Working professionals who want to advance their careers with an online Master of Business Administration (MBA) have several options. Gaining advanced business competencies; enhancing your knowledge of in-demand areas of study; and sharpening critical-thinking, problem-solving and communication skills prepares you for a senior business role.
East Tennessee State University (ETSU) offers an accelerated online MBA program that allows students to choose from strategic leadership electives that focus on data analytics, cybersecurity, risk management, healthcare marketing, data-based marketing, brand development, social media and more. This program offers flexibility and individualized career relevancy.
Leadership Skills for Strategic Planning
Strategic planning is critical for sharpening enterprise focus, organizing efforts toward shared goals and creating step-by-step roadmaps. Strong leaders need essential leadership skills to be effective at strategic planning. The following are some examples of these critical abilities:
- Visionary thinking: Having the ability to see the big picture to inspire your team and provide clear direction is crucial.
- Analytical thinking: The best planning requires being able to break down data, identify patterns and analyze complex information.
- Communication: Any leadership role requires strong communication skills, and this is especially important when leaders need to articulate their vision and strategy to their team, stakeholders, leadership and clients.
- Adaptability: Being flexible and able to adjust plans based on new information or challenges helps a leader stay focused and keep the team oriented.
- Decision-making: Strong decision-making skills are needed to move forward decisively and maintain momentum.
- Collaboration: Fostering teamwork and a culture of cooperation leads to more innovative solutions and ensures everyone feels invested in the plan’s success.
- Problem-solving: Effective leaders can identify issues, brainstorm solutions and implement effective strategies.
- Emotional intelligence: Leaders must see team members as people and handle stress and conflicts in a positive, supportive way.
- Time management: To keep projects on track, time management skills help to prioritize, delegate and complete tasks on time.
- Creativity: Thinking outside the box helps encourage innovation that can set a business apart from its competitors.
Strengthening Strategic Planning Skills
In a competitive market, you must be able to identify strengths and weaknesses to level up your strategic planning. To improve your ability to see the big picture, you need to understand your current situation, your resources, potential market changes and decision-making processes.
Creating any plan requires outlining the process first. One recommended process is Hoshin planning, which is a continuous improvement approach. To execute any plan, it’s important to stay realistic about how best to achieve your goals. This also involves setting a timeline with realistic deadlines and milestones.
It’s easy to over-plan by creating a very detailed strategic plan, so it’s vital to remain flexible. Regularly evaluating progress helps you to identify where you need to make adjustments. It also helps to periodically incorporate rewards and recognition for team members to keep morale high and increase engagement.
How Business Leaders View Strategic Planning
In a survey of 576 entrepreneurs and executives from companies of various sizes and sectors throughout Spain, Forbes reported the results of questions about strategic planning. When asked whether a strategic plan is necessary to carry out business activities, 90% said it was necessary. However, when asked whether they had created a defined and thoughtful strategic plan for 2023, only 46% said they did. Nearly 40% said they did not.
Furthermore, of those who created a strategic plan for 2023, only 21% indicated that they had fulfilled their strategic plan between 75% and 100%. An additional 38% reported that they had exceeded their plan, so nearly 60% got close to the results they intended. These results indicate that most leaders believe that strategic plans are essential, but applying these plans can be challenging.
With courses covering strategic leadership, market strategy, strategic management process, data-driven marketing decisions and strategic experience, the online MBA program from ETSU equips you to become a senior leader in strategic planning. For example, courses like Strategic Leadership, Operations and Technology Strategies, Market Strategy and Strategic Management Process give graduates insights for success. This AACSB-accredited program on an accelerated track prepares you for a variety of business administration career opportunities in senior roles.
Learn more about ETSU’s online Master of Business Administration program.
