Overlooked for Senior Level Promotions? Here's How to Take Control of Your Career Growth? - Part 3

In this blog post, I will cover the "Character gap" in strategic thinking that could cause you to be overlooked for senior level promotions.

You can read the previous blogs on Capability gap here and on Perception Gap here.

The essence of "strategic thinking" rests on who is the "strategic thinker".

The "who" of the strategic thinker contributes to the input, process & output for strategic thinking.

The character gap is created by a sub-optimum level of any of the below.

1. The Value for the Greater Good (beyond self).

2. The Value of Equanimity to success or failure.

3. The Belief & Intent to co-create a better future.

4. The Willingness, Discipline to leverage sensory acuity and intuition to synthesise a larger canvas.

1. The Value for Greater Good

A strategic thinker thinks beyond themselves and their context.

• The ability to wear a wide angle lens stems from this value.

• The ability & need to think in systems also comes from this value.

• The ability to spot "problems worth solving" from the nitty - gritty of everyday issues, also stems from the same value.

2. The Value of Equanimity to success or failure

When someone is future gazing, risk is inherent and the chances of failure are high.

And yet what makes some gaze into the future and take big bets?

The ability to accept both success and failure from the future gazing is critical for having the freedom to think different at an imaginary future that does not exist today.

3. The Belief & intent to co-create a better future

   
   

The strategic thinker's "why" is always a future that is better than the present.

Hence the paradigm of thinking is not restricted by the constraints of the present.

This allows for a future possibility to emerge which could be radically different than the current reality.

The motivation to the strategic thinking process is provided by this belief.

The impetus to not quit when the present does not reflect the desired future is also provided by this belief.

4. The Willingness, Discipline

While many believe is a one time activity, it is farther from the truth. It needs sensory acuity over extended periods of time.

It also needs an ability to harness one's intuition to serve a larger canvas. The joy of being right at the end of the tunnel and seeing one's imagination turn into reality is worth the effort.

While all the above seems to be holding a higher moral ground, the thinking process can be hugely coloured by the character of the strategic thinker. This also determines whether the world can be a better places because of the strategic thinker or worse.

Which qualities resonate deeply with you?

#coaching #executivecoaching #strategicthinking #character