Accelerating Strategic INFLUENCE & Impact in a New Role

Paul, Head of Strategic Initiatives and Director of Global Operations at a Leading Tech Company (name changed for anonymity)*

*This leader prefers to remain anonymous but is open to sharing insights privately

context

Paul had carved out a stellar career as a Director of Operations and General Manager at tech giants like Sky and Amazon.

After nearly two years at his current company, he craved strategic and creative impact over operational execution. He identified a business gap to lead a new division of strategic initiatives to transform customer experience and rethink vendor strategy. He pitched it to his HR leader and was appointed Head of Strategic Initiatives.

Challenge

While this role represented a more strategic opportunity, Paul now needed to craft a compelling business case to lock in support, build a global team from the ground up, and gain buy-in from stakeholders who hadn’t yet bought into his vision and positioning as a strategic player.

Objectives

  • Define a strategic vision as Head of Strategic Initiatives, with a roadmap to spark transformation.

  • Build authority, gain buy-in and stand out as an expert among key players across divisions, including Product and Sales.

  • Build and scale a global team across APAC, EMEA, and the Americas.

Results

  • Paul unlocked confidence and ideas to build a new strategic division with a global team – accross APAC, EMEA and AMER, delivering early wins.

  • He secured the buy-in from key stakeholders, leading to a promotion within six months to Director of Global Operations, blending strategy with execution while engaging top stakeholders.

Roadmap

In six months, Paul turned ambition into action across three phases:

    • Paul mapped customer and vendor pain points around support and processes, and leveraged front end teams insights to anchor his vision and identify priorities.

    • He engaged with leaders across Product, Sales, and Operations, gathering insights on their goals to tie his vision to their wins and strengthen his positioning.

    • Paul assembled a global team—program managers, strategy leads, and product ops pros—spanning APAC, EMEA, and the Americas with expertise in execution and innovation. He designed kick-off days to onboard them and forge a driven team culture.

    • In moments doubts about legitimacy to drive his vision forward, we anchored him into how is reasoning, evidence and market case was leading to improved deals for vendors and happier clients, cementing his confidence.

    • Paul coached his team members, empowering them to take ownership and scale initiatives so that he could focus on higher strategic responsibilities and elevate his positioning within the organization.

    • By leveraging early wins and vendor and clients’ data, he positioned his case to senior Product stakeholders, stepping into a higher scope of governance and influence.

key activity and Insight

  • Decoding how Product, Sales, and Operations measured success let Paul tailor his messaging, and identify the data he needed to use as evidence to gain buy-in and drive collaboration.

  • Building his team’s autonomy through coaching and defining a career plan enabled him to scale his influence.

Unlocking strategic thinking & confidence

“The coaching sessions have taken me to a creative space where I unlock new business ideas. Susana challenges my thought processes to enable me to develop solutions across a broad spectrum of subjects, from leading a new team to developing a strategy for organisational design.

The coaching I have received has unlocked my leadership capability by challenging imposter syndrome, expanding creative thinking and building upon my strengths to tackle specific business problems and deliberately make a positive change.”

- Paul, Head of Strategic Initiatives and Director of Global Operations at a Leading Tech Company (name changed for anonymity)

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