Transitioning from Operational Manager to Strategic Leader
Build your strategic leadership skills and gain the clarity, tools, and confidence to make the shift from managing operations to leading with impact.
















Transitioning from Operational Manager to Strategic Leader
Warren Bennis and Peter Drucker both famously defined the differences between managers and leaders in the 1950s, noting 'managers are people who do things right while leaders are people who do the right thing’.
Being an operational manager is crucial to making sure things are done right, done well and done on time, but to truly elevate your organisation and have it stand out from your competition, you need to become a strategic leader. That means know where you are now, where you want to be in the future and how you’re going to empower your people to get you there.
What will I learn?
Participants will gain the skills and insights to:
- Differentiate between operational and strategic leadership tasks and mindsets
- Evaluate their leadership strengths and development areas
- Apply strategic planning tools to current or future initiatives
- Map key stakeholders and design influence strategies to drive alignment and engagement
- Assess how team culture affects strategic execution and identify behaviours to reinforce
- Develop a 90-day leadership roadmap that supports their transition from operational to strategic leadership
What to expect?
A focused and practical program designed to shift your mindset from operational management to strategic leadership.
You’ll engage in self-assessment, apply proven planning tools, and build a clear leadership roadmap you can put into action immediately.
How will this course benefit me?
This course will empower you to:
- Support every team member more effectively, not just the ones who are struggling
- Gain tools to have honest, productive conversations that build trust and accountability
- Learn how to motivate top performers and prevent disengagement or burnout
- Walk away with structured approaches to goal setting and feedback that enhance team alignment and individual growth
Upcoming Transitioning from Operational Manager to Strategic Leader Course Dates
Choose from the dates below to secure your enrolment in one of our upcoming classes

"I thought it was great! Probably one of the best trainings we’ve had at our face-to-face."

"Nicky was very knowledgeable and made sure everyone was comfortable with before going on to the next stage. Nicky’s interaction with us was amazing as she explained things well and nothing was a problem for her if someone needed help."

"Such a great course. Thoroughly enjoyed the training and learned so many new things that I know will benefit both myself and the organisation."

"I had no idea of how much I didn’t know. This is a game changer for efficiency and organisation."
"Fantastic training, while I'm fully capable with using google, ive never known all the ins and outs and features designed to make you more productive. Very illuminating"

"Thanks for putting on such amazing training sessions for our employees over the past 2 weeks, we have had incredible feedback about how valuable they found the Outlook training and how great a facilitator Dani is. One employee reached out saying it was the best training she has ever done, which is a testament to how good the content and facilitators are!"

"They’re always there to support you and they’ve even made the Most staunchly paper driven people challenge what they do and find a way to be paper light, if not paper gone."

"Enjoyed the session and got a few great tips and better ideas on managing emails and tasks thanks so much."

"Went into the course thinking I would learn a few tips on using MO more efficiently, came out with a breakthrough on how I could be the high performer I want to be and still have a life."

"As a school Principal, I greatly value practical training that delivers immediate and measurable improvements in productivity. The "Working Sm@rt with Microsoft Outlook" workshop facilitated by Priority Management exceeded all expectations."

"It changed my life really. I felt like I’d been baptized at the end- I really felt so much lighter and freer! I’m in control of my life, actually I can, I can work the way I want to work."
"I was hesitant on how much I could learn on an 8 hour outlook course but the course exceeded my expectations and I was surprised by how much I took away from the course."

"The workshop was great and very helpful. Simply explained, useful information and good tools! I will use the skills i have further developed and use the tools provided to my benefit!"

"Outlook to me was just a repository for emails, but now it is transformed into a powerful automated planning tool. Thank you Mary! I also like how you consider typography when setting up the layout and solution."

"Working with Priority Management as an organisation, [I’ve learned] that it’s not actually about the computer programs. It’s about the way in which you use those to work together."

Learn more about Transitioning from Operational Manager to Strategic Leader Advanced
Overview
Audience
Format
What's Included
Understanding The Shift: Operational Vs Strategic Thinking
- Key differences: Operational management vs. Strategic leadership
- Complete a self-assessment: ``Which one are you currently acting as?``
- Where do you currently spend most of your time and how should you be redirecting your energy?
The Core Competencies of Strategic Leaders
- Vision & foresight
- Systems thinking
- Influence and alignment
- Decision-making under uncertainty
- Gain insight into how you are being perceived as a leader with the 360-degree feedback tool.
- From Tactics to Strategy
- Setting strategic goals aligned with the vision
- Frameworks: SWOT, PESTLE, Porter's Five Forces
- Strategy mapping and execution alignment
Leading Change and Building Strategic Influence
- Role of the leader in driving transformation
- Stakeholder mapping & influence strategies
- Emotional intelligence and communication
- Influencing up, down, and across
- Time management, focus, and strategic delegation
Building Strategic Culture and Developing Others
- Empowering teams and fostering autonomy
- Creating a culture of continuous improvement
- Talent development as a strategic lever
- Group discussion: What culture are you creating? At the end of the program, participants will create a 90-day transition plan
This course is ideal for team leaders, supervisors, managers, and anyone responsible for supporting, developing, and guiding team members to achieve high performance, including both emerging leaders and experienced people managers.
- This is a one-day program that can be delivered face-to-face or virtually (MS Teams)
- Comprehensive Training Materials
- Interactive Sessions
- Expert Guidance
- Practical Exercises
- Certificate of Completion
Dont have your own laptop?
We have modern HP laptops available for hire!
HP EliteBook Touchscreen Tablet laptops (with mouse) (11 available)
- Rental cost to client $95+GST per laptop + transport
- Running Windows 11
- Running Office 365
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- Outlook
- OneNote
- Added only if required - MS Project, MS Visio

Organise with one of our team when making your booking or get in touch with us here
Submit an Enquiry

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