Welcome to the New Manager Podcast. I'm your host, Kim Nichol. Hello and welcome. I'm glad you're here and I hope you're doing well. I want to start today by inviting you to give yourself some credit. Can we please just take a moment and appreciate everything you do and even the fact that you are here? And I wanted to start that way because on LinkedIn, where I see a lot of people talking about work and managers and leaders, I often see two kinds of
conversations there. One conversation is the is the complaint about how there's no training, there's no guidance, managers aren't doing a good job. There's a lot of that. There's a lot of that conversation out there on the socials.
And then the other conversation I see is from more of the HR people, OPS, you know, internal folks who really are struggling to get the right resources to their managers because you know, they've got limited budget and they have really big jobs and they have to deal with all of these different issues, not just manager development. And so they're usually trying to squeeze it in and they're trying to answer to multiple stakeholders and it's really hard for them.
Like I I see the struggle that people in people OPS in HR internally go through trying to get resources to managers. And often my perspective is that you've got these amazing humans who are doing their best to manage effectively with very little guidance, a whole lot of pressure and criticism, some of it external, some of it internal. And the fact that you are even listening to this means that you are a person who has decided it's time to take matters into
your own hands. Like, it's just time to find something that will help you today, that requires no approval chain, that requires no conversation with anyone but yourself. And you have simply found your way to my podcast door and you've decided to show up to find something that will help you today. And I love that because I think that you know the world of work and professional development and bigger programs that go into organizations, that conversation can get really loud.
And ultimately, why we are here is to provide a place of a little bit more quiet, a little bit more calm, to provide some insight, some simple tools, some simple frameworks that will help you today to deal with the work that you are walking into. And I think that deserves to be celebrated. And it ties a little bit into the conversation I wanted to have with you, which is the topic of how to become more strategic. This is something that I've seen requested both from some of the listeners.
So some of you have messaged me and said, hey, talk more about strategy. I need more strategies that I can use at work. But also when I was working internally within a global organization, one of the very top requested topics that people wanted to understand and learn more about was how to think more strategically. So when I say becoming more strategic, the opposite of that is being reactive or being habitual.
Reactive means that we're simply, you know, acting in response to whatever is happening in front of us. We have no plan. There's no bigger picture. It's just this response to whatever is happening from a
very reactive place. No plan, no strategy, just this is happening and it and that can be very exhausting by the way, because there's no sense of guidance, there's no sense of kind of North Star. And so it's very easy to get pulled in a lot of directions, especially if you work in an environment where other people tend to bring a lot of urgency to you. If you don't have a strategy to help you organize the urgency of other people, then it gets very
hard to prioritize things. It gets very hard to know what to advocate for, what to say no to. You're simply reacting to the environmental urgency, and that's exhausting, not very sustainable, and you likely won't be using your time and energy and attention in the most useful way. The other way that we are not strategic is when we are simply habitual. I do this because it's the way I've always done it.
Or I do this because it's the way my organization has always done it, and I'm simply perpetuating the habit that either I have fallen into or that my team or my organization has fallen into. And nobody really knows why we do it this way anymore other than we've always just done it this way. It's become a habit now. The reason why we want to become strategic rather than simply being reactive and habitual is because when we become strategic, it enables us to do a few different things.
