What feedback and guidance can help your mentee develop strategic thinking skills?

It's true that strategic thinking requires a certain degree of research, analysis, & creativity. But what of the not so obvious elements such as 'cap-swapping' and travelling around the 'thought circuit' twice. Immersing yourself in your stakeholder's / counterpart's experience and mindset (swapping caps with them) is a game-changer! It allows for their foci, risk appetite, pipeline & timeline of activity, and other variables to take the spotlight; leading to better strategy formulation. Strategic thinking is a little like taking a road trip; on the outbound journey you might soak in one side of the road, but it's only on the inbound leg that you soak in the other side. Be willing to travel the circuit at least twice to get that 360° view!

I personally use SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to evaluate situations. This technique works best in understanding the internal and external factors that impact decisions.

To foster your mentee's strategic thinking, offer guidance in key areas. Encourage long-term vision and critical analysis, teaching scenario planning, prioritization, and risk management. Promote data-driven decisions and cross-functional collaboration, while advocating for mentorship, continuous learning, feedback-seeking, and reflection. Practical application through real-world scenarios and the establishment of performance metrics enhance strategic thinking, valuable for leadership roles.

I had a mentee once who wanted to bring a manufacturing process in house that was currently contracted because they wanted the experience. I helped them look at the macro picture about how to staff it, build operating budgets, set production timelines, and then construct the business case. When they were done, they realized it was not financially viable and abandoned the idea. Instead of saying the idea was good or bad, I challenged them to determine that on their own while supporting them on how. Sometimes feedback isn’t feedback at all, it’s showing them the way.

As a mentor, I've found that people often need guidance on relationship building with peers, colleagues, and even their boss. Ask your mentee to think about themselves and how they "show up" at a meeting, in the day-to-day, or with a future brainstorming. Practice these 4 things: 1. Be an active listener (eye contact, body language, let people speak) 2. Be present (skip the multi-tasking, put down your phone and commit to the time and follow-up) 3. Be understanding (develop your own "EQ") 4. Be clear (in your written and verbal communications so you getting quickly to the point)

As a leader, it is easy to answer questions coming to you, but growth happens when you pause and allow the person seeking support to find the solution. "What do you think?" is a simple and powerful way to forge development of both strategic and critical thinking skills. By providing this opportunity you can hear their train of thought and then have a more detailed conversation on the differences you may bring to the same situation. This creates a deeper, more valuable learning experience while also cultivating an empowered and confident professional.

A way to encourage and develop this skill with your mentee is by giving guidance on how they can incorporate their existing strengths in their strategic mindset. Strategic thinking requires many skills, and your mentees will already excel at some of them. For example, they may have a strong learner's mindset, which will help them to take in information as they lay out plans. They may have patience, which is critical to see a strategy come to fruition. Or they may be very structured, which is needed to build up a strategy from the ground up. Whatever their strengths are: help mentees realize how they fit into strategic thinking, and guide them in expanding their skillset where needed to build a holistic strategic mindset.