How to Get Your Employees to Do What You Want

Want to know how to get your employees to do what you want? Learn how to get your employees to do more than just complete tasks. Teaching strategic thinking transforms your workforce from order-takers to proactive problem-solvers aligned with your company vision.

Leaders often struggle to get employees to do tasks with initiative and follow through. The problem usually isn’t a lack of motivation or effort—it’s a lack of strategic thinking.

When employees to do not understand the big picture, their actions become fragmented and reactive. They follow instructions without grasping why their tasks matter. The key to changing this? Teach them to think strategically. When employees to do connect their work to the company’s mission and vision, they make better decisions and become more proactive in solving problems.

Research supports this approach: according to a McKinsey study, organizations that foster strategic, long-term thinking see revenue growth 47% higher and earnings growth 36% higher than their short-term focused counterparts. Additionally, companies with comprehensive growth strategies are 97% more likely to achieve above-peer profitability.

Why Employees Struggle to Follow Through

Many leaders assume that giving clear instructions should be enough. But clarity in tasks doesn’t automatically lead to strategic follow-through. Here’s why:

• They Don’t See the Big Picture: If employees to do not know why something matters, they’ll complete tasks without urgency or purpose.
• They’re Stuck in Reactive Mode: Employees to do who lack strategic thinking become task-oriented rather than goal-oriented. They focus on checking boxes rather than driving outcomes.
• They Don’t Feel Empowered to Make Decisions: If your team doesn’t understand the broader context, they’ll hesitate to make decisions—waiting for guidance instead of taking ownership.

How Strategic Thinking Changes the Game

When employees to do develop strategic thinking skills, they understand why their actions matter, not just what to do. This mindset shift leads to:

• Proactive Problem-Solving: Employees to do will anticipate challenges rather than reacting to them.
• Better Decision-Making: Instead of guessing, employees to do will align choices with the company’s vision and mission.
• Ownership and Accountability: Employees to do who see the strategic impact of their work naturally take more responsibility.

How to Get Your Employees to Do What You Want Through Strategic Training

Developing strategic thinking skills isn’t about giving lectures—it’s about embedding the mindset into daily practices. Here’s how to get employees to do strategic thinking:

1. Connect Tasks to the Mission

• Don’t just assign work—explain why it matters to get employees to do meaningful work.
• Say: “We’re doing this because it moves us closer to our goal of X.”
• Use stories and real-world examples to show how strategic thinking made a difference in past projects.

2. Ask Open-Ended Questions

• Instead of giving solutions, ask: “How would you approach this?” to encourage employees to do their own strategic thinking.
• Encourage employees to do consider long-term impacts rather than just quick fixes.
• Foster a culture of curiosity by regularly discussing what worked and why.

3. Make Reflection a Habit

• After completing a project, conduct a brief strategic review for employees to do.
• Ask: “How did this help us move toward our vision?”
• Discuss what could be improved from a strategic perspective.

4. Create Scenarios That Require Strategic Thinking

• Run workshops where teams must solve hypothetical challenges using strategic principles.
• Include exercises that require employees to do justify their approach based on company goals.
• Reward solutions that show long-term thinking rather than quick wins.

Real-World Example: Strategic Thinking in Action

Imagine a marketing team tasked with increasing engagement. Instead of just creating more content, they’re taught to think strategically:

• Vision: Position the company as a thought leader.
• Mission: Provide valuable insights to our audience.
• Strategic Approach: Create content that solves real problems rather than just promoting products.
• Outcome: Engagement grows because the content resonates with the audience’s needs.

By understanding the strategic context, the team moves from quantity to quality, aligning their efforts with the company’s long-term goals. This approach is supported by research from Inc.com, which found that 97% of senior executives rated strategic thinking as the most critical leadership skill for organizational success. In another study involving 60,000 managers across 140+ countries, strategic approaches to leadership were rated more effective than other attributes including innovation, persuasion, and communication.

Building a Strategic Thinking Culture

To make strategic thinking a habit, it needs to become part of your company’s culture. Here’s how to get your employees to do what you want through cultural transformation:

• Lead by Example: Demonstrate strategic thinking in your own decisions. Share your thought process openly. Research published in the Journal of Strategy and Management confirms that when leaders demonstrate strategic thinking, employees to do are more likely to understand organizational objectives and develop a strategic mindset themselves.
• Create a Safe Space for Ideas: Employees to do will think strategically when they feel safe to question, innovate, and make mistakes. A study by Wellhub found that organizations fostering psychological safety for strategic discussions see employee “discretionary efforts” increase by 21%.
• Reward Strategic Contributions: Celebrate when employees to do spot a long-term risk or propose a solution that aligns with the company’s vision. The Center for Management & Organization Effectiveness notes that recognition of strategic thinking reinforces its importance and encourages others to develop similar skills.
• Provide Training and Resources: Offer workshops, reading materials, and coaching on strategic thinking. Show that it’s a skill to develop rather than an innate talent. According to a study in the Journal of Continuing Education, formal training programs significantly improve strategic capabilities and produce measurable improvements in employee performance.

