What are some common strategic planning pitfalls for senior Thought Leaders?

Overconfidence in current success 🏆 Ignoring market shifts and trends 📉 Lack of clear goals and objectives 🎯 Failing to involve diverse perspectives 🌐 Not adapting to changing environments 🔄 Poor communication and alignment 🤝 Ignoring feedback and data 📊 Being too rigid or inflexible 🧩 #ThoughtLeadership

-Not understanding the "big picture" and not being able to articulate & percolate the same to the teams. - Thought leadership begins with Empathy. Understanding the needs of the organization, partners, teams and business is the key. - Good listening skills are equally important.

In my experience, the most interest and challenging strategic plans to create are those that need to be understood by a broad range of disparate functions. For example, software engineers, regulatory teams and physicians may each have a different interpretation of a vision and mission statement. In the healthcare industry, I recommend centering on the patient because it is a common experience and a compelling reason for excellence.

Overconfidence in existing strategies, neglecting emerging trends and underestimating the importance of team alignment. Failure to adapt to dynamic markets, insufficient risk assessment and a lack of flexibility can hinder effective planning. Additionally, overlooking the need for continuous learning and staying disconnected from the frontline realities may impede successful execution. Successful senior Thought Leaders navigate these challenges by embracing agility, fostering innovation and prioritising collaboration within their teams.

🧠 For a thought leader, strategic advisor or visionary... Define the teams: 🚀 Mission: What is the real purpose of us, as a business, organization, group etc. existing 🙌 Values: What are the specific guiding behavioral principals to help us achieve our mission 🥇 Objectives: What are the tangible measures that we can setup to help in adding traceability toward the mission.

Thought-leadership is based on trust that your followers have in your expertise. Earning this trust rarely happens overnight. It needs to be built and nurtured consistently overtime by sharing unique and engaging insights with followers. I recommend setting a realistic SWOT goal based on the medium follower growth and planned activities and a stretch/aspirational goal.

Frequently leaders make decisions using information that is limited to the information they contributed and they don't gather information from the people that will be responsible for delivering on the expectations. Top down leadership without bottom up input can lead to unrealistic expectations and poor outcomes. Trust, communication and clarity are key to making sure that expectations are realistic.

Resistance to change is real. People do not trust that the change has value or is in their best interest. Even if it is something that is obviously better it takes energy and effort to make changes. Leaders should invite collaboration to build trust. If people see their ideas have been directly incorporated into changes they are much more likely to be invested in making those changes. Change involves open two way communication. Listening to ideas and feedback is important.

Resistance is natural during change and must be addressed through clear communication and action, emphasizing the "why." Consensus-building, feedback, and adaptation are vital aspects of the process. However, senior thought leaders may sometimes need to make decisive choices to prevent inertia and opportunity costs. To avoid the "consensus trap," I've found the "Disagree and commit" technique valuable. It relies on trust among senior leaders and well-defined decision-making authority.

So apt! James Keyes, ex-President of Seven Eleven, smartly described his understanding of CEO is the one who for whom Change Equals Opportunities. Change is inevitable, the one who accepts it and looks to harness advantageous learning from it will be the only one who will continue to stay relevant.

In my nearly 50 years in management and leadership roles I have found that NOBODY like to change - UNLESS the pain of remaining in the current state is great than the pain of changing. Overcoming the complacency of doing nothing (NOT changing) is a choice - and a decision. Don't fall into the trap of doing nothing and then complaining that things 'happened that were out of your control' - The economy tanked my profit in 2023 is likely due to changes you CHOSE not to make because they seemed too hard / over whelming. NOT MAKING A DECISION is a decision.

Change management - individual or organizational (or both) is always pivotal. It is uncomfortable and yet so important for growth. A growth mindset as a thought leader helps change culture and leads to a higher performance.

Often times it's easy to communicate about your ideas once and think you have 'made your point'. But communication is an ongoing conversation. One that is delivered across formats, frequency and topics that roll up to the bigger strategic vision.

In essence, thought leadership is built through strategic communication and engagement with key stakeholders in their preferred channels. Providing thought leadership is part of communications strategies and should be aligned with internal, product, and corporate communications.

Before becoming a Thought Leader, leaders in any sphere need to learn to THINK and REFLECT rather than re-acting in the moment. It will only be when leaders can REALLY think — and be self-disciplined to do so — that any Thought Leadership should be considered.

Execution is the Key. One of the major pitfalls in strategic planning is the gap between planning and execution. Often, plans become stuck only in discussions and documents, unknown from the ground realities and progress on the deliverables/outcomes. To avoid such a situation, it is important to establish a clear and concise action plan, with a very specific timeline and clearly defined accountability. This will ensure that the strategy/vision moves from concept to reality effectively, otherwise, it becomes a situation of analysis paralysis.

Sometimes the easiest way to do something is not reinvent the wheel. In the quest to do something different, thought leaders delay or do not do the obvious. Another such pitfall is failing to align the strategy with the actual capabilities and resources of the organization. Leaders may set ambitious goals without considering whether they have the necessary talent, technology, or capital to achieve them. For instance, Kodak's delay in embracing digital photography, despite having developed the first digital camera, is often cited as a failure to align strategy with technological capabilities and market trends.

In my experience, it is not so much a lack of execution (as thought leaders will always act), but more so a matter of unsuccessful execution. One of the big factors in unsuccessful execution, is that Leaders are too quick to go from planning strategy, directly to executing that strategy. However, they miss this 'bridge' step which is strategy activation - where we build advocacy & understanding, conversation and connecting, building anticipation. Then execute. In anthropology, they term this 'the right of passage' - that time spent evolving and nurturing the landscape & people, before the green light is a go..

All of the points raised in this article are well taken. Based on experience and observation, a refusal or aversion to continued growth and development is a significant pitfall. Trends change, information evolves, people's understanding and interest differ by experience, demographics, region, culture , values etc. As a thought leader, you must be able to understand the shifts in information, in order to accurately convey that to different audiences. The only way that you will understand and maintain relevance is if you continuously seek to grow and evolve your own understanding, as well as the impact on the communities that you are seeking to serve.

Guided Change (should be) =Applied Learning! Becoming too rigid in the strategic plan can be detrimental. The rapidly changing business environment requires lots of learning, flexibility and adaptability. Nokia's initial strategic rigidity in the smartphone market, where it was slow to adopt new operating systems in favor of its Symbian platform, is a case in point. This allowed competitors like Apple and Samsung to capture market share. Senior thought leaders must also guard against over-reliance on past successes. This can create a sense of complacency and a resistance to change.

In my experience, nonprofit leaders should generally avoid participating in “pay-to-play” thought leadership opportunities. The best opportunities/platforms won't ask for your money or your key contacts in exchange for a platform. Find meaningful opportunities that benefit all involved.

Overreliance on individual insights is a pitfall. Senior thought leaders must actively leverage the expertise within their teams. Collective intelligence enhances strategic planning and fosters a culture of collaboration.

Leaders need to make the time to THINK and to REFLECT on ANY situation and THOUGHTFULLY RESPOND rather than RE-ACT. They are the ‘meat in the sandwich’ between their Reporting Body and those that report to them. The pressure to re-act immediately is overwhelming: I have observed them throughout a project as a consultant; and I have observed and researched them for my PhD. Reacting in the moment rarely provides the best solution.