2. -2-
Contents
1. Program Goal & Outcome Objective
2. Leaders
3. Strategic Leadership
4. Board functions
5. Characteristics/Features/Qualities of effective strategic leaders
6. Integrating the level of leadership
7. Minimum requirement parameters of effective leadership strategy
implementation in business strategy.
8. Creation of Leadership strategy
9. Key drivers and leadership strategy implications
10. Creating the Leadership Development strategy
11. On boarding process of strategy creation
12. Difference between strategic and non strategic leadership
13. Strategic management
14. Link between Strategic management and leadership
15. Impact of leadershipstyles and management on strategic decisions
16. Impact of different theories of management and leadership an
organizational strategy
17. Example: Strategic challenges for leadership (HR strategy)
18. Conclusion
19. References
3. -3-
Programme Goal&Outcome objective
A successful leader effectively combines long-term strategic vision with a value-based
leadership approach. This study aims to lead strategically in today’s rapidly changing
environment while focusing on available opportunities in a manner that is aligned with our
organization’s value system. Such a value-based strategic leadership approach will lay the
foundation of long-term sustained growth.
Today, effective leadership is commonly viewed as central to organizational success, and
more importance is placed on leadership development than ever before. Developing
“more and better” individual leaders is no longer the sole focus of leadership
development, although it remains a critical aspect. Increasingly, leadership is defined not
as what the leader does but rather as a process that engenders and is the result of
relationships—It focus on the interactions of both leaders and collaborators instead of
focusing on only the competencies of the leaders. Leadership development practices
based on this paradigm are more difficult to design and implement than those that have
been popular for the last several decades in which the objective was to train leaders to be
good managers. a) Leadership development increasingly occurring within the context of
work; b) Critical reflection about the role of competencies in leadership development;
Revisiting the issue of work and life balance.
In future Several trends will have a major role in our future understanding and practice of
leadership and leadership development. They represent, in different ways, the critical role
changing contexts will play in leadership development.:- a) Leadership competencies will
still matter, b) Globalization/internationalization of leadership concepts, constructs and
development methods. c) The role of technology d) Increasing interest in the integrity and
character of leaders, e) Pressure to demonstrate return on investment and new ways of
thinking about the nature of leadership and leadership development.
4. -4-
Leaders
Good leaders are made not born. If a person has the desire and willpower, he can become
an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study,
education, training, and experience. To inspire workers into higher levels of teamwork,
there are certain things a leader must be, know, and, do. These do not come naturally, but
are acquired through continual work and study. Good leaders are continually working and
studying to improve their leadership skills; they are not resting on their laurels.
Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective
and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leaders
carry out this process by applying their leadership attributes, such as beliefs, values, ethics,
character, knowledge, and skills .
In the field of organizational learning, leadership entered the discussion as a proxy for the
organization. Initial concepts of leadership in organizational learning were based on the
notion of the dominant coalition. Organizational learning theorists had suggested that the
senior management team, or dominant coalition, was in fact the organization level of
organizational learning.
Leadership of the organization level refers to the more typical domain of strategic
management. The leadership of the feed-forward flow represents the degree that the
leader ensures that the non human elements of the organization, such as procedures,
routines and systems, support learning at the individual and group levels.
There are 14 behaviors of effective leaders , supporting, consulting, delegating,
recognizing. conflicts and team building, developing, clarifying, planning and
organizing problem solving, informing, monitoring, representing, and networking.
5. -5-
In conclusion leadership has a high correlation with all elements of the organizational
learning system and it is a means to leverage knowledge through organizational learning.
Organizations depend upon capable leadership to guide them through unprecedented
changes. Yet, there is ample evidence in the news and in recent research reports that even
some of the best and most venerable organizations are failing to adapt to change
implement their strategic plans successfully or prepare for a more uncertain future. We
believe the turmoil we are currently observing has something to do with leadership, and
that if we don’t change our current approach to leadership development, we will see even
more of the same.
Strategic Leadership
6. -6-
Strategic leadership refers to a manager’s potential to express a strategic vision for the
organization, or a part of the organization, and to motivate and persuade others to
acquire that vision. Strategic leadership can also be defined as utilizing strategy in the
management of employees, It is the potential to influence organizational members and
to execute organizational change. Strategic leaders create organizational structure,
allocate resources and express strategic vision. Strategic leaders work in an ambiguous
environment on very difficult issues that influence and are influenced by occasions and
organizations external to their own.
