggrandizing, I want to be
humble. So just work hard.
Keep my head down. Another big one is learning by
observation. I'll just learn what's expected
by observing the people around me and I'll understand without
having to ask a direct question. And without anybody teaching me
exactly what's expected. And this comes up a lot,
especially if you identify as an underdog or an underrepresented,
Person, the sense of kind of reading the room to understand.
How do I need to be in order to succeed here?
I'll just learn by observation. I don't want to ask for direct
help because I'm worried about what people will think.
If I do, I just need to sort this out another element of
strategic thinking. I'll be I'll just be
resourceful. You know, like, I'll just figure
this out on my own. I'll have to be resourceful.
I don't have a lot of resources. So I'll have to be Forceful on
my own, don't ask for help. We talked about that just a
moment ago. A sense of walking on eggshells,
this sense of needing to be very careful, that things are a
little bit precarious and if you miss step or if you're careless
somehow something very bad will happen.
That can't be repaired and just an overall sense of high-stakes.
So if you're if you're thinking is that there's always Is a
sense of things being high stakes than that.
Also creates a, you know, a feeling of pressure creates a
sense of, I need to do things. Exactly?
Right? I have to figure this out on my
own and what's really interesting is that this set of
strategic thinking thoughts. Right?
Like if that is what has been driving you through your
education through your Adult Career life.
They can be very useful. They can be very effective in
getting you to the stage of advancement and success and
achievement. There's nothing in correct or
wrong about that often. The reason why we have our
current strategic thinking is because it has worked.
It's been very effective in the past.
And so, then we do it again and again, and again and then it
starts to feel risky or Hard to begin to challenge that.
That when you are moving into a manager role, it becomes very
important to question. How are you currently thinking
about things? Like, what is your current
strategic perspective? And will it serve the situation
you're in now? Or is it time to shift or update
that strategic thinking? So that You can be more
effective. You may have outgrown a level or
outgrown, a particular strategic thought that you have and it
might be time for something else.
One of the things that I've seen can get really problematic is
when you're a person who is very good at learning by observation.
What tends to happen is that then when you are managing other
people, you will expect that. They will do that too.
Because for you, it's just obvious.
Obviously you simply learn by observation.
You read the room, you notice what's expected and then you
course correct yourself. And you will be confused about
why the people you manage are not like that.
This is also where the self-awareness of the more you
understand about. Yourself, the more you realize
other people are not you, and so, they might have different
internal operating manuals. They have different ways of
thinking, strategically, of ways that have worked for them.
And so, part of the growth stage, then, as you're in this
leadership, role of managing people is learning, how to
stretch beyond what is familiar and what has worked for you and
to begin to expand your skill set.
So instead of just keeping your head down, staying quiet
learning by observation. Just working hard, not asking
for help. Now, you may be required to do
the opposite of that. So instead of doing all the hard
work, now, it's about delegating or now.
It's about facilitating. How can I make things easier,
instead of keeping your head down?
Now? It's about advocacy.
It's about asking for resources. It's about promoting people.
Our team, it's about promoting yourself and advocating for
yourself. It's not just learning by
observation. It's also helping to convey
information, clearly and timely and in a way that is direct.
So it's easier for people to understand what your
expectations are or what their requirements are having
different kinds of conversations and maybe instead of expecting
other people to be as Forceful as you are.
It's about having more direct conversations about what is
needed. What is available?
What do you do? If there is a gap, right?
So it, we start to think of things really differently and
what's nice is that, you know, if you've lived so much of your
life with this feeling of walking on eggshells, like, I
have to get everything just right.
Otherwise, it falls apart or something will break and I won't
be able to repair it. When you start to learn these
alternative ways of thinking about how you work with others
and think like thinking strategically in a more,
expansive way. It creates a greater sense of
safety, a greater sense of resilience.
It allows you to kind of set down the burden of I have to do
everything exactly right. And it starts introducing a bit
more. It's a bit more compassion, a
bit more ability to adapt in the moment with the different people
that you're working with. So it benefits you on a personal
level because it can create a lot of anxiety, right.
When you have this thought of like, I have to do a right and
there's no room for error creates a lot of pressure, a lot
of anxiety. And when you are managing
people, all of a sudden, you know, it's a different job.
It's a It Dynamic. And I found it can create a lot
of anxiety and a lot of stress because also as a human were
really concerned with connection and belonging we want to feel
connected with people. We want to feel a sense of
belonging. It makes experiences easier.
It makes experiences more satisfying, it just feels good.
Right? And so there's always a part of
you that is going to be tracking for potential.
Harmony and wanting to avoid that.
And that is always going to be doing a little internal
calculation of how much energy will it take to manage other
people's emotions. And that's where if you're
thinking, how do I say this in a way that doesn't create a
meltdown in the other person? Or how do I say this in a way
that they won't lash out at me or they won't shut down, or they
won't. Cry or they won't be angry or
they won't think. You know this about me like when
you are playing in your mind over and over and over again,
how do I say this in order to create the result that I want?
A part of that calculation is the awareness that, like, how
will you need to like, how much energy will it take for you to
manage this other person's emotional life.
And this is, I think so fascinating, because it often
happens on a Very subtle level, like, it's happening,
subconsciously, all the time. And this is where I see a lot of
folks. Struggle to have those direct
conversations because internally, there's an alarm
going off. That says, it's not worth it.
It's not worth the effort. It will only create more work
for you. What if it breaks the
relationship? And you can't repair it.
Like, there's a lot of fear and anxiety and stress that gets
bound up. When we're not aware of how
we're thinking about our work relationships and our
relationships with the folks that we managed.
So, you know, strategic thinking is something that you already
have. It's something that you need to
develop and hone as you continue in your career and the first
step is understanding. What is your current thinking?
What is your current strategic? Thinking what has helped you to
get to this point? What has helped you be
successful here? And when you can begin to
understand and see that clearly, then you have the ability to ask
is this still helpful for the situation?
I am in now. Is there another way to look at
this? How else can I think about this?
What's the big picture that I'm missing here?
Right. So when you start to think in
those marks pants of ways because you have that clarity
about how you currently think, you start to see what I what I
call like door number three. So instead of, you know, it's
this way or it's that way, you start to find all of these
options, you start to find door number three.
The thing that you didn't even think, About was available or
possible or could work. And it all begins with first
slowing down, getting curious, taking a look at, how are you
currently thinking about things and then beginning to ask some
questions and what's neat? Is that as you learn how to do
this? Like this becomes a skill that
you'll use for the rest of your life and for the rest of your
career, so it creates this really robust and resilient.
Aunt, skillset around. How you think, how you make
decisions, how you feel? Like, even your sense of like,
letting go of the sense of dread about what may or may not happen
in a conversation that you need to have or with a decision that
you need to make, it really makes a huge difference and it's
one of those things where it really is work.
You have to do for yourself and within yourself, it's it can be
really tricky. To you know, like get the
information just passively consuming.
So I say that while acknowledging and celebrating
that you are here listening to this what this podcast but do
take time to notice for yourself, how you're currently
thinking. What is the strategy?
That's got you here. And then where are you now?
Where are you going? What is this strategic thinking
that you will need. For that because it might need
to change and just be prepared that you might not want to
change because might not feel safe, right?
And that's normal. It's a human thing.
That's why I'm telling you about it because if you understand and
know it, then it won't trip you up in the same way.
It's a lot easier to move forward.
So, that's what I have for you today.
I hope you enjoy the rest of this week, and I will talk to
you next time. Hey, before you go.
If you like this podcast, please leave a review.
Tell me why you listen, and what has helped you.
Thanks so much. I'll see you next time.