Facility management has changed.

It is no longer just a support function. Buildings shape how companies attract talent, manage risk, hit ESG goals, and control costs. Whether you manage a single site or a national portfolio, your job affects both daily operations and long-term strategy.

But with that growth comes new expectations. The modern FM leader must understand more than equipment, vendors, and maintenance logs. You are expected to think like an operator. You are expected to act like an executive.

The best FM professionals today are starting to think like COOs. They align with business goals, lead cross-functional teams, and use data to make financial decisions. They operate with a long view and know how to communicate impact in terms of dollars, not tasks.

If you want to move from reactive to strategic, this is where you start.

The New Expectations for FM Leaders

The perception of FM is shifting inside companies.

In the past, facilities were seen as overhead. Now, they are viewed as strategic assets. This change is happening because buildings directly influence key business metrics.

•  Workplace design affects talent acquisition and retention.
•  Energy use affects profit margins and ESG targets.
•  Maintenance schedules affect asset life and downtime risk.
•  Health and safety protocols affect compliance and liability.

That shift means facility leaders are being evaluated on new outcomes. The job is no longer just to maintain equipment. It is to manage value.

Executives want FM leaders who understand the larger business model. They want to know how your team’s work reduces risk, drives efficiency, or supports growth. Your ability to connect daily tasks to those outcomes is what sets you apart.

Business Acumen Is No Longer Optional

To gain internal influence, you have to speak the language of business.

Facility leaders who rely only on operational reports and maintenance logs will get left behind. You need to present ideas in terms of cost avoidance, asset value, and return on investment. Your insights should feed directly into capital planning discussions.

Developing financial fluency means knowing how to:

• Differentiate between CapEx and OpEx strategies.
• Model long-term savings for preventative investments.
• Make the case for upgrades based on total cost of ownership.
• Build multi-year budgets tied to performance outcomes.

You should also be able to explain how facility work affects EBITDA. Whether you are pitching an energy retrofit or expanding a worksite, the case you make must connect to profitability.

The most respected FM leaders can walk into a budget meeting and hold their own. They are not just asking for funds. They are positioning facilities as a source of long-term value.

Strategic Thinking Starts with Better Data

Many FM teams still run on intuition. That is no longer good enough.

To move into a more strategic role, you need to lead with data. The tools exist. Most companies already have building automation systems, smart sensors, or a CMMS platform. But collecting data is not the same as using it.

Here is where strategic FM leaders focus:

• Reviewing energy patterns to plan retrofits.
• Analyzing failure rates to adjust maintenance schedules.
• Using space utilization data to shape workplace policy.
• Setting KPIs that align with business goals.

This shift requires you to change how you think about time. Strategy is about shaping outcomes over years, not weeks. It is about planning lifecycle replacements instead of responding to breakdowns.

You become strategic when your work aligns with company objectives. That only happens when your decisions are based on data, not instinct.

Cross-Functional Leaders Get More Done

You cannot create value in a silo.

Strong FM leaders work closely with other departments. They join project planning meetings, align with HR on workplace strategy, and stay in sync with IT on smart building initiatives. They understand how facilities touch every function in the organization.

To lead cross-functionally, you need to:

• Understand the goals and challenges of each department.
• Translate facility priorities into business benefits.
• Collaborate on shared outcomes instead of isolated tasks.

Examples include:

• Partnering with HR to create return-to-office plans that reflect employee feedback and usage data.
• Working with IT to implement IoT devices that improve maintenance response times.
• Coordinating with legal and compliance teams to stay ahead of safety or regulatory changes.

According to Vince Kiel, Founder and CEO of Omni Recruiter, “The best facility teams are no longer trying to fill roles. Instead, they’re building pipelines. Employers who wait for perfect resumes will keep falling behind.”

These relationships matter. They help your team get buy-in faster and position you as a partner, not a gatekeeper. The more collaborative you are, the more leverage you have to shape decisions.

What You Can Learn From the COO Playbook

COOs focus on performance at scale. Their job is to optimize operations, reduce friction, and make sure every system contributes to company growth.

You can borrow from that mindset.

COOs rarely manage tasks directly. Instead, they build the structures that keep everything running smoothly. They monitor trends. They make decisions based on long-term impact. And they create feedback loops that drive continuous improvement.

If you want to grow into a similar role, here is where to focus:

• Build systems and processes that scale across locations or teams.
• Align every project with company goals and KPIs.
• Use regular reviews to assess performance and adjust your strategy.
• Create documentation that allows your team to grow without bottlenecks.

It is not about doing more. It is about building smarter systems. FM leaders who act like operators earn more authority and become key players in company growth.

Moving From Execution to Influence

Facility management is becoming more integrated with business strategy.

Those who stay focused on day-to-day execution will always play defense. Those who learn to lead like COOs will shape the future of their companies. That shift requires new skills, but it also unlocks new opportunities.

You need to consider the entire business. You need to tie your work to profit, performance, and people. And you need to build relationships across the organization that allow you to lead with influence.

Facilities are no longer a back-office function. They are a lever for efficiency, innovation, and long-term success. If you want to move up, you have to step out of the maintenance mindset and start leading like an executive.