Number one, it helps you to see the bigger picture. That means that you now have a way to Orient yourself and to sense your progress within a bigger scope. Sometimes we make decisions that are uncomfortable, but we know that in the bigger picture, the strategic perspective, this is a
smart choice. For example, when you're onboarding somebody new and you are training them and helping them learn how to do their job, the strategic approach is to plan for that onboarding and understand that they might take some time to learn the thing. But strategically, it's a good choice because once they learn it, they're confident they get up to speed, They will be able to take on so much and then your plate is freed up to do more of the higher level thinking and
communication work. When we are being reactive or habitual, that's when you see managers who have a really hard time letting go of being the individual contributor. They will do the work because they know how and because it's
easy for them. They'll think, oh, it's just faster if I do it. And meanwhile, you have this new person on board who is probably really eager to learn and they want to do a good job, but they need someone to kind of take the time to help get them oriented, help, you know, them, to overcome whatever mistakes they're going to make, get them
on track. It does take time, and very often when people are new managers, it's so uncomfortable because the feeling inside is it would be faster if I did it. That might be true in the short term, but strategically it's a very limiting choice because then you're not taking full advantage of your highest thinking. You are not fully using and bringing into the team this new person. And so you know, strategic perspective versus reactive perspective, that's just one
really great example. When you're also becoming more strategic, you'll become more intentional rather than habitual. When you have that long term vision of what you're doing and why, then you will feel less discouraged and less like you're simply treading water and not making any progress. Because sometimes the success that you measure on a strategic level looks different than the way you measure success in a moment to moment level.
When we're thinking strategy, we're thinking what is it that I am doing and why? How are you thinking about what is the desired outcome? Or you might think of it as what is the goal you have or what is the desired effect you want to have. You're considering, what are the resources and assets you have available to move towards that
desired outcome. And you're also being very mindful of what are the constraints and the obstacles that you're working with, because that combination will influence the decisions that you make and why you make them. When you start to understand this, when you start to realize that that's what strategy is, right? Strategy is just how do you think about your desired outcome, your resources and assets, your constraints and
obstacles? How will those all fit together when you want to get better at that? What I like to coach and advise my clients on is you want to 1st increase your awareness and understanding of how are you already strategic because believe me, you already have it. Have strategies in place, you just might not recognize them as such, And until you recognize them and start to see, oh, this is the strategy I'm currently using.
Until you start to understand that, it'll be really hard to develop and implement other kinds of strategies. The reason I'd like to put a note on this as well is because I I want to invite you to see how being strategic isn't a far away thing. It's something that you already have intrinsically. It's something that you've already put into practice in your life. It's something that you're already really good at.
So for example, for some folks, especially early in career, their promotion strategy, they might not think of it this way, but this is what is actually happening. Their promotion strategy sounds something like this. I will be good at my job. My manager will recognize that I am good at my job and then I will get promoted because the belief is a little bit like how it is in school.
Where would you do a good job? You get a good grade, you're recognized, and then you get promoted to the next grade. We often carry past strategies that worked for us into new situations without fully realizing that strategy that worked before that is not going to work in this situation and in the workplace. That's where you can bump up against that frustration of, hey, I'm, I'm good at my job and I'm getting good performance reviews, but why am I not
getting promoted? And you might not realize your strategy needs to change. You need to begin to signal to your manager that you're interested in a promotion. You need to identify what are the skills that I will need to demonstrate that show I am ready for that promotion.
It's not just about being good at my current job, it's about understanding what the next job requires, demonstrating I have those skills signaling in advance that that's my goal, you know, talking to my manager ahead of time so that they're already thinking of me in that role and what I will need to do to get there. And we're lining up my current work with my future desired outcome. So the strategy is already in play. We just don't always see it as such.
Let me give you another example from real life, not in the workplace. When you think about going to the grocery store, I bet you have a strategy for how you do that. And your strategy is going to be influenced by a number of factors. For example, do you make a list of what you need before you go to the grocery store? Or do you simply go there and
just kind of wing it? You know, are you, are you the person who's like, oh, let me just walk around and see what looks good, which is your strategy? You might also be a person who is very diligent about looking at deals and discounts and coupons, and you might really love getting the very best price for your favorite items. That might be part of your strategy for grocery shopping.
You also might be a person who prefers to go to 1 store and just get all the things you need from that one place. Or you might be a person who very strategically has selected multiple shops because each shop specializes in the thing that you like. So you might go to one place for fish, one place for veggies, one place for household items. You might have different shops that you like for different things. Realize too, your strategy will also depend on your proximity to grocery stores.
So if you live in a very rural environment where going to the store is a lot of effort, like it might take some time. You have to plan. You have to drive there. It's not the kind of place you go to at the drop of a hat. It's something that requires a bit more strategic planning for when you're going into town, what are all the things you'll need to get when you're out there?
