January 17

7 important lessons to help you make time for strategy

We just wrapped up Season 12 of the Impact Multiplier CEO Podcast, which we entitled “Making Time For Strategy”. Davina Stanley interviewed me about what inspired me to write the book and what some of the main messages are.

Here are seven important lessons that emerged from those conversations. I do recommend you listen in to the full episodes, as you’ll get a glimpse into some real client experiences and recommendations. You can find it on all major podcast platforms, or click the links below to view/listen directly.

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S12E01: Making time for strategy, and why it will change your world
S12E02: The reason most people get stuck in the weeds
S12E03: How to free up hours each week for more strategic activity
S12E04: The critical conversations standing between you and strategic focus
S12E05: How your own thinking is keeping you stuck in low-value activity
S12E06: How to create a culture of strategic activity in your team
S12E07: Making time for strategy: Practical implementation strategies

1 - Strategic Time is your #1 predicator of future success. In the first episode, we explore the issues that led me to write the book. We also discuss what Strategic Time is and why it’s the number one predicator of your future success as a leader.

2 - Before trying to free yourself up, get clear about what ‘strategy’ looks like for you. Many people don’t know what they would actually do if they had an hour to ‘work on strategy’. We explore this question and offer some practical advice to getting clear.

3 - Tactics aren’t enough, but they ARE needed. Whilst some leaders over-rotate on productivity advice (and still don’t get the results they want), many leaders DO need to tune-up some of their workflows around meetings, messaging and task management. We outline two key tools.

4 - You can’t make time for strategy without some bold conversations. We often get stuck in operations because we feel our stakeholders won’t accept our more strategic focus. This is a leadership and influence challenge, and in Episode 4 we look at how to hold those bold conversations.

5 - Too much productivity can be a bad thing! Davina and I explain why, and we also cover two other common mindset traps that keep high-achieving leaders at their current level of success.

6 - Personal strategic focus is just the start. As a leader, freeing yourself up is one thing, but helping your team and wider organisation get out the busywork is quite another. We look at this challenge and explore a key framework for change management in Episode 6.

7 - Help is available. In the final episode we review the main learning points and explore how to turn all this information into implementation. You can start with our free Making Time For Strategy Assessment and also investigate our related services.

I hope you enjoy this season and find it inspires you to more strategic focus. If you’ve not done so already, why not check out the book (Making TIME For Strategy) and perhaps download the first couple of chapters?


PLUS, whenever you're ready, why not hit the accelerator on your journey of exponential impact by working with us, or by picking up a copy of Making TIME For Strategy?

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