Here's how you can boost your strategic thinking skills: effective collaboration and teamwork.

Fostering psychological safety is crucial to ensure that team members from diverse backgrounds feel comfortable contributing candidly To foster psychological safety for diverse team members, create an environment that promotes: -Encouraging open communication by valuing diverse perspectives and ideas. -Leading by example with openness and vulnerability, inviting feedback without judgment. -Practicing active listening to genuinely understand viewpoints. -Fostering a culture of respect and inclusion, free from discrimination. -Providing constructive feedback and recognizing diverse contributions. -Building trust through team-building activities. -Offering diversity training to promote empathy and understanding.

An old and tatty cartoon of Micky Mouse on my desk says “if you and I always agree then one of us is unnecessary” A light way of saying that I really do value your input. It's not just about you valuing the input from others, but encouraging other members of the team to value each other is just as important. One very bright young team leader had adapted well to being empowered and enthusiastically contributed to many projects, but she struggled to understand why everyone else seemed slower to accept a new way of working together. I enjoyed our conversations and she eventually started to recognise that being patient, helping others to adapt and building diverse teams that value each other, is just as important as the outcome of any project.

I have often found that on arriving in a new and challenging location, the staff there had stopped making meaningful suggestions years ago. “what’s the point nobody listens to us anyway” It takes time and effort to regain the trust that is essential to drive a business forward. I find that talking to everyone in their own locations, helps to get a meaningful conversation going. Go out on calls with the sales team, deliveries with drivers and but some overalls on and actually make something. But if you’re not going to listen to what they have to say then don’t bother. An old and tatty cartoon of Micky Mouse on my desk says “if you and I always agree then one of us is unnecessary” A light way of saying that I really do value your input.

Does your company have a clear vision of its future? Is that vision challenging, achievable and inspirational? If you want everyone pulling in the same direction it's very important that they all know where you want them to go, and the more inspirational your vision, the harder people will work to achieve it. You have to know where you are now (Your Starting point) And where you want to go (Your Vision) Before you can plan your journey (Your Strategy)

Trusting team members with responsibilities and empowering them to make decisions fosters a collaborative environment. Delegating tasks according to strengths and interests ensures efficiency and innovation.