STRATEGY SESSIONS #23

ADDITIONAL TIPS ON BECOMING MORE STRATEGIC

by Dr. Steve Payne

I’m close to completing this series of essays on strategic decision making for career and life challenges.  The points below seem worth mentioning to describe further the four-step process that I’ve been trying to explain:

* Needs analysis:  Part of step 1 in my strategic decision-making process is determination of personal needs.  Business and organizations often undertake “needs analysis” to determine areas of weaknesses, underperformance, and opportunity -- prior to their setting strategic goals.  A similar investigation of personal needs can be important in establishing personal goals and identifying barriers to reaching these strategic goals.

* Aspiration level:  Some people have very high aspirations and set almost unattainable goals.  Others, for various reasons, have low aspirations.  These individuals may fail to set goals or they have goals that do not really challenge their true talents and capabilities.  Most counselors suggest trying to set life and career goals that “stretch” talents and capabilities, but that are not utterly unattainable or unrealistic ones.

* Effectiveness and efficiency as measures of strategic accomplishment:  Both concepts can be useful in measuring degrees of goal accomplishment.  Effectiveness is the extent to which we reach a goal or goals.  Efficiency is how we reach that goal or goals -- whether with ease and few costs or with difficulty and much cost of time and resources. 

* Moral or ethical concerns in the treatment of others impacted by strategic choices:  Only true psychopaths or sociopaths have no regard for moral or ethical concerns.  The rest of us have at least some moral or ethical values that influence our moral self-worth/self-regard and our perception of progress toward attaining personal goals.   Don’t forget to factor in your moral or ethical values strongly in appraising strategic choices.  Ethical conflicts and tough decisions can occasionally arise between personal ambition/goals and appropriate means to try to reach those goals.

* Change:  Change is inevitable, and it can be feared or embraced.  Accomplishing life or career goals is successfully confronting our personal challenges and seeing actual changes in our circumstances and in ourselves as persons.  Those people close to us occasionally may have reasons to resist or obstruct some of these changes.  Communication will often be necessary to prepare and help others impacted by these changes in personal relationships.  Feedback from others can help, too, in possibly modifying our goals or ways to pursue these goals.  

* Coaching or counseling from those who use a strategic perspective to life and career decisions:  Not everyone has a mentor, coach, or even a good friend with whom to have very honest conversations about these choices.  Often the person facing a life or career challenge doesn’t feel comfortable, for various reasons, even discussing these major concerns.  Even if a person tries to initiate this type of important conversation, the other person involved might not have the listening skills, the available time then, or the types of insights that would be helpful.   Try to find someone with whom you can freely talk about important decisions that you face.