Maintaining fresh and clear strategic thinking is a crucial issue for CEOs and other managers in any organization. But leaders are pulled toward operational issues – matters relating to the here-and-now rather than the future. It isn’t easy to avoid this gravitational pull as one issue after another is either offered up by those below in the organization or are foisted on a CEO by external stakeholders.
But what if you could develop a strong personal discipline for the task of coming up with creative strategy ideas?
Here I provide some real-life tricks and tips from CEOs on how they keep their heads in a strategy space.
Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, structures his daily routine to foster mental clarity and long-term strategic thinking. He deliberately minimizes his involvement in operational detail.
He starts his day between 6:00 and 7:00 am, with “non-reactive” activities such as meditation or a brief workout, and he consciously avoids emails and social media to maintain focus. He believes in tackling the most challenging tasks first as his mornings are his most productive time of day. He also prioritizes his work based on three core principles: ensuring important tasks are accomplished, avoiding time-wasting on trivial matters, and employing the power of lists.
“I highly recommend using lists,” he says. “I make lists of what I want to accomplish each year, each month, and each day. Lists are very focusing, and they help me with multitasking because I don’t have to keep as much in my head.” But he also notes that “it is critical that you keep enough space in your schedule to allow for chance encounters and exposure to new people and ideas.”
By delegating operational responsibilities and focusing on high-impact initiatives, he ensures that his attention stays on strategic objectives.
Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors
Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, has a discipline that enables her to lead with clarity and long-term strategic thinking without becoming mired in operational detail. Her leadership philosophy is grounded in preparation, reflection, and prioritizing what matters most. “Do every job you’re in like you’re going to do it for the rest of your life, and demonstrate that ownership of it,” she’s said, underscoring the intentionality she brings to daily routines.
Barra starts her day early, often before 6:00 a.m., using quiet morning time to review reports, industry news, and prepare mentally for upcoming decisions. Physical exercise is a non-negotiable part of her day as she runs or walks regularly, using the mental clarity of this time to think through strategic issues.
She’s also known for practicing active listening giving her full attention during one-on-one interactions – a habit that helps her stay attuned to both cultural and strategic signals.
To avoid being dragged into unnecessary detail, Barra delegates decisively and encourages accountability. She doesn’t want yes-people and values constructive dissent and open dialogue within her leadership team. Barra builds trust with her team, focusing her own energy on setting direction, improving culture, and navigating GM’s transition to an all-electric future.
Matt Comyn, CEO of Commonwealth Bank
Matt Comyn is CEO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia – Australia’s largest. He maintains a disciplined daily routine to foster mental clarity and strategic thinking. This enables him to steer the bank’s vision without becoming entangled in operational detail.
Comyn begins his day with physical activity, including running, swimming, or cycling, the latter on a stationary bike to avoid injury due to his demanding schedule. He emphasizes the importance of sleep to performance, stating, “by far the most important is sleep” adding “that doesn’t come easily to me. Some people are really good sleepers. I’m not.” He utilizes wearable technology to track metrics such as sleep quality and heart rate variability. This ensures sustained high performance without burnout.
To maintain a strategic perspective, Comyn has regular discussions with leaders across various industries, including a notable exchange with the coach of a rugby league team. These interactions provide fresh insights and reinforce his commitment to continuous learning.
Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA
Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA, exemplifies a leadership style that combines a relentless work ethic with strategic thinking. His daily routine is meticulously structured to maintain focus on innovation while delegating operational tasks. “When I’m not working, I think about working,” he says.
Huang begins his day at 5.00 a.m., dedicating the early hours to reading and reflection, often staying in bed until 6.00 a.m. to avoid disturbing his dogs. This quiet time allows him to process information and set intentions for the day. He then does some physical exercise, which he credits with enhancing mental clarity and energy levels.
To stay connected with the company’s pulse without micromanaging, Huang relies on “Top-5 Things” (T5T) emails from employees across all levels. These concise updates provide him with unfiltered insights enabling him to detect emerging trends and make informed strategic decisions.