The main objective of strategic leadership is strategic productivity. Another aim of
strategic leadership is to develop an environment in which employees forecast the
organization’s needs in context of their own job. Strategic leaders encourage the
employees in an organization to follow their own ideas. Strategic leaders make greater
use of reward and incentive system for encouraging productive and quality employees to
show much better performance for their organization. Functional strategic leadership is
about inventiveness, perception, and planning to assist an individual in realizing his
objectives and goals.
In order to understand what a leadership strategy is, we first have to be clear about what
we mean by leadership, leadership begins with individuals in leadership positions, but it
doesn’t end there. The ability of an organization to accomplish its goals does not depend
solely on the force of will of a single great leader, or even upon the effectiveness of the
organization’s chain of command. These things are important, but don’t in and of
themselves help us understand why some organizations succeed where others fail.
Instead, research has shown, we must understand leadership culture, as defined by the
collective actions of formal and informal leaders acting together to influence organizational
success. I t is not simply the number or quality of individual leaders that determines
organizational success, but the ability of formal and informal leaders to pull together in the
support of organizational goals that ultimately makes the difference. Thus, when we speak
about leadership here, it is both the leaders themselves and the relationships among them
to which we refer. At various times, the idea that leadership is greater than the individual
leader has been referred to as interdependent, boundary less, collective or connected
leadership.
Strategic leadership requires the potential to foresee and comprehend the work
environment. It requires objectivity and potential to look at the broader picture.
7. -7-
Three Board functions
Seven Rolefunctions
1. Purpose / Vision: to provide direction for the organization as a whole
2. Strategic Thinking and Planning: to get strategy and policy right
3. Operational / Administration: making it happen (overall executive responsibility)
4. Organization Fitness to Situational Requirement: organizing or reorganizing
(balance of whole and parts)
5. Energy, Morale, Confidence, E spirit de corps releasing the corporate spirit
6. Allies and Partners, Stakeholders, Political: relating the organization to other
organizations and society as a whole
7. Teaching and Leading the Learning by Example: choosing today's leaders and
developing tomorrow's leaders
Achieving the common TASK
Motivating and
developing the
INDIVIDUAL
Building and
maintaining the TEAM
8. -8-
A few main traits / characteristics / features / qualities of
effective strategic leaders that do lead to superior performance
are as follows:-
a Loyalty- Powerful and effective leaders demonstrate their loyalty to their vision by their words
and actions.
b Keeping them updated- Efficient and effective leaders keep themselves updated about what
is happening within their organization. They have various formal and informal sources of
information in the organization.
c Judicious use of power- Strategic leaders makes a very wise use of their power. They must
play the power game skillfully and try to develop consent for their ideas rather than forcing their
ideas upon others. They must push their ideas gradually.
d Have wider perspective/outlook- Strategic leaders just don’t have skills in their narrow
specialty but they have a little knowledge about a lot of things.
e Motivation- Strategic leaders must have a zeal for work that goes beyond money and power
and also they should have an inclination to achieve goals with energy and determination.
f Compassion- Strategic leaders must understand the views and feelings of their subordinates,
and make decisions after considering them.
g Self-control- Strategic leaders must have the potential to control distracting/disturbing moods
and desires, i.e., they must think before acting.
h Social skills- Strategic leaders must be friendly and social.
9. -9-
i Self-awareness- Strategic leaders must have the potential to understand their own moods and
emotions, as well as their impact on others.
j Readiness to delegate and authorize- Effective leaders are proficient at delegation.
They are well aware of the fact that delegation will avoid overloading of responsibilities
on the leaders. They also recognize the fact that authorizing the subordinates to make
decisions will motivate them a lot.
k Articulacy, Constancy/ Reliability-Strong leaders are articulate enough to
communicate the vision(vision of where the organization should head) to the
organizational members in terms that boost those members. Strategic leaders constantly
convey their vision until it becomes a component of organizational culture.
(leadership includes both formal and informal leaders. Observations of actual
organizations in action are rarely as neat and tidy as their organization charts would
suggest.
Communication, influence and collaboration are occurring up, down and across the
organization, almost as if the organization chart didn’t exist, as revealed by the work
of various people on mapping informal networks within organizations)
To ignore this reality in any discussion of leadership is to miss the point of what is really
going on and what must be understood and managed if strategies are to be implemented
successfully.
Every leader is aware of the value of a well defined business strategy. Few, however, give
thought to the leadership that will be required to implement strategies that call for changes
in the direction or capabilities of the organization. Without proper leadership, even the best
and boldest strategies die on the vine, their potential never realized. This paper defines
what a leadership strategy is and how to go about creating one for your organization that
will forever change the way you develop leaders and create new leadership capabilities.
