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Big Picture Thinking Skills for Career Advancement

Develop the strategic foresight needed to look beyond details, drive organizational success, and position yourself for high-impact leadership roles.

Created byStephen Priddle
BeginnerUpdated Jan 16, 2026

What You'll Learn

  • check_circleMaster big picture foresight skills.
  • check_circleAlign actions with long-term goals.
  • check_circleApply big-picture thinking to real-world situations.
  • check_circleShift focus from details to big picture vision.
  • check_circlePrepare for high-impact leadership.
  • check_circleIdentify your current level of thinking.

About This Course

What separates people in the business world is not how hard they work—it’s the level at which they think. This course is designed to help professionals transition from a task-oriented mindset to a higher perspective.

Senior leaders tend to think at a big-picture level. Their thinking is broader, more strategic, more creative, and more focused on long-term impact. This course is designed to help you recognize your current level of thinking and deliberately raise it, regardless of your role or position in the organization.

If you can learn to think more like your boss—or like a CEO, board member, owner, or partner—you gain a significant advantage. You begin to anticipate decisions instead of reacting to them. This course is not about abstract theory; it is built around practical, real-world scenarios that mirror the kinds of decisions leaders face every day.

In This Course, You Will Learn:

  • What higher-level, big-picture thinking really is.
  • How big-picture thinkers approach problems differently.
  • How to identify your current thinking level.
  • How to deliberately improve the level at which you think.

This will be applied in the areas of:

  • Business and strategy.
  • Systems and organizational thinking.
  • Technology and innovation.
  • Corporate leadership and governance.
  • Fraud and ethical decision-making.
  • KPIs and performance measurement.
  • Consulting and advisory thinking.
  • Startups and entrepreneurship.
  • Charities and non-profit organizations.
  • Risk management and decision-making.

Outcome

By the end of this course, you will be better equipped to:

  • See beyond tasks to consequences.
  • Understand how decisions ripple through an organization.
  • Ask better questions.
  • Make more informed, big-picture judgments.

No matter where you work in your organization, this course will help you think at a higher level—and stand out because of it.

Course Content

1 activity • 4 videos • duration: 1h 57m

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Big Picture Thinking Skills for Career Advancement4 videos • 2 hours
  • videocamLesson 1: Introduction, Explanations, 3 Case Scenarios
    Duration 32:49
  • videocamLesson 2: Big Picture & Interviews, 4 Case Scenarios, AI to Help
    Duration 26:14
  • videocamLesson 3: Barriers to Higher-Level Thinking, 7 Case Scenarios, Lessons from the 7 Blind Men and the Elephant
    Duration 31:33
  • videocamLesson 4: 6 Case Scenarios, Conclusions & Tips
    Duration 26:35

Your Instructor

Stephen Priddle

menu_book32 courses
star6,723 reviews

Stephen Priddle, CPA, CA, CMA is the President and Founder of Practical PD, Courses for Accountants. Stephen is also the Vice-President, Finance & CFO of Fidus Analytics Inc.  In addition, he is a Board member, co-owner and Corporate Secretary of the SureWx group of companies, a global aviation business, which he was the CFO for 12 years previously. An engaging and experienced instructor, Stephen Priddle weaves practical tips together with stories from his business experience and input from participants. Seasoning the mix with a dose of accounting humour, he serves up useful and dynamic courses which have been attended by nearly 38,000. When speaking, he is candid about errors he has made in his career and the lessons that can be learned from them. Someone said: “humans are hard-wired to learn from stories” – Stephen is in part a business/accounting storyteller, who draws out the lessons from the stories. Stephen’s teaching experience includes presenting courses for over 70 accounting bodies and organizations in Canada and abroad. He has been a Session Leader in the CPA Professional Education Program, and has taught at the University of Toronto and Carleton University. He has moderated in the legacy CA, CMA and CGA program. Stephen is a prolific author. His published business, accounting and finance cases are used by many organizations. Stephen has nearly 40 years of varied business experience. After working with KPMG for five years, he moved into industry, where he has worked for public and private companies. He has gained a wide range of experience in financial reporting, treasury management, merger & acquisition and other business matters. Through his courses, he interacts with hundreds of financial leaders a year and thus stays on the leading edge in terms of best practices and hot topics. Stephen obtained his CPA, CA and CMA designations following graduation from Carleton University with an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree, accounting major.

Credit Information

What Students Are Saying

4.8 out of 5
Student's Choice
23 reviews
  • LZ
    Lance Z.
    starstarstarstarstar

    I have taken many courses offered by Stephen and they are always a way to get useful information from a seasoned professional with real world experience and this course is a great example of that.  The course provides many opportunities to elevate your level of thinking through investigation of real scenarios. 

Frequently Asked Questions

We are a registered provider with 300+ associations and regulatory bodies worldwide. We operate across 27 global markets including Canada, the US, Australia, and the UK. Every course page clearly displays its specific accreditations. Upon completion, you receive a professional certificate that can be validated online. Our certificates include all necessary accreditation details, credit hours, and completion dates, and are formatted specifically to meet the submission requirements of most global regulatory bodies.

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