“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” —Peter Drucker
When strategy becomes the bedrock of leadership, it is known as strategic leadership. A question may arise: Does every leader work with a strategy? That is right! However, strategic leaders are not concerned much with the short-term perspective. They don't have a short-term mindset. In contrast, they set their goals firmly fixed on the bull's eye with a long-term perspective.
Strategic leadership is all about the ability to position and prepare strategically for achieving organizational goals and objectives. It involves planning, long-term perception, and decision-making. It connects planning with execution. It blends both strategy and leadership. It provides a mental picture of where and how to reach the specific goals. It stresses more on the role of the leaders rather than strategies, unlike strategic management, where it is the other way around. Succinctly, strategic leadership is the process of setting direction, providing inspiration, respecting short-term failures, and having a long-term perspective in reaching goals and objectives.
The word strategy derives its roots from the military, where soldiers need to think and plan with a long-term perspective to minimize potential threats from the enemy and maximize opportunities to win. The process involves staying ahead of others and times and remaining productive and competitive.
The 21st century has thrown several challenges to business leaders. It calls for strategic leaders who can take the organization to greater heights. Several companies, such as Starbucks Corporation, believed in and practiced strategic leadership. Revolutionary firms like Dell Computer Corporation and Netflix practice strategic leadership and create rules for others to follow.
According to Andrew J. Dubrin, strategic leadership has five important components: the high-level cognitive activity by the leader, gathering multiple inputs to formulate a strategy, anticipating and creating a future, revolutionary thinking, and creating a vision.
Strategic leadership contains several ingredients, such as individual characteristics, thinking patterns, and effective management. In addition, it often involves SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis, which is the bedrock of strategic leadership. Corporate analysts and strategists execute SWOT and then adopt strategies to ensure success.
Strategic leaders are blessed with the art of thinking several steps ahead with the various permutations of the scenario. The chess players are also gifted with strategic thinking.
Strategy is different from approach. The strategy involves a long-term perspective, while the approach involves the means and methodology of executing the activities. Strategy challenges the status quo, while the approach involves either a conventional or an unconventional approach for accomplishing the task. Above all, strategy calls for conceptual clarity and execution.
Attributes of Effective Strategic Leaders
Strategic leaders don’t blame their tools. They work under several constraints and still deliver goods effectively.
They empower others and give them credit for their hard work. They support talent and adopt a people-palooza strategy.
They are change drivers and agents with global thinking. They know how to pick up the pieces and integrate them effectively through conceptual skills. They see the invisible.
These leaders respect failures and encourage their followers to pursue their goals relentlessly.
They think several steps ahead of other aspects with pros and cons.
They possess high conceptual skills, see the big picture, and fit the different pieces of strategy together as one. They give shape to shapeless pieces.
Strategic Leadership and Robert Katz
“A successful man can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." —David Brinkley
Robert Katz states that human skills, technical skills, and conceptual skills are essential at each level of management with varying degrees. In the lower level of management, there is more need for technical skills, less need for conceptual skills, and a fixed amount of need for human skills. Middle-level management calls for an equal proportion of technical, human, and conceptual skills, while human skills remain fixed at the same level. At the top level of management, which is also known as strategic management, the leaders must possess the most conceptual skills and the least technical skills, with human skills remaining constant.
In all these three levels of management, the ratio of human skills remains constant, and there is variation in human and conceptual skills. Therefore, the leaders at the strategic level of management have a crucial role to play in planning after weighing all permutations, positioning, and executing the activities with a long-term view.
Conclusion
“The ultimate challenge of leaders who are senior managers is to develop the next generation of leaders more capable than themselves.” —Dave Ulrich
No business can be successful without strategic leaders and leadership. There is no magic wand to achieve organizational excellence and effectiveness through mediocre leaders. Besides, you cannot bank on the luck factor in business, as luck is different from strategy. What works for the success of any business enterprise is the planning, positioning, and organizing of activities strategically by weighing the pros and cons of decision-making and ultimately executing effectively and efficiently.
Keeping the current global complexities in view, strategic leadership plays a crucial role in keeping the firms ahead of others and standing out from the pack. It not only beats recession but also takes the firms to greater heights.
Reference
https://www.amazon.in/Strategy-Leadership-Lessons-Historical-Leaders/dp/B0DDPM4LND
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