“What do we have to do today to be ready for an uncertain tomorrow?”  Peter Drucker.

What’s up with strategic thinking?  How important do you think strategic thinking is to the success of your organization?

If your answer is that it is one of the most important skills for you, your leadership team and all of your employees to have, you are on the right track.  Recent studies have reported that strategic thinking is now the #1 most valued skill in leaders today.

For some, strategic thinking comes more naturally. Some people have a positive tendency to be open minded and curious.

For others, it takes a focus on greater self awareness and development of needed skills.

Here are some of the key competencies of strategic thinkers.  Rate yourself.

• Viewing challenges as opportunities
• Seeking others’ opinions/asking questions
• Welcoming new ideas and opinions even if not agreeing with them
• Questioning assumptions and encouraging others to do so
• Able to shift gears and adapt with new information
• Looking for opportunities today that may develop into the big, successful ideas of the future.
• Seeking and learning from feedback
• Knowing what my customers value and knowing where I stand v.s. my competition

While “old school” leaders, who think they know everything (or that they have to know everything) and do not engage their employees, still exist…how many ideas do these kinds of leaders miss out on?

Think about what you are missing if you are not cultivating strategic thinking in your organization.  The next big idea might come from any number of employees in your business.  Where do you think the idea came from at Enterprise Car Rental of bringing the car to the customer?

In today’s complex, fast changing, globally competitive world, does it make sense that we need everyone’s ideas?

It’s not too late to cultivate strategic thinking in your organization.