I’ve been having a lot of conversations lately with people who want to manage teams, climb the career ladder, and get involved in strategic work. Don’t get me wrong - wanting growth is completely natural and healthy. But here’s what I think people are missing: management isn’t the only path up, and strategy work isn’t some exclusive boardroom activity reserved for executives.

The truth is, strategy happens everywhere. It’s not just senior leaders in suits sitting around mahogany tables plotting the company’s future. Strategy development occurs at every level - from how you approach your daily projects to how teams solve problems to how departments plan their quarters.

Let me share how this works in practice. One of my primary responsibilities involves developing strategy for our department, but doing that in isolation would be a recipe for failure - succeeding at the wrong things, making short-term decisions with long-term negative impacts, or worse.

My strategic process starts with data collection from multiple sources. Much of that intelligence comes from people at all levels of the department. They understand the pain points, see opportunities we currently have, and know the real trade-offs and risks of doing or not doing something.

I also listen across the business for strategic alignment. What direction are other areas heading? Are they pursuing initiatives we can contribute to? Do we have shared goals? Are we planning to sell into new market segments that would require us to operate differently? Do we need to add compliance frameworks, and if so, what controls don’t we currently meet? For existing frameworks, where do we see the most audit risk or have recurring findings?

Then I look for optimization opportunities. Where can we automate processes and refocus teams on high-value activities? What are deal signals and customer feedback telling us? Are clients asking for capabilities we don’t have or don’t do well? Where is security creating friction in purchases and renewals?

Finally, I track ecosystem changes we can anticipate and plan for. Do we understand our approach to AI adoption and governance? Are we planning a cloud migration? Are we transitioning back to office or staying remote? All of these data points feed into our strategic direction.

This process illustrates exactly what individual contributors can do - engaging in this same strategic intelligence gathering, with expectations varying by level. I expect Staff, Principal, and higher-level ICs to work across teams, domains, and often business units. These senior staff members should already have networks extending beyond their immediate reporting structure. While it’s tempting to focus solely on your domain or get lost in technical details, developing a strategic mindset and networking skills leads to better-aligned outcomes and fewer surprises. To me, this represents operating at the same strategic level as management-track equivalents.

Earlier-career ICs, particularly in Information Security, are typically working within at least one of these strategic areas and have valuable insights into friction points, risks, and opportunities at the operational level. What makes their perspective uniquely valuable is that they’re closest to the day-to-day reality of implementation - they see where policies break down, where tools don’t integrate well, and where users find workarounds. This ground-level intelligence is crucial for strategic decisions that actually work in practice.

The key is learning to package and communicate these insights effectively. Instead of just reporting that something is broken, frame it in terms of business impact: ‘This friction is causing a 20% delay in onboarding’ or ‘Users are bypassing this control, which creates X risk.’ Start building relationships with people who can act on your insights - whether that’s your skip-level manager, cross-functional partners, or senior ICs who have strategic influence. Since we often accomplish our goals through influence rather than authority, building these networking and communication skills becomes even more critical for long-term career growth.

Now, here’s where I want to challenge a common assumption. While many believe you must be in a position of authority - specifically, a manager - to have a seat at the strategic table, I don’t think that’s necessarily true. Yes, managers have built-in advantages: they hear feedback from their teams and can derive trends from that information. They may also have budget authority, spend more time collaborating across teams and departments, and typically have decision-making power - all of which can influence strategy and direction. That being said, the best managers I have worked with give credit where it’s due, validate and share signals up, down, and laterally and use their power for good instead of evil. More importantly, nothing prevents these same strategic conversations from happening in other forums with people who aren’t direct managers. Actively letting your voice be heard, especially when you think you are on to something or have a good idea, and building a network outside of your immediate team or management chain will only add tools to your toolbox for the future.

There are multiple ways to grow professionally without becoming a people manager. You can become a technical expert, a strategic contributor, a project leader, or develop specializations that create tremendous value. The key is recognizing that career advancement comes in many forms, and strategic thinking is a skill you can develop and apply regardless of your title or where you sit in the org chart.

So how do you start building this strategic approach into your current role? Begin by expanding your information sources - attend cross-functional meetings when possible, read quarterly business reviews, and ask questions about how your work connects to broader company goals. Start documenting patterns you notice and hypotheses about what might improve outcomes. Share these observations with your manager or in team discussions.

Look for opportunities to collaborate outside your immediate team, whether through working groups, informal coffee chats, or volunteering for cross-departmental projects. Most importantly, practice articulating the ‘why’ behind your technical recommendations in business terms - this is often the bridge between technical expertise and strategic influence.

The path to career growth and strategic influence isn’t one-size-fits-all, and it doesn’t require a management title to begin. Whether you choose to lead through technical expertise, cross-functional collaboration, or eventually people management, the foundation remains the same: understanding the broader context of your work, building relationships beyond your immediate sphere, and developing the ability to translate between technical possibilities and business needs.

Strategy isn’t something that happens to you or around you - it’s something you can actively participate in, regardless of where you sit on the org chart. The key is recognizing that every role, at every level, offers opportunities to think strategically and contribute to the bigger picture. Start where you are, use what you have, and build from there.