Leadership Alchemy No.10: Beyond the horizon - Transcending from Transaction & Operational roles to Being Strategic

By Anupama Vaidya 

In the wild realm of leadership conversations, I frequently hear leaders expressing their concerns about their team members lagging in embracing & embedding a strategic mindset as they grow. Years get added, Quality/Depth??? Resultant, almost the entire chain is operating significantly below their real role expectations; It’s like witnessing a corporate game of musical chairs gone awry!

On the other hand, team members respond with a puzzled look and a dash of melodrama, "Hold up! I'm already juggling more tasks than a circus clown. What's the secret strategic sauce I'm missing here? I am doing everything to make things happen, what magic wand do you now expect?" It's like trying to find Waldo in a sea of responsibilities!

Amid these insightful conversations, I found myself immersed in a dialogue with a manager, let’s call her Sukhi, the protagonist of our story today. Seizing the opportunity during a discussion about an employee policy draft she was formulating, it became apparent that Sukhi, caught in the role of an operational manager, was overlooking the strategic dimension essential for driving meaningful and impactful results.  With over 15 years of experience, Sukhi seemed anchored in past practices, missing the shift toward strategic thinking.

Sukhi's situation mirrors a common narrative where experienced professionals, despite their enthusiasm, find themselves tethered to operational roles, questioning the elusive leap to leadership. It highlights the paradox in their professional journey – nurturing aspirations to climb the organizational ladder versus their readiness for such advancement. (Promotions are title changes! and oh, is there really a change to the way work? – Old Wine, New Bottle syndrome!) So deeply entangled in a limited perspective, akin to peering through a narrow peephole on a Glassdoor rather than seeing the full picture!

The missing link in Sukhi's professional repertoire is a profound understanding of how to infuse this very ability to see the full picture, the strategic thinking so required to enhance her value to the work she delivers and propel her career to the next level.

In Sukhi’s case, as we delved deeper into our discussions, I could perceive a dearth of constructive insights accompanying her as she navigated the leadership journey. Additionally, there was a noticeable shortfall in her commitment to “self-learning & application” (she needs to get her act together on “Leadership Alchemy No.3 – Reading Habit”). Coupled with the absence of role models among her managerial peers and sub-optimal performance across various roles (leading to degradation of work at every level), a perplexing landscape inevitably unfolds for aspiring professionals like Sukhi

In this tale of professional evolution, the challenge extends beyond Sukhi, becoming a collective puzzle for organizations grappling with how to empower their managerial cadre with the strategic acumen required in their leadership roles.

Helping her see through:

The story of Sukhi now pivots towards a solution-oriented exploration, seeking to unravel the barriers that hinder the transition from operational roles to strategic leadership. In doing so, it illuminates a pathway for both Sukhi and countless others yearning to break free from the operational constraints that bind their leadership aspirations.

To help Sukhi relate to the moving up the value chain, I knew that a practical example was important to what she could relate to, and what better way to take the example on hand of the employee policy management.

From the big words of ‘need to be strategic’, I knew my role was to demonstrate and walk her through the pathway for her to make her see the simplicity to take a few steps to move in the direction of being strategic without really using the big words!

As always, my white board and marker pen to rescue, I drew three columns on the white board -

Procedural	Managerial	Beyond / Forward thinking

 

We started making notes under each one of them, by nudging and asking questions, leading her to think beyond what she was able to see (beyond the horizon)

Procedural Tasks: (Transactional)

Q: what will be the typical activities that will characterize such procedural (transactional) activities? 

Sukhi: Involves day-to-day activities, compliance, with limited scope for deviations or change. Essentially managing the standard processes to complete the activity which my team is conducting on a day to day basis; like processing employee requests related to avail the policy; or managing paperwork, processing applications, seeking approvals, and overseeing standard procedures. Another aspect is handling queries related to policies or the application process itself.

That’s good to see her spontaneously spell out the transactional activities!!! 

·       Managerial Tasks: (Operational)

Q: Now if this has to be qualified under Managerial Tasks (Operational), what would you include as actions from your end?

(Sukhi: When I am focusing on driving efficiency and implementing process improvements, working with my technology team to streamline workflows; establishing the standard operating procedures (SOPs), formats, and checklists for employees to access and utilize policies seamlessly. Overseeing query resolutions, enforcing Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and ensuring effective monitoring. Making policy modifications based on feedback especially directives from top management.

That’s a good understanding till here on the differentiation between Transaction/Operations… and that’s why a dependable manager! I didn’t even have to ask too many questions, or nudge her to share these aspects while may be giving a few leading inputs.)

To this point, Sukhi had been actively contributing, but her momentum came to a halt when I posed the next set of questions and moving her towards the third column.

