long time, and we've put our research and background to work for you. Our experience working closely with many different kinds of companies in a diverse variety of industries has allowed us to observe, study, and collaborate with all types of leaders as they apply strategy principles, build forward-thinking cultures, and execute long-term priorities in their businesses. As a result, we are able to share a framework for understanding the fundamental human qualities and characteristics of leaders who stand apart from the pack because they aren't just leaders – they're strategic leaders.
How to Use This Book
As you explore the ideas and concepts presented in these pages, we challenge you to reflect on your inner leadership core and capacity. See if there are opportunities to nurture the inherent qualities of strategic leadership and further your development in these areas – and then watch as your future unfolds. Taking ownership of the future is exciting work, especially when you start to see real results. We think you will be pleased with the outcomes of your efforts. Our hope is that as you read and study the concepts, you will find a few ideas that you can take away and apply immediately. We truly want you to be able to take advantage of the full spectrum of your potential and growth as a leader.
Choosing to read this book is a great first step down the path of developing greater strategic-leadership talent and capability. Strategic leadership doesn't need to be complicated. Don't think of it as one more thing to do. Instead, think of leading your teams as adding an additional layer of depth to your leadership style. Look for some insights about the qualities that you can develop and simply incorporate them into your current activities, knowledge, and abilities. Just imagine the impact you could have on your career, your organization, and the people around you if you were even the tiniest bit more strategic. If you are tired of being controlled by circumstances and would rather make a difference and actively shape the future, you've come to the right place – just start. The future begins now.
Chapter 1
Introduction
You can't have strategy without leadership. They are inseparable. Sure, you can create a sound strategic plan, but to do something meaningful with it requires bold leadership. Having a great vision and setting a clear direction for the team lies at the very heart of leadership, and organizations that are filled with leaders who think and act strategically will be more successful than businesses with precious few leaders of this type – there's just no question about it.
So much value is lost for customers, owners, and employees when leaders fail to prepare for the future and take a role in actively shaping it. In our training, coaching, and consulting practice, we see a lot of leaders who are pretty good. But many of these leaders are so consumed by meeting the day-to-day demands of their businesses that they miss opportunities and overlook threats that are on the horizon. When we work inside organizations and coach leaders to become more proactive, we often run into managers who have good intentions but are consistently pulled back into a reactionary, problem-solving mode. No matter what they do, they can't seem to escape this vicious cycle and get ahead of the curve. We like how Warren Bennis describes it in Why Leaders Can't Lead: “Routine work drives out non-routine work and smothers to death all creative planning” (1989, p. 15). In The Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner build on this idea by saying that the critical issue for leaders isn't whether they should have routines, but which routines they should have. The interesting thing is that some of the fires and problems consuming these leaders likely would have been averted completely – or at least managed more effectively – if they had used a little bit of foresight. Think about it. How many times have you heard leaders, even great ones, say, “If I had just thought ahead,” or “Wow, that really caught me off guard,” or “I just didn't see that opportunity coming,” or “If only I had anticipated that, I could have been more proactive.”
So, What Is It?
At this point, you may be wondering what, exactly, strategic leadership is. In our view, strategic leadership is a solution to the common leadership problems we just described. It's encompassed by two main things:
1. Fulfilling your regular leadership responsibilities in a proactive, forward-thinking way.
2. Incorporating a specific collection of qualities and characteristics into your leadership style as you lead your team and execute strategic objectives and plans.
There are only a few differences between normal, day-to-day leadership and strategic leadership, but they are big, and they are distinctive. The differences we've discovered all center around the way leadership principles are applied. Not only are strategic leaders concerned about fulfilling today's expectations, they also care deeply about defining and focusing on a future agenda that hones in on the few things that really matter. Defining a long-term vision for your team helps you allocate scarce resources wisely and channel the collective effort of the team. This prepares you to seize opportunities, head off threats, and achieve better results down the road. Remember, thinking, planning, and acting strategically shouldn't ever be considered solely a responsibility of senior leadership. All leaders, at all levels, are responsible for envisioning what they want in the future. They help their team members see the long-term vision clearly and create a plan for what we call their Business-within-the-Business. They do this by finding ways to create and leverage new sources of competitive advantage and unique, value-added offerings for their customers.
Why Does It Matter?
Why should you be a strategic leader? The reasons are pretty simple, actually. We have worked with numerous organizations around the world that need to elevate the performance of their leaders in order to maintain competitive advantage. Most use a leadership-competency model to clarify key leadership expectations. Over the years, we have noticed a shift in the requirements organizations have for their leaders in terms of their competencies. The evolution of these expectations and requirements is driven by many things, including technology, markets, competitors, social and economic variables, and the extraordinary quantity of changes facing organizations. This doesn't mean that what you've learned about leadership in the past no longer applies. What it does mean is that there are some fresh, new ideas that need to be considered and incorporated into your current understanding of effective leadership. This allows you to use and build on what you already know about leadership, but also broadens the notion of what makes a leader great in leading-edge organizations. In order to stay competitive, organizations need to be adaptive, creative, and move at an accelerated pace. What this means is that leadership as a practice must change, too.
One of the most-significant changes we have seen is that organizations now expect their leaders to be much more forward-thinking and proactive than they ever have before. We've also observed that there are a handful of important characteristics that differentiate strategic leaders from leaders of other types. In fact, nearly all of our clients have a leadership-competency model with a dimension that addresses the ability to think and act strategically. Just take a look at some of the examples below. These revealing leadership expectations, which were taken from real organizations, leave no room for confusion about the necessity of strategic leadership today.
Thinks and acts strategically
● Sees the big picture
● Ensures alignment with overall strategies
● Understands long-term priorities
● Recognizes emerging patterns and trends
● Creates a compelling vision
● Courageously drives change
● Thinks creatively
● Is insightful and sees things from a new angle
● Is willing to experiment
● Anticipates customer needs
Leading growth: Makes strategic decisions
● Makes decisions to drive long-term success
● Considers the future in making decisions
● Translates strategy into practical steps for execution
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