From Functional Leader to Business Leader: Elevate with Help from a Strategy Coach
As a strategy coach, I’ve worked with numerous professionals who feel stuck in their roles. These professionals may lead a department in the company but feel they have little strategic impact on the business vision and mission. Their teams are often churning out a high quantity of work, but it’s unclear if it’s making a difference for the business. These professionals are outstanding functional leaders but they’re probably not operating as business leaders.
It’s most common for people to get stuck as functional leaders when they reach director-level roles. And understandably so. Director roles are tough and require a dynamic skillset. Not only do directors need to be able to go way deep into the details to support their teams, they also need to be able to “manage up” to demonstrate to higher-level executives the impact of their teams.
A lot of professionals stall in their career growth when they reach director level because they get stuck in the details. They likely rose through the ranks because they’re good at details and understand them. But they likely haven’t yet mastered the skill of effectively managing up and thinking holistically about the business.
The key is for directors to think like the executives they report to. But until they do, they won’t be perceived as a business leader and won’t be given opportunities to become an executive. This matters because stalling in a functional role when you don’t want to be there can quickly zap meaning and fulfillment out of your career.
From functional leader to business leader
Some people enjoy functional management and are happy to continue their careers in these roles. But for those who want to become business leaders, it will be challenging (if not impossible) to make the shift if you don’t develop strong strategic skills.
In fact, there’s an important reality that business professionals must face: You will remain stuck in day-to-day functional management unless you intentionally pause and shift your thinking so that it becomes more strategic.
Unfortunately, many functional leaders struggle to carve out the space they need to develop more strategic thinking skills. They may want to elevate their strategic skills and increase their impact, but they feel bogged down by their to-do lists. They’re running on what seems like a never-ending treadmill, just trying to get stuff done.
If they do find a way to pause the treadmill, they likely don’t have the experience they need to think strategically or from a business perspective. They may not know what they actually need to change to make a shift from operating as a functional leader to engaging as a business leader.
Which type of leader are you?
Becoming a business leader is, first and foremost, a mindset shift. It’s about changing how you think about your role and then putting new practices in place that elevate your strategic impact.
Strategic business leaders understand their department's integral role within the broader business landscape. They can tie their department's priorities and key initiatives to business objectives.
On the other hand, leaders who haven't zoomed out to see the entire business landscape focus instead on the little valley where their functional unit operates. Rather than evaluating how well or how much their function contributes to the success of the company, they define success based on how much their team gets done.
Let's take a look at more concrete examples of the differences between a functional leader and a business leader.
Signs you’re operating as a functional leader:
You focus on operational or tactical success (e.g., did we launch our email campaign on time? Is my campaign getting enough click-throughs? Are our manufacturing defects hitting targets? Were my finance reports delivered on schedule? Is my forecast accurate? You focus and measure your team in a transactional way (e.g., did we fulfill all sales requests? Did we meet our on-time-delivery targets? Is our benefits participation rate on track? Did our campaign get enough click-throughs?).
You prioritize how to be the best manager and get the most things done.
Signs you’re operating as a strategic business leader:
You build time and space into your schedule to engage in strategic thinking (and you actually follow through on it).
You coach your team on how to operate systematically and think bigger and further into the future so that everyone considers the bigger picture of their role and their work.
You encourage your team to think about how every project could have an even bigger impact on the business, not just your department.
You ensure your priorities and resources are relevant to the business and effectively support what the overall company is trying to achieve.
You’re always challenging yourself to consider whether you and your team can have more business impact.
You measure your team’s success through select metrics that demonstrate and reinforce how your team’s performance and priorities are connected to the company’s objectives.
You prioritize time and resources based on what has the greatest potential contribution to help the company achieve its strategic objectives.
How can a strategy coach help you?
Growing from a functional leader to a business leader is challenging. Leaders are busy and often stuck in the day-to-day grind of getting things done. Did you see yourself in some of the examples above? Can you identify a few places where building more strategic muscle could get you farther? It may be time to consider how a strategy coach can help. A strategy coach can provide you with the time, encouragement, perspective and expertise needed to develop your strategic skills.
Hiring a strategy coach like me can also you help you to:
Reframe your role. I can help you see your role from a new lens to uncover the value you bring to your company and reframe what you should be focusing on with an understanding of how that fits into the overall company strategy.
Signal to others that you’re a business leader. How you engage and communicate with peers and executives can influence whether they perceive you as a business or functional leader. What you contribute in a meeting changes how you are perceived. I can help you elevate your communication to a more strategic level.
Create a greater impact in your company. I can help you view your company from a systems perspective and coach you on how to identify current barriers, effectively change behaviors and prioritize resources in a way that helps your organization grow.
Be happier and more fulfilled in your career. Most people are happier when they’re learning and developing. Investing in strategy coaching carves out space for strategic thinking, increases the quality of your thinking and allows you to be more strategic in your work. As a result, you actually deliver more value to the company, and you can achieve better outcomes, all while learning and growing in your career.
I’d love to hear from you: What is the biggest obstacle holding you back from being more strategic in your current role? What single action could you take to start thinking and behaving more strategically?
Reach out if you’d like to discuss whether strategy coaching might be what you need to hone in on your growth opportunities and elevate your career.