How to move from firefighter to chess player at work
Posted on
Almost all of us begin our careers in firefighting mode, trying to balance routine tasks while constantly reacting to emerging crises.
The trouble is, this reliance on reactivity can become second nature and persist even as we move into senior roles – causing exhaustion, burnout, and limiting our influence as a leader, according to executive coach Dr Kim Vella.
“Being a reactive leader is incredibly tiring and limiting if you want to have more strategic influence. People with strategic influence are those voices that are heard, trusted, and out there shaping the future for others.
“In the public sector, future-focused leadership applies at every level. Be it shaping policy or leading frontline teams, we need great leaders who focus on how they lead in addition to what they deliver. They ensure their work produces results today, while building credibility and aligning with long-term public service priorities. This is what the new APS value of stewardship is all about – deliberately guiding progress and making decisions with lasting impact, rather than taking a short term or reactive approach.”
Achieving the right balance between reactive and proactive leadership – being one who fights fires while building fireproof systems – is a skill Kim believes all leaders can learn.
“First, we need to understand what strategic thinkers do that others don’t. For instance, when there’s a problem, they’ll zoom out to examine the broader ecosystem. A reactive leader zooms in to the problem.
“Proactive leaders also love to anticipate what’s coming and instigate change, rather than waiting for a crisis to do it. Lastly, they’re often excited by the way systems, policies, teams, sectors and so on intersect and interconnect. This is opposed to a reactive leader who tends to care more about protecting their silos.
“We all know someone who is an amazing strategic thinker and seems to have been born with a gift. However, this isn’t the norm. Most people develop strategic influence by cultivating the right skills and gaining confidence through experience. They know that no one is going to come up at work and say, ‘Would you like an hour to think strategically?’. So they carve out the time and mental space to step out of firefighting and learn to play chess.”
A few questions that Kim says people ask themselves to use to ignite their inner strategic influencer are:
- What’s happening outside your immediate sphere? Scan emerging trends, priority shifts, geopolitical changes and economic forecasts, and be aware that they will impact your work in the future. How might your awareness evolve so you can make them work for you instead of them happening to you?
- On a personal level, where do you want to be in five years? What are you doing right now to build the credibility required to get you there?
- Are you shaping discussions or just responding to them? Take note of how your conversations unfold.
Building the skills to be a strategic influencer is a core component of Kim’s upcoming Leadership Strategies Series.
“While other leadership courses might give you some pre-prepared recipe to become a strategic influencer, I think there are factors at play that make it easier or more difficult for some people to learn the skills and apply them confidently. That’s why we’re using advanced psychometric tools that give participants a deeper understanding of their own strengths and challenges, combined with skills development across multiple areas that coalesce to empower each person to become a more confident strategic influencer.
“We’re sharing a taste of the insights participants can expect in our monthly Inside Look webinars. As an example, next month we have a fireside chat with Commodore Peter Bowers, RAN (retd) whose expertise in military law and independent oversight has endowed him with exceptional insights on strategic influence, which he is also contributing to the Leadership Strategies Series workshops.
“There are no single-serve solutions that stick for most people, so we’re taking a different approach. I’m totally committed to having people walk out different leaders to who they were when they walked in.”
