How To Position Yourself As Strategic (Even If You're The Fixer Everyone Depends On)

Maya Grossman
Aug 4
3 min read

A few years ago, I coached a client who was known as the go-to person on her team.

If something broke, she fixed it.

If someone dropped the ball, she picked it up.

She was the engine keeping the machine running.

But when promotion time came around, she kept hearing:

“You’re not quite strategic enough yet.”

She was stunned. Her results were clear. She'd saved her team hundreds of hours and built systems that scaled.

But none of that mattered. Because the perception was:

She was the doer, not the thinker.

And that stung. Because she was thinking about the bigger picture.

She just didn’t know how to communicate it.

Sound familiar?

Strategic ≠ Smarter. It Means Thinking One Level Up.

This is where so many high performers get stuck.

You’re so deep in the work leading projects, solving problems, juggling five priorities, that there’s no space to translate your value into strategic language.

And suddenly, even with years of great feedback and results, you’re being told you need to “think more like a VP.”

So what does that even mean?

Let’s break it down.

The Framework: Impact – Insight – Intent

The key to being seen as strategic when you are already doing the work is translating that work into value that leadership cares about.

I want to give you a simple framework to help you do that. I call it the 3-I. Essentially, it’s a 3-part pitch you can use in exec meetings, skip-levels, and performance reviews.

Use it to shift perception and sound like a strategic partner, not just a reliable executor.

Here’s how it works:

1. Impact – What value are you delivering?

This is the outcome of your work. Not the activity.

“We rolled out a new onboarding process that cut ramp time by 30% and reduced support tickets by half.”

Don’t list tasks. Show the business value.

2. Insight – What patterns are you seeing?

This is where strategy comes in. What’s behind the data? What trend are you spotting?

“One thing I’m noticing: even though ramp time is faster, new hires still struggle with internal tools. That’s costing us productivity in the first 60 days.”

Now you’re showing foresight. You’re scanning the horizon.

3. Intent – What are you building or learning next?

Executives want to see growth and proactive thinking. Show where you’re headed.

“So I’m working with RevOps to map out where the friction is and simplify the tool stack.”

You’re not just solving what’s in front of you. You’re shaping what’s next.

What Makes This Powerful

This structure signals strategy without sounding like a know-it-all.

It does three important things:

Highlights your impact (you’re not just busy. You’re valuable.)
Reveals strategic thinking (you see more than your to-do list).
Shows you’re proactive and growth-minded (you’re building the future, not just reacting to the present).

This is what executives do. And when you speak like this, people start to see you as one.