That might be your strategy. Or if you live in a city or in a town where you have multiple options for stores, they're all very close by, then that will influence and affect your strategy. I was seeing on social media one of my friends, she lives in New York. So very high density population, lots of little stores, lots of specialty shops. She made a list. She says. I go to five different shops to in order to get all the groceries I need for my family.
And I love that. I mean, that makes so much sense. You know, like her strategy is based on where she lives and also what her family likes to eat. So when you're thinking about strategy and you're trying to understand what is the strategy that I use in my own life, What strategies do I implement in different situations? Do that grocery shopping practice as an example and kind of put a strategic lens so that there might be some habits that you do, of course.
And sometimes you might be reactive in your shopping. So when you just go to the store and you say, oh, that ice cream looks really good, I'm going to go, I'm going to buy that, why not? But when you step back and you think about, OK, what is my typical grocery store strategy, you might even have strategic choices you make based on when
you go to the store. You might say, well, I never go on Sundays at noon because that's when it is the most crowded and it is the hardest time to get through and get everything I need. You might be one of those people who likes to go bright and early in the morning when nobody else is there, or quite late at night when nobody else is there. So you can get in, get out and then get home as quickly as
possible. But start noticing What are the strategies that you have in place that help you accomplish the goal of getting your groceries. What is the desired outcome? What are the resources and the assets that you have to work with That includes your money, your time, you know, the the location, the proximity of
things. You might also ask yourself what are the constraints and the obstacles and that also might be money, time, location, You know the convenience where things are located, start activating, almost like activating this muscle of beginning to think more strategically by first noticing what are the strategies you already have in place. Another way to think of it is you can ask yourself why am I doing this? Why am I doing this in this way?
Some folks have very meticulous strategies for when they travel, either when they pack their bags, like what's their strategy for packing their bags. Some folks have it around when they leave for the airport, and when they get to the airport. Some folks like to get there with very little time to spare. Other folks like me, I'm very comfortable getting to the airport quite early because my strategy is to be relaxed and as calm as possible. And I always bring a book so I
don't mind waiting. I can always read. It's going to be fine. But you know, we have different strategies. And the interesting thing is that a strategy is not necessarily correct or incorrect. You can have different strategies and they're not necessarily one is right and one is wrong. This is what gets really interesting when you are rising in your career. You might have a feeling of conflict with people that you
work with. And when you sort of pull back your perspective, it really is about a difference in perspective of what will be the most effective strategy here. Every strategy will have different priorities and different choices around those resources and constraints. And sometimes people see and believe different strategic approaches are more favorable or more beneficial.
And so if you find yourself in a kind of conflict conversation, get really curious about wait like what is the bigger strategy in play here? Is that the thing that we're actually feeling friction about? Are we making different strategic choices because the way that we see that big picture is a little bit different or the way that we prioritize these different resources and assets or the constraints and obstacles, are those landing in a different way?
Maybe that's the part we need to talk about. So that is what I wanted to leave you with. As you go into the week, start to get really curious about your own strategic thinking. Why do you do things the way that you do them? What are your underlying kind of expectations about how the big picture works?
Do you have strategies that have worked in the past that you might need to upgrade or change or let go of because the present situation is actually different enough that the past strategy that was successful will no longer help you in this situation and begin to notice for yourself? How do you make decisions when you're going towards some
desired effect or outcome? How do you make decisions about your resources and assets, The constraints and obstacles start to realize that you're already good at this, and then that gives you a good position from which to become more intentional about choosing deliberate strategies for accomplishing
things at work. So if you want to learn about coaching then go to my website kimnickel.com and schedule some time with me or go into the show notes and you'll find a link also to schedule time for us to talk. And and get you the help that you can have. You don't have to wait. Thank you so much for listening. Have a great week and I will talk to you next time. When you're more effective at work, you're happier in your
life. And when you're happier in your life, you're more effective at work. I can help. Go to my website kimnickel.com and sign up for a coaching consult. It can get better.