Practice Three: Promote Continual Advancement

In the realm of strategic leadership, the first two practices guide us to carve a path to success and build strong, effective teams. Yet, in the real world, plans are subject to change, and teams are in a perpetual state of evolution. Unforeseen problems, challenges, and opportunities invariably emerge, demanding skillful solutions, navigation, or exploitation. Strategic leaders seize the reins of change, promoting continuous progress by instigating or harnessing change to propel their teams towards their envisioned future.

Unveiling the Challenges

Advancement is the ongoing process of elevating your team's performance through innovation and improvement. One of the foremost challenges faced by strategic leaders is steering this growth process, as change often appears beyond their control. Leaders may possess a well-defined path to success and an effective team, yet find themselves swayed off course by reactive responses to unforeseen circumstances rather than proactive and purposeful usage of change to their advantage. Falling into a reactive mode is a common pitfall preventing leaders from realizing their strategic goals.

The Power of Continuous Progress

While leaders may not control every change or hurdle their teams encounter, they possess the ability to instigate or thoughtfully react to change and challenges, directing them towards the envisioned future. This is achieved by analyzing each problem, challenge, or opportunity through the prism of their team's purpose, strategies, and goals. Strategic leaders employ their strategic plan as a compass, enabling them to prioritize which changes to address and deliberately shape their team's responses.

The Three Horizons of Progress

Progress unfolds across three distinctive horizons, each bearing its own blend of risk and opportunity:

Horizon One: Incremental Improvements

Here, you have the chance to make existing things even better. It could involve making incremental improvements to processes or systems, enhancing their effectiveness and efficiency.

Horizon Two: Expanding Current Capacities

These opportunities revolve around expanding the reach or capacity of existing capabilities, creating greater impact.

Horizon Three: Innovating New Capabilities

This is the chance to develop brand-new capabilities. It involves creating new systems, programs, or initiatives that provide your team or organization with new skills.

Every problem or challenge your team encounters can be reframed as an opportunity to advance across one of these three horizons.

Harnessing Change for Advancement

To promote constant growth, strategic leaders address each problem or challenge as a catalyst for forward movement toward their vision and objectives. This is accomplished by:

Transforming Goals into Milestones

Every annual goal should be broken down into weekly or monthly metrics. These key measures act as the guide for your team, sustaining unwavering focus on what truly matters, even when things change quickly.

Solving Problems to Propel Progress

When key metrics sway from the intended course, use this as an opportunity to initiate change that propels your team closer to their objectives. Communicate solutions that drive the team forward and keep them on track, preventing problems and challenges from diverting their attention toward unproductive tangents.

Connecting the Dots for Your Team

In the midst of constant change and busyness, the importance of communication should not be underestimated. Teams can easily lose sight of their core objectives. Strategic leaders must continually convey how each change steers the team towards the path to success.

Adopting the Wayfinder Approach

At Wayfinder, we are unwavering in our mission to empower leaders to create continuous progress. This is an indispensable part of strategic leadership, serving as the compass to keep your team on course, helping you harness the potential within every problem and challenge. Our goal at Wayfinder is to equip you with the tools that transform objectives into tangible reality.

Are you ready to embark on this transformative journey? If your answer is yes, take the next step by connecting with us now.