Thinking Strategically

by Anna Faherty

Strategic thinking isn’t just for boards and leadership teams. This course helps you develop practical strategic skills so you can make better decisions, prioritise effectively, and think beyond day‑to‑day firefighting.

price £100+vat
cpd hours 4 CPD hours
access 120 days' access

This course will enable you to

  • Understand what strategic thinking is and how it differs from plans and tactics
  • Make more effective strategic decisions using evidence, insight, and structured thinking
  • Apply common strategic tools to analyse priorities, risks, and opportunities
  • Understand how strategy works as a process, including goals, metrics, and evaluation
  • Embed strategic thinking into your professional role with confidence

About the course

In uncertain and fast‑changing environments, operational excellence alone is no longer enough. Professionals are expected to make sound decisions, allocate time and resources wisely, and explain the “why” behind their actions - often without perfect information. Strategic thinking provides a framework for navigating complexity, ambiguity, and competing priorities.

This course explores what strategy really means in practice. It looks at how strategic thinking differs from planning and tactics, how effective strategic decisions are made, and how strategy works as an ongoing process rather than a one‑off document. You’ll examine common strategic tools, learn how data and insight inform better choices, and understand the role of vision, objectives, and measurement in shaping direction.

You’ll come away with greater confidence in your ability to think strategically in your own role. This course will give you practical ways to question assumptions, manage uncertainty, and embed strategic habits into your professional life - helping you move from reacting to events to shaping outcomes.

Look inside

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Contents

  • Understanding strategy
    • Explaining strategic thinking
    • The value of strategy
    • Your strategic journey
    • Strategies, plans, and tactics
  • Thinking like a strategist
    • How to think like a strategist
    • Strategic skills
    • Making strategic decisions
    • Communicating decisions to others
    • The role of intuition
  • Strategy as a process
    • How strategy gets done
    • The strategic process
    • Vision, mission, values, objectives
    • The importance of strategic processes
    • KPIs and metrics
  • Strategic tools
    • Why strategic tools matter
    • Understanding the world around you
    • Understanding yourself
    • Choosing a strategic tool
    • Analysing value
    • Thinking about growth
    • Setting and monitoring strategic priorities
  • Embedding and embodying strategy
    • Living like a strategist
    • Demonstrating your strategic skills
    • Your strategic thinking mantra

How it works

Author

Anna Faherty

Anna Faherty is an award-winning teacher and researcher who runs her own content development and training consultancy, Strategic Content. Anna is expert at communicating complex technical information to non-technical audiences. She uses the phrase, "Communicating Stuff. Really well." to describe what she does and organisations of all shapes and sizes endorse that by asking for her help. By working with a broad range of clients, Anna has acquired experience of many different sectors and many different aspects of many different sectors and learned how to adapt to different working cultures.

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Access to this course
Total CPD unitshourshours4 unitshourshours21 units20 hours21 hours1,500+ unitshourshours1,500+ unitshourshours
Access period120 days120 days12 months12+ months
Audit-proof CPD completion certificate
Immediate access to our entire CPD catalogue
Monthly webinars, 15-minute CPD Bites, video interviews with industry leaders, and more!
Account manager on hand to support your team’s needs
Learn moreLearn moreLearn more
Recommended

Why not upgrade?

Find the best way to complete your CPD

Licence

All you need for this year and more.

Access to this course
Total CPD unitshourshours1,500+ unitshourshours
Access period12 months
Audit-proof CPD completion certificate
Immediate access to our entire CPD catalogue
Monthly webinars, 15-minute CPD Bites, video interviews with industry leaders, and more!
Account manager on hand to support your team's needs
Learn more

Why not upgrade?

Find the best way to complete your CPD

Course

Need just a few unitshourshours?

Access to this course
Total CPD unitshourshours4 unitshourshours
Access period120 days
Audit-proof CPD completion certificate
Immediate access to our entire CPD catalogue
Monthly webinars, 15-minute CPD Bites, video interviews with industry leaders, and more!
Account manager on hand to support your team's needs

Why not upgrade?

Find the best way to complete your CPD

Pick n Mix

All you need for this year's CPD.

Access to this course
Total CPD unitshourshours21 units20 hours21 hours
Access period120 days
Audit-proof CPD completion certificate
Immediate access to our entire CPD catalogue
Monthly webinars, 15-minute CPD Bites, video interviews with industry leaders, and more!
Account manager on hand to support your team's needs
Learn more

Why not upgrade?

Find the best way to complete your CPD

Team

Keep your whole team up to date.

Access to this course
Total CPD unitshourshours1,500+ unitshourshours
Access period12+ months
Audit-proof CPD completion certificate
Immediate access to our entire CPD catalogue
Monthly webinars, 15-minute CPD Bites, video interviews with industry leaders, and more!
Account manager on hand to support your team's needs
Learn more

Why not upgrade?

Find the best way to complete your CPD

Licence

Recommended

All you need for this year and more.

Access to this course
Total CPD unitshourshours1,500+ unitshourshours
Access period12 months
Audit-proof CPD completion certificate
Immediate access to our entire CPD catalogue
Monthly webinars, 15-minute CPD Bites, video interviews with industry leaders, and more!
Account manager on hand to support your team's needs
Learn more

Course

Need just a few unitshourshours?

Access to this course
Total CPD unitshourshours4 unitshourshours
Access period120 days
Audit-proof CPD completion certificate
Immediate access to our entire CPD catalogue
Monthly webinars, 15-minute CPD Bites, video interviews with industry leaders, and more!
Account manager on hand to support your team's needs

Pick n Mix

All you need for this year's CPD.

Access to this course
Total CPD unitshourshours21 units20 hours21 hours
Access period120 days
Audit-proof CPD completion certificate
Immediate access to our entire CPD catalogue
Monthly webinars, 15-minute CPD Bites, video interviews with industry leaders, and more!
Account manager on hand to support your team's needs
Learn more

Team

Keep your whole team up to date.

Access to this course
Total CPD unitshourshours1,500+ unitshourshours
Access period12+ months
Audit-proof CPD completion certificate
Immediate access to our entire CPD catalogue
Monthly webinars, 15-minute CPD Bites, video interviews with industry leaders, and more!
Account manager on hand to support your team's needs
Learn more

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