238: Thinking Like an Executive: From Firefighter to Strategist

Thinking like an executive means moving from reactive to strategic leadership, making confident decisions, and focusing on long-term impact. In part two of my series on executive mindset, I’m shifting from how executive presence feels to what you do when you embody it.

I explore the story of Sarah, a Director of Engineering who went from constant firefighting to executive thinking—and earned a promotion in just eight months. You'll learn how to embrace strategic pauses, delegate effectively, and develop the confidence to make high-impact decisions. Plus, I break down the shift from being a problems person to a solutions-driven leader.

If you're ready to stop putting out fires and start leading with vision, this episode is for you!

I dive into:

• Shifting from reactive to strategic leadership: stop firefighting and start thinking long term
• Building authentic confidence to delegate and tackle imposter syndrome
• Thinking bigger: making high impact decisions with long term ROI in mind
• Ideas vs. problems vs. solutions: becoming a solutions-driven leader
• And more

**Useful links** 

• If you are ready to uplevel your career, get unstuck or you are simply ready to unlock those leadership time-management techniques then join us in my monthly career & leadership coaching program exclusively for women in tech: https://www.tonicollis.com/academy 
• Catch the show notes, and more details about today's episode here: https://tonicollis.com/episode238 
• Check us out on Youtube.
• Join the Leading Women in Tech community in Slack where we discuss all-the-things for women’s tech leadership, covering everything from early-career leadership to C-level executives.