10. -10-
INTEGRATING THE LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP
FUNCTION STRATEGIC
LEADERSHIP
ORGANIZA-
TIONAL
LEADERSHIP
DIRECT
LEADERSHIP
VISION CREATE THE
VISION
CREATE THE
PLANS
EXECUTE
THE PLANS
TEAMWORK INTEGRATE
STRUCTURE/
PURPOSE
DESIGN
INTER-
DEPENDENCIES
FORGE
TEAMWORK
VALUES ARTICULATE
CULTURAL
IMPERATIVES
AND VALUES
SET
COMMAND
CLIMATE
MODEL AND
REINFORCE
VALUES
INFORMATION ESTABLISH
CONCEPT
BASE FOR
INFORMATION
SYSTEMS
ENGINEER
INFORMATION
SYSTEMS
GENERATE/
APPLY
INFORMATION
Thus, when we describe the leadership of an
organization, at a minimum we should consider:-
The quantity of leaders needed, as indicated by current and projected formal
leadership positions depicted on an organization chart (number, level, location,
function, business unit, reporting relationships, etc.
11. -11-
The qualities desired in selection (demo-graphics, diversity, background,
experience level)
The skills and behavior that are needed to implement the business strategy and
create the desired culture (skills, competencies, knowledge base)
The collective leadership capabilities of leaders acting together in groups and across
boundaries to implement strategies, solve problems, respond to threats, adapt to
change, support innovation, etc.
The desired leadership culture, including the leadership practices in use, such as
collaboration across boundaries, engagement of employees, accepting
responsibility for outcomes, creating opportunities for others to lead, developing
other leaders, learning how to learn, etc.
In much of the work on talent and leadership bench strength, the focus has been on
only the first two of these ways of describing an organization’s leadership. By leaving
out connected leadership and leadership culture, we have overlooked what makes
leadership come alive in organizations and the factors that often determine whether
strategies and plans will actually be achieved.
A good leadership strategy takes all of these factors into account. Simply having all
of the leadership positions on the organization chart filled will not produce the
leader-ship that is required to implement strategies, adapt to change, support
innovation or other important organizational agendas. It is not just having the right
number of bodies, it is what those bodies do and how they relate to one another that
matters.
12. -12-
A leadership strategy makes explicit how many leaders we need,
of what kind, where, with what skills, and behaving in what
fashion individually and collectively to achieve the total success
we seek.
Very few organizations have an explicit leadership strategy. Is it any wonder that
without one, CEOs find that they don’t have the leadership talent they require.
Like business strategies, leadership strategies are based on a thorough analysis of the
current situation and an informed view of the future. The strategy then provides a
series of recommendations to close the gap between the current situation and desired
future. Once the leadership strategy is known, a leadership development strategy can
be formulated to produce the desired future state, and implications for talent
management processes can be identified. When the strategy is implemented, business
results will provide feedback on how well the leadership strategy is working and help
shape what new business strategies can be considered with the leadership talent that
has been developed.
13. -13-
The leadership strategy should be driven by the
business strategy and specify:
A. Quantity: How many leaders will be needed over the next 5–10 years, taking
into account growth needs and projected turnover
1. When
2. Where
3. At what level
B.Qualities: The characteristics individual leaders and leaders overall
should possess when selected or retained, such as:
Demographics
a. Age
b. Gender
c. Race
d. Culture of origin
e. Education
f. Experience
Internal
Promotions
versusexternal
hires
Diversity,
targeted diversity
A, Level
B, Location
14. -14-
C.Skills/Behaviors: The specific skills, behaviors, knowledge,
competencies or abilities leaders need by function, level, location
or unit to implement the business strategy.
Generic behavioral competencies that apply to all leaders in the organization
Specific behavioral compete ncies by level or function
Generic skills and knowledge required by all leaders in the organization
Skills or knowledge required by level or function
Skills, knowledge or capabilities by location
Language capabilities
D. Collective Capabilities: The capabilities that are required of
leaders when acting together, such as:
Providing direction, demonstrating alignment and generating commitment as a collective
leadership team .
Solving problems or making improvements efficiently and effectively that require
collaboration across internal or external boundaries .
Engaging employees in decision making and to gain their active support in
implementing planned cross-functional actions
Jointly formulating strategies and executing them in a coordinated fashion
Implementing successful innovation requiring cross-functional collaboration
Adapting to change in a cohesive and coherent manner .
Working together to grow the business in new markets.
Ensuring compliance/transparency requiring a consistent set of values, beliefs and
actions across the enterprise .