Huang’s management philosophy emphasizes a flat organizational structure, with approximately 60 direct reports. He avoids traditional hierarchical communication, preferring direct interactions and rapid decision-making to encourage innovation and accountability.
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, begins his day around 7:00 am with a 30-minute workout – a practice he upholds regardless of location or schedule. He emphasizes the significance of this routine: “For me, the daily ritual is just a half-hour of hitting the gym every day. It doesn’t matter where I am, what time zone, how late I got in, I get up and get to the gym. It’s just 30 minutes of running, and it just makes a huge difference.” This physical activity is complemented by a mindfulness practice where he reflects on gratitude each morning to ground himself positively for the day ahead.
Post-exercise, Nadella dedicates time to reading a diverse range of materials, from poetry to non-fiction to technology news. This habit broadens his perspective and fuels strategic thinking, aligning with his commitment to continuous learning and a growth mindset.
A distinctive element of Nadella’s routine involves making two daily phone calls to different CEOs or industry leaders. He uses these conversations to explore emerging startups and potential collaborations, asking questions like, “What new startups are you excited about?” and “What new people have you met that would be good to know?” This practice keeps him attuned to industry trends and opportunities.
Finishing the day is just as important. Nadella typically concludes his workday around 5:00 pm, dedicating his evenings to family time and personal interests, such as reading.
How to Keep Your Mind Fresh and Strategic
These senior business leaders with high-pressure jobs could easily become swamped by operational detail, yet they use disciplined routines to stay on track. So, how do they do it? Here are five “tricks” you can try.
To escape routine, you need a routine. It seems counterintuitive that the way to ensure your mind is fresh and strategic is to invent another routine. It works for the same reason that organizational routines work – they ensure that things get done. You can see this in the way CEOs from Satya Nadella to Matt Comyn to Sam Altman structure their day. Routines matter. The key difference is that your routine is on your time, not the organization’s time.
Routines vary, and so should yours. What you may have noticed is that CEO routines vary. This is for a variety of reasons, including the CEO’s cultural background, education, industry and personality. The question is: have you designed a routine that suits you and produces the desired results? Satya Nadella, for example, believes that his very personal and structured routine – which emphasizes physical health, mindfulness, continuous learning, strategic networking, and work-life balance – provides him with a fresh and strategic mindset to steer Microsoft.
Create repeatable environments to inspire insight. Strategic thinking is a practice. CEOs who consistently generate forward-looking ideas don’t rely on chance – they create repeatable environments to inspire insight. That’s a significant difference. Though this seems paradoxical – whether it’s a “blue ocean review,” a weekly ideation day, or long reflective drives – systematize your strategy discovery. Idea generation isn’t something you squeeze in but a discipline worthy of structure, time, and space.
Curate your mental inputs carefully. What goes into your mind shapes what comes out. The most strategically minded CEOs actively curate their intellectual inputs through reading, podcasts, CEO conversations, or industry exchanges. This produces a “pattern matching” of problem and solution, stemming from broad and diverse exposure. Be intentional about what you consume, choosing stimulation that invites surprise, sparks new connections and challenges orthodoxy.
Let go, to look ahead. Perhaps most critical: strategic leadership requires intentional disengagement from the operational grind. This doesn’t mean abdication, it means trust. All the CEOs make delegation a priority to focus on strategy, not to escape responsibility. When you let go of the urgent, you make room for the important: shaping the future of your organization.
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Personal routines don’t just clear calendars; they clear minds. They allow leaders to see connections others miss, to imagine futures not yet formed, and to focus not just on doing things right, but doing the right things. Importantly, they demonstrate that strategy is not an occasional offsite, it’s a mindset woven into daily leadership.
For CEOs, the future is not something to be predicted; it is something to be shaped. And that shaping begins when you choose to rise above the noise of the now and make space for what’s next.
