10 Tips to Be Strategic In 2026
As the year comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on what 2025 taught me from working with dozens of organizations and thousands of leaders through the Strategic Thinking Institute and the Strategic Minds podcast.
One lesson continues to stand out: strategy, at its core, is about possessing insight that leads to advantage. It begins with curiosity. The willingness to explore, to question assumptions, and to slow down long enough to reflect and make deliberate choices rather than reactive ones.
In this episode, I walk through a practical year-in-review framework I use myself. It balances what worked with an honest look at what didn’t. We examine top learnings, clarify priorities, and define a rallying cry for the year ahead. Reflection only matters if it turns into insight, and insight only matters if it leads to action.
I also share ten practical ways leaders can sharpen their strategic edge. From managing energy to better leverage time, to improving decision-making, meetings, and planning, these practices are designed to help leaders think more clearly and act more intentionally.
The message is simple. New growth comes from new thinking. Strategy is not an event or a plan. It is a discipline, and like any discipline, it must be practiced.
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Key Quotes
“In the dictionary, strategic is defined as ‘of or relating to strategy,’ which is not really too helpful, so in my research, the way I’ve defined strategic is possessing insight that leads to advantage.”
“I define insight as a learning that leads to new value.”
“When we think about competition in the market, we want to think about how they are shaping the perception of value.”
“Research by McKinsey shows that the number one driver of revenue growth is the reallocation of resources throughout the year from underperforming areas to ones with greater performance.”
“Leadership can be defined as setting direction and serving others to achieve goals.”
“What does practice for you look like?”
Winsights: Ideas for Advantage
The Winsight for this episode borrows inspiration from Dr. Seuss, reframed through a strategic lens. Most leaders don’t dislike strategy. They avoid it because it feels slow, abstract, and disconnected from the adrenaline of daily execution. Tactics feel productive and thinking feels optional. But advantage is created by leaders who choose otherwise.
While others stay trapped in reaction mode, checking phones, chasing urgency, and fighting fires, strategic leaders deliberately carve out time to think. They step back, question assumptions, and align resources toward what truly moves the business forward.
Strategic thinking isn’t about avoiding action. It’s about elevating it. When leaders schedule time to think, they stop reacting and start leading. That discipline, choosing insight over impulse, is what separates activity from progress.
Links
Submit a question for Rich to the League of Strategic Minds
Rich Horwath on LinkedIn
Rich Horwath on YouTube
Rich Horwath on Instagram
Strategic Thinking Institute Website
Inc. Magazine’s Top 4 book for 2024: STRATEGIC Book
New executive development platform: Strategic Fitness System
Sign up for Rich’s free Strategic Thinker Newsletter
About the Host
Rich Horwath, Founder & CEO
Strategic Thinking Institute
Rich is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of eight books on strategic thinking, including his most recent work, STRATEGIC, which was named a “top 4 must-read business book for 2024” by Inc. Magazine, and a national bestseller by USA TODAY. He has been the top rated keynote speaker on strategic thinking at national conferences for nearly 20 years.
This Episode Brought to You by the Strategic Thinking Institute
Sharpen your strategic thinking for long-term success.
The Strategic Thinking Institute has developed hundreds of resources to help leaders at all levels think, plan, and act strategically. In addition to facilitating workshops and strategic coaching with executive leadership teams, STI has assessments and products for functional groups such as sales, marketing, finance, human resources, operations, information technology, account management, business development, accounting, clinical, medical, and other technical specialties. STI’s experience in a wide range of industries brings your team the best-of-breed practices and resources to enable your team to outthink and outperform the competition. Remember, be strategic … or be gone.
Strategic Minds Podcast Episodes
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 1 – Gold-Medal-Winning Strategy
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 2 – Blank Page to Billions: How An “Ideas Guy” Strategizes
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 3 – Strategic Leadership Shaped by a Service Mindset
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 4 – CEO as Architect of the Future
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 5 – Constructing Creative Strategy
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 6 – AI, Atoms, and the Science of Strategy
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 7 – Storytelling to Strategize
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 8 – Transforming Complexity Into Clarity
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 9 – Think Big, Move Fast, and Own the Outcome
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 10 – Growing Talent into Competitive Advantage
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 11 – Road Trip: Scaling Brands To Succeed
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 12 – Insights from Inside the Beautiful Mind
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 13 – Business Checkmate: Techniques from a Chess Master CEO
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 14 – “All In” on Strategy: Insights from a World Poker Champion
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 15 – Battle-Tested Strategy: Lessons from a Four-Star General
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 17 – Cultivating a Future Ready Mindset
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 18 – Creating a Confident Mind for Elite Performance
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 19 – The Origin Story of Strategy
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 20 – Strategy: The Art of Problem Solving with Imagination
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 21 – Mindfulness: Setting the Stage to Think
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 22 – Shaping the Future with Strategic Thinking
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 23 – The Octopus Approach To AI
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 24 – Discovering Insights at the Edges
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 25 – Win or Learn: Finding Your Optimal Challenge Point
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 26 – The Power of Frameworks as Disruptive Catalysts
Strategic Minds Podcast: Episode 27 – Managing The Mental Game
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