Strategic thinking performance review phrases

Exceeds expectations

• Reads a dip in repeat orders as an early signal and shifts focus before it shows in the quarterly numbers.
• Connects the team's daily work to the year's weighted goals, so effort goes where it moves the plan.
• Weighs the second-order effect of a discount push, not just the immediate sales bump.
• Chose to build capacity ahead of the festival season rather than scrambling when demand arrived.
• Spots which two problems, solved, would clear most of the recurring firefighting, and starts there.
• Frames a proposal in terms of the branch's goals, so leadership sees why it matters, not just what it costs.
• Sees how a policy change in one department will ripple into two others and plans for it.
• Steps back from the daily rush regularly to check the team is still working on the right things.

Meets expectations

• Keeps the bigger goal in view rather than getting lost in daily tasks alone.
• Prioritises work that moves the plan over work that merely fills the day.
• Thinks a step ahead about what a decision will need next.
• Links own tasks to the team's goals when planning the week.
• Considers the likely knock-on effects before proposing a change.
• Plans for the busy season rather than reacting when it lands.
• Raises a longer-term risk in planning rather than only the immediate issue.

Needs improvement

• Focuses on today's tasks without checking they serve the larger goal.
• Reacts to each issue as it lands rather than seeing the pattern behind them.
• Proposes changes without weighing the knock-on effect on other teams.
• Optimises own area at the cost of the wider plan.
• Plans only to the next deadline, so the busy season always arrives as a surprise.
• Chases quick wins that do not move the bigger number.
• Struggles to explain how the daily work connects to the year's goals.

Self-review phrases

• I link my weekly work to the year's goals now, so effort goes where it matters.
• I built capacity ahead of the festival season rather than scrambling later.
• I want to weigh knock-on effects before proposing a change, not just the immediate gain.
• I step back weekly to check the team is working on the right things.

Tips for writing this feedback

• Judge strategic thinking by whether daily work connects to the bigger goal, not by grand statements in a meeting.
• Look for anticipation: planning for the busy season beats reacting to it, and it is easy to check afterwards.
• Value the person who sees second-order effects, since a quick win that hurts another team is not strategic.
• Set the expectation to the level; a junior applies it to their own tasks, a lead to the whole branch.
• Distinguish strategy from cleverness. The signal is choosing the right few things, not proposing the most ideas.

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