In January, one of our network of alumnae from the Women Transforming Leadership programme at the University of Oxford wrote to me to say that over the last few weeks, she had managed to find some time to reflect on her working life and to review the materials from the week in Oxford.  She also said she planned to introduce her team to the ideas in the sessions on “A Strategy for You”, where we took a set of corporate strategy models and applied them to our own lives, at work and outside.

The days around the New Year are a good time to look back and reflect, but if you can find time at any point of the year, reflection is worth the effort. Even a few minutes to look back at what went well at work can energize you in taking your next step.

How is the implementation of your “Strategy For You” going?  Are you implementing what you planned and devised during the programme – or are you, like me, at the point of needing to do another strategy review?

Corporate strategists know that strategy has to be regularly reviewed. Markets change and opportunities arise – and the organisation needs to be ready to make the best of them.  What’s true for organisations is true for individuals, too.  And you probably don’t need a dashboard of management information indicators to tell you when it’s time to take another look at your career strategy.  Sometimes, you just get this feeling that it’s time for a change. Sometimes a new an unexpected opportunity comes over the horizon and you know you need to think carefully about what’s next for you.

One of my fixed-term roles is coming to an end and so it’s time for a strategy review.  I could do this with a cup of coffee, or in conversation with a coach, but for me, re-examining the models we use on the programme makes my review more focused and productive. And it will be less about reflection and more about revision of my strategy, because circumstances have changed considerably.  Having a strategy is very useful, but so is re-developing it, bringing a fresh view to strengths, opportunities and purpose.

The next series of blog posts is focused on just that:  reviewing and re-developing your strategy by using some tools which corporate strategists use and applying them to your own working life.  This will include another look at the tools we use on the programme in creating your individual strategies, as well as some other corporate strategy models which can help you both to devise and implement your strategy.