Being Strategic: The Three Components of a Good Strategy, with Ellie Pidot of Medronic

By Jo Miller, CEO, Women’s Leadership Coaching, Inc.

You may be a good tactician, known for your ability to get your job done and deliver results. But what if you were asked to move into a position that required you to be more strategic? How would you make the transition from being reactive to thinking and acting strategically? And what is strategy, anyway?

Ellie Pidot should know. In her position as vice president of strategy at Medtronic, Pidot works closely with the CEO and senior management team to lead the development of corporate strategy and improve the quality of strategic decision-making companywide.

Pidot recommends that any good strategy needs three characteristics: to be forward looking, aspirational and grounded in facts.

Step 1: Focus Forward

Pidot advises that to be truly effective, a strategy must be forward-focused.

“To move from getting caught up in the day-to-day responsibilities of the job and become more strategic, you need to be looking ahead,” Pidot advises.

But how? She recommends asking yourself, “What is the world going to look like, five or 10 years from now? How are the dynamics that I am operating in going to change over time? How can I put into place a set of actions to get me to where the world is going to be?”

Being more predictive, versus more reactive, will help us all to focus more on the future and the past, and start thinking ahead rather than looking behind.

Step 2: Keep Your Eyes on the Stars, But Your Feet on the Ground

A good strategy needs to be aspirational, while recognizing your starting point and constraints.

“You need to be bold enough in your aspirations that you can get excited about it because you are going to spend a lot of time working on your strategy,” Pidot stresses. “But at the same time recognize where you are today, and what constraints you might have on the potential actions that are at your disposal.”

Every job has “guardrails,” Pidot warns, but those inevitable limitations can’t define your goals – or career. “It is a careful balance,” she warns. “You can’t get too far ahead of yourself, but at the same time you don’t want to limit yourself.”

Step 3: Be Fact Based

A common misconception about strategy is that it requires thinking at the high level and not digging down into the detail it requires to effectively perform day-to-day tasks.

So, how can we get out of “detail mode” and be more strategic in our thinking?

Pidot advises: “One of the common reasons that strategies fail is that they are not grounded in facts, data and a deep understanding of your customers and business environment. One of the most important elements of strategy is moving away from ‘managing by anecdote’ and developing a much more systematic approach using facts, data and analysis.”

Parting Words

By following Ellie Pidot’s Three Components of a Good Strategy you, too, become a skilled strategist and your organization’s “go to” person for all things forward focused, aspirational and fact-based.

Jo Miller is CEO of Women’s Leadership Coaching, Inc. and a leading authority on women’s leadership.

Are you a rising women of influence? Sign up for Jo's newsletter and get leadership articles and advice delivered to your inbox. Or follow Jo on Twitter at @womensleadershp.

Ask an Executive: What is Strategy? With Ellie Pidot of Medtronic

By Jo Miller, CEO, Women’s Leadership Coaching, Inc.

Do you have what it takes to be a good leader? You may be a good tactician, but what if you were asked to move into a position that required you to be more strategic? Could you make the transition from being reactive to thinking and acting strategically? 

Ellie Pidot knows more about strategy than most of us will forget! In her position as vice president of strategy at Medtronic, Pidot works closely with the CEO and senior management team to lead the development of corporate strategy and improve the quality of strategic decision-making companywide.

So what is a seasoned executive strategist's definition of strategy? Pidot explains, “Strategy is a fancy word for coming up with a long-term plan and putting it into action.” In addition to developing corporate strategy at the highest level with the senior executive team, Pidot also works with Medtronic’s eight business units and various regions worldwide, helping to facilitate their strategic planning process.

One of Pidot’s top tips for being a better strategist is to “collaborate, collaborate, collaborate,” and her approach to strategy creation involves serving as a thought partner to executives across the company.

Pidot begins by asking questions that provoke the type of deeply reflective thinking that enables a business or region to develop its own strategy. Typical questions she recommends asking when formulating a strategy are:

• What are your customers’ unmet needs?
• How should your strategy address them?
• How will your markets be different in the future than they are today?
• What can you do to position yourself for the future?
• What is the business case for your investments?
• How will you measure and track performance to ensure impact?

But what if you are not leading a business but are an individual contributor who is trying to be more strategic? Pidot recommends asking similar questions while imagining your boss as a customer.

“Ask yourself, what are your customer’s unmet needs,” she says. “Meaning, what is it that your boss wants and needs? Reflect on your job description and what you know about your boss, and how you could make his or her life easier.”

Pidot also stresses the importance of need prediction. Or, as she explains it, “Look for ways to better predict the kinds of things that they want you to do. By coming up with a list, you can probably anticipate those needs better.”

Planning is also high on Pidot’s list of recommendations: “Have a bias for action and get things done. Have milestones — check them off and follow through. Come up with a plan, and think ahead in a way that is proactive. Being strategic is about having a long-term plan and putting it into action,” she says.

A final key to becoming a better strategist, according to Pidot, is to take the time to think.

“We all have challenges and our days are jam-packed. We are running from meeting to meeting, trying to accomplish more in less time,” Pidot stresses. “It feels sometimes like we don’t even have the time to get our job done, let alone have time to step back. But I can’t overemphasize how important it is to have unstructured time with yourself or with your team, just to think. An agenda-less hour or two is critical for generating creativity and different thinking.”

As you can see, there is more to a good leadership strategy than meets the eye. But with Pidot’s helpful “checklist,” strategizing your way to the top is easier than ever!

Jo Miller is CEO of Women’s Leadership Coaching, Inc. and a leading authority on women’s leadership.

Are you a rising women of influence? Sign up for Jo's newsletter to get leadership articles and advice delivered to your inbox. Or follow Jo on Twitter at @womensleadershp.