08-04-2025
Want Your Company To Survive The Next Decade? Develop Strategic Leaders Now
Neena Newberry is the CEO of Newberry Solutions and creator of the New Lens leadership development platform . getty
Take a moment to imagine what's ahead for your organization. What do you see happening 10 years from now? Fifteen? Twenty?
If the future looks cloudy, you're far from alone. In their recently released "28th Annual Global CEO Survey," PwC asked CEOs around the world about how their companies will fare in the coming years. More than 4 out of 10 (42%) said their organizations won't survive the next decade if they continue on the same path.
Their responses point to an urgent need for strategic leaders who can drive reinvention. Leaders themselves recognize this need. In DDI's "Global Leadership Forecast 2025," about two-thirds of the leaders surveyed cited setting strategy (64%) and managing change (61%) as essential skills for the future. But just over one-third (37% and 36%, respectively) said they had received development in those areas.
That's a big gap. And with change happening faster than ever, organizations must quickly address that gap through their leadership development programs. So how can you do this even when it's not clear what the future—and the accompanying changes in your organizational priorities—will look like? What Does It Mean To Lead Strategically?
Quick: How would you define strategic leadership? If your mind went blank at this question, that's understandable. Sometimes it feels like just another business buzzword. But through two decades of working with leaders across industries, I've found that strategic leadership fundamentally means thinking beyond short-term goals to anticipate future challenges and how to respond to them.
That's never been easy. But it's especially hard today. DDI reports that 71% of leaders say their stress has gone up significantly, and only 30% have enough time to do their jobs properly. Similarly, Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning found that many leaders are struggling to operate in an increasingly challenging environment over the long haul. When it's such a battle just to get day-to-day tasks done, no wonder there's a gap in strategic leadership.
The same dynamic shows up in leadership development programs. Organizations often choose training to address pressing needs but miss opportunities to cultivate the strategic capabilities their future leaders will need. For example, respondents to the Harvard survey rank tech skills like AI ahead of capacity to innovate in their organizations' leadership development priorities.
Equipping leaders to deal with immediate demands and keep one eye on the future is definitely a balancing act. But through our extensive work with Fortune 500 executives and building our own leadership development platform, my company has identified three proven tactics that empower leaders in the short term while also enhancing their strategic thinking: Teach Leaders How To Prioritize Through A 'Big 3' Framework
Acknowledge the reality of the competing demands leaders face, and then give them a shared framework for setting priorities. The approach that consistently delivers results for my clients is identifying the top three areas where each leader should focus to drive the biggest business impact, given their role and strengths. Then they work on making shifts to their time to focus on their "Big 3."
The goal here is to reserve your leaders' bandwidth for strategic work by helping them get other tasks off their plates. (This could look like delegating more or even deciding that some tasks with minimal value no longer need to be done.) Break Down Silos To Gain Strategic Perspective
Leaders who work relentlessly on their individual and team goals are not strategic leaders. They rarely look up from what demands their near-term attention or venture outside of their corporate silo to get a sense of the bigger picture. Working with cross-functional leadership teams has shown me that leadership development programs that bring together leaders from across the organization broaden participants' perspectives. Build Influence
A leader who thinks strategically but can't get others on board has limited effectiveness. Leadership development programs should help participants communicate more effectively and build their influence, especially in situations where they lack authority.
One thing that always creates an aha moment for my clients is highlighting the importance of 'connecting the dots.' For example, they may understand the strategy behind their organization's recent decisions, but others may not. Explaining that connection doesn't just bolster short-term productivity and engagement, it also helps others grow as strategic leaders in their own right. Are You Ready For The Future?
It's really this simple: Strategic leadership will determine which companies will be thriving a decade from now—and which ones will become just a memory because they failed to evolve. The good news? Even small shifts in how you develop your leaders today can dramatically improve their strategic capabilities for tomorrow. The key is moving quickly to cultivate leaders who see beyond today's challenges to tomorrow's opportunities—before your competitors do.
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