The Results of Strategic Thinking

When employees to do learn to think strategically, you’ll see:

• Higher Engagement: Teams feel more connected to their work and the company’s goals.
• Improved Problem-Solving: Instead of waiting for solutions, employees to do proactively seek long-term fixes.
• Better Collaboration: When everyone sees the bigger picture, cross-functional teamwork becomes more natural and goal-driven.
• Sustainable Success: Strategic thinking ensures that day-to-day actions always support the broader mission.

Measuring Strategic Success

To ensure your efforts to get your employees to do what you want are working, establish metrics to track progress:

• Decision Quality: Are team decisions better aligned with company objectives? According to research from Harvard Business School, strategic thinking skills are among the most highly sought-after management competencies precisely because they improve decision quality.
• Initiative Metrics: Track how often employees to do proactively identify and solve problems. A study by Gallup found that engaged employees who understand strategic contexts show 14% higher productivity and 81% lower absenteeism.
• Strategic Language: Listen for employees to do using terms like “long-term impact,” “alignment,” and “prioritization.” Research on workplace communication shows that the language employees use reflects their level of strategic understanding.
• Feedback Systems: Create regular check-ins specifically focused on strategic alignment. Studies on performance management systems demonstrate that feedback mechanisms focused on strategic goals significantly improve employee engagement and performance.

Overcoming Resistance to Strategic Thinking

Some employees to do might resist this approach. Here’s how to address common challenges:

• For the Task-Focused: Show how strategic thinking actually streamlines work by eliminating unnecessary tasks. According to research from The Digital Marketing Institute, strategic thinking leads to better operational efficiency as employees to do begin to notice opportunities for improved organization and work methods.
• For the Overwhelmed: Start small with strategic thinking in specific projects before expanding. Research from Indeed suggests that practical application in limited contexts helps employees to do gain confidence in strategic approaches before applying them more broadly.
• For the Skeptical: Demonstrate early wins to show the tangible benefits of strategic alignment. A study cited by CMOE found that when employees to do see positive impacts from strategic decisions, they become more confident in applying strategic thinking to future challenges.

Conclusion

How to get your employees to do what you want isn’t about tighter control—it’s about teaching them to think strategically. When employees to do see how their work ties into the company’s vision and mission, they move from just doing tasks to driving results.

The data strongly supports this approach. Organizations that implement strategic thinking see significant gains in productivity, with companies using strategic business plans showing a 30% higher chance of growth compared to those that don’t. A comprehensive study from ResearchGate demonstrated that strategic approaches not only improve employee performance but create sustainable competitive advantages.

Build a culture where strategic thinking is the norm, and you’ll have employees to do more than just follow instructions—they’ll actively contribute to your long-term success. The true power of strategic thinking isn’t just in getting employees to do follow directions—it’s in creating a workforce that understands why those directions matter and can innovate within that framework.

As Harvard Business Review advises, strategic thinking should be integrated into daily work rather than treated as a separate function. When employees to do embrace strategic thinking as part of their regular responsibilities at all levels, the organization becomes more agile, innovative, and effective at achieving its goals.

Ready to Build Your Strategic Thinking in Business Advantage?

The Five Strategic Needs framework represents a fundamental shift from treating strategy execution as a compliance exercise to recognizing it as a capacity-building opportunity. By participating in our Build Strategic Thinkers Signature Intensive, you’ll learn how to design an organization that naturally cultivates strategic thinking in business, creating the foundation for agile, aligned action in even the most challenging environments.

In today’s complex business environment, strategic advantage comes not just from having a great plan, but from building a culture of strategic thinking in business that can execute consistently over time. Let The MEAN MBA provide the roadmap for creating that culture—one where human potential is fully engaged in service of shared strategic goals and the workforce crisis is addressed at its root.

Contact us today to discuss how The MEAN MBA can help your organization develop the strategic thinking in business capabilities needed to navigate and succeed in an AI-transformed business landscape.