Being responsive to customers in ways that demand cross-unit coordination .
Developing talent on behalf of the enterprise, rather than for individual units.
15. -15-
E.Leadership Culture: The key attributes of the culture created
by leaders through the way in which they lead.
1. Degree of dependence, independence or interdependence among leaders
2. Key values that are reinforced through the collective behavior and actions of leaders
3. The leadership style exhibited by the majority of leaders (control-oriented, laissez
faire, participative)
4. The leadership practices that are both important and shared across the enterprise
(engaging employees, accepting responsibility, embracing opportunities to make
improvements, being customer focused and so forth) leadership strategy is
formulated, a leadership development strategy can be drafted. It clarifies how the
leadership strategy will be accomplished, explores the implications for talent
management systems and processes, and outlines an approach to leadership
development.
Creating the Leadership Strategy
The first step in formulating the leadership strategy is to review the business strategy for
implications for new leadership requirements. This analysis usually requires a team of
experts composed of some people who know the business intimately and others who
are familiar with processes for acquiring, retaining and developing leadership talent.
Beginning with the business strategy, the first step is to identify the drivers of the
strategy. Drivers are the key choices that leaders make about how to position the
organization to take advantage of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
in the marketplace. They are the things that make a strategy unique to one organization
as compared to another and dictate where tradeoffs will be made between alternative
investments of resources, time and energy. Drivers are few in number and help us
understand what it is absolutely essential for leaders and the collective leadership of the
organization to accomplish.
16. -16-
The reason why identifying key drivers is important in constructing the leadership
strategy is because difficult choices will ultimately need to be made about where to
invest money in leaders and their development. Particularly as budgets for leadership
headcount and development tighten, it is more critical than ever to demonstrate a clear
line of sight between investments in leadership and desired organizational outcomes,
such as growth, profitability, talent retention and other metrics that are of key
importance to top-level decision makers who control leadership development spending.
17. -17-
Key drivers of the business are:
Present-and future-oriented.As customersand competitorschange,are
the key strategic driversstill relevant?
(Note that key drivers are not in themselves detailed strategies; instead, they are the
key decisions leaders are making about what the organization must do. For example, in
some markets, like the restaurant industry, making certain that customers are satisfied
may be chosen as a key driver of success. In other industries, like utilities, customer
satisfaction may not be a key driver. A key driver in the utility industry might be finding
long-term sources of competitively priced raw materials to turn into electric power.
Customer satisfaction and low-priced raw materials are not complete business
strategies; instead, they drive the formulation of detailed business strategies. The
restaurant owner must develop strategies for producing high levels of customer
satisfaction, and the utility company must develop strategies for securing low-cost raw
materials.)
Key drivers can be identified by asking a few
fundamental questions:
• Is this an organizational capability that is absolutely vital? Could something else
be more essential in causing the vision/mission to happen?
• Defined relatively, what is most important to competitive success and mission
completion?
• Is this something that the organization is positioned to do better than its
competitors?
• Will doing this well translate directly into continued or future success?
• Would not doing this well cause the organization to fail?
18. -18-
Key Driver Leadership Strategy Implications
Becoming More
Global
• Requirement for greater cultural sensitivity among leaders
• Enhanced representation of different geographies at top
levels
• Enhanced language skills in key leadership roles to
enable
cross-cultural relationship building
• Greater understanding of local laws and business
arrangements
in strategy making
Becoming More
Innovative
• Greater interdependence among leaders to create more
effective collaboration across functions in bringing new
products to market,
• Need cultural change to create a spirit of innovation versus
a culture of risk aversion at top levels of the organization
Investing in High -
Growth
Opportunities
• Rapid growth requires attention to talent development;
must accelerate the acquisition and development of talent
for key roles to avoid talent becoming the constraint to
continued growth. must accelerate the acquisition and
development of talent for key roles to avoid talent becoming
the constraint to continued growth.
• Must grow number of leaders at every level by 10% per
year over next three years
Improving Operating
Efficiency
• Must create a culture of continuous improvement that is
led authentically by those in leadership positions
19. -19-
In reality, the leadership strategy implications would be much more specific, reflecting
the actual opportunities and issues surrounding the key drivers. The key drivers and
their associated business strategies should have clear implications for what leaders
must do well in order for the organization to succeed. Ultimately, leadership
development activities should be designed to ensure that individual leaders and the
collective leadership of the organization are prepared to implement the most
important strategies related to the key drivers. After the high level implications for
the leadership strategy have been identified the next step in developing the
leadership strategy is to access the current leadership situation and compare it to the
desired future. This is the