Her responses leaned heavily towards the negative or generalized statements, distinctly highlighting the areas requiring her attention to integrate “The Strategic Approach” which so very essential to open the lock to her leadership value and growth.

·       Forward Thinking: (Strategic)

Q. How does this policy align with the current and evolving business model? Has the business model changed since the its last formulation?

Sukhi: COO raised this question, so we took it up for modification.

Do you see the need to incorporate this business change?

We discussed a few areas which she had missed to incorporate in her draft not being tuned to this question in her work. Her approach was completely inward – functional HR, lack of business perspective.

Q. What insights have you gathered from the industry regarding this policy?  What are other companies doing, especially competitor’s doing? 

Sukhi: Oh, I haven’t yet gotten to do that, I was told to show you the draft before taking to CHRO/COO

And here the policy was on my table to review before it went to the CHRO and COO for their final approval! No wonder they wanted to me review this and guide Sukhi.

Q. How did you assess the effectiveness of the existing policy and identify areas for improvement? Is the policy necessary at all?  

Sukhi: While she touched on a few aspects, she hadn't delved into data analysis or interpretation – insufficient time was given for drawing insights from feedback)

Q. What prompted you to work on this policy? Was it a part of an annual plan of policy review as a part of Business Planning? 

Sukhi: No, my manager prioritized it due to the COO's critical feedback on this. There's no annual calendar for policy review management. 

Having a view to her work, I knew that there was no such timetable, or thought process incorporated into her working style (In my article on Leadership Alchemy No.21: Decoding Reactive to Predictive leadership style, she is one such example, who showed being clueless of taking charge of things))

Q. what are the changing trends that impact this policy in terms of social, legal, (political, economic also to be thought off) and such areas?

clueless

Q. If changes are made to this policy, does it impact any other policy or employee group? 

clueless 

Standalone approach, no thought was put on 360 degree impact of the release of this policy

Q. How are you involving the impacted stakeholders – Employees, Finance team, Admin team, … … ? 

Sukhi: I have not thought about that, I prepared a draft and brought it to you for your inputs. 

Showing an apathy for stakeholders is a clear indication of being activity driven rather than value driven and so the lag of being strategic)

Q. What metrics do you have to study the effectiveness of this policy implementation? Are they established? 

Sukhi: Mainly track SLAs but haven’t taken time to study utilization or impact to the business or people

Q. How are you learning and incorporating contemporary ways to lead these policies? 

Sukhi: just don’t get time to read and research and stay updated. 

When someone mentions time as a problem, you surely should guess how sub-optimal they will be towards their role imperatives. 

Sukhi's responses, laden with uncertainties and gaps, vividly illustrate the gap between operational proficiency and strategic foresight. In the tapestry of leadership evolution, Sukhi's journey serves as a compelling testament to the transformative power of embracing a strategic mindset. It’s not complicated, just a simple ability to break it down to relevant set of questions and asking yourself them time and again; incorporate these thought provoking questions as a way of your thinking, that make you work comprehensively with relevance and impact.

With these thoughts on the board, we paused, allowing Sukhi to capture the insights on the board, making her notes, clicking the pictures to help her with her action pointers to make the deliverable meaningful; whether strategic or not, at least comprehensive before she gets fired with set of questions that she can confidently stand upto with her preparedness (and further handle out of syllabus questions that are always a prerogative of the Leadership!!!)

Whether Sukhi ascends the professional ladder remains to be seen, echoing a common narrative for many traversing the spectrum from individual contributors to managers and aspiring leaders

The essence of leadership often eludes them, leaving them to ponder “Why not me?” The answer lies in the questions…. The pathway to being strategic.

As Sukhi left the meeting room armed with her arsenal of questions and insights to propel up the value chain, my thoughts immersed in a challenge all too familiar – a struggle commonly witnessed as I work with Small and Medium Enterprises endeavoring to ascend after the initial success, often while remaining oblivious to the issue itself! Here at least Sukhi was being challenged to think at a different level and move her in the direction of strategic mindset.

The comfort of relying on the past achievements and methodologies frequently traps them into a hamster wheel – they are STUCK!  This stage calls for a transformative process, akin to transitioning from a 100-meter sprint to a half marathon and eventually culminating in running a full marathon. Unlearning and relearning, in simple ways, emerge as imperative. The narrative weaves between Sukhi's proactive engagement in operational hurdles and the critical juncture where strategic acumen becomes indispensable. Drawing insights from the world of neuroscience, this expedition entails accessing a distinct facet of the brain, underscoring the necessity for a profound shift in thinking patterns.

While several frameworks are available, the least pathway for this expedition lies in your hands; the question is, are you able to see beyond the horizon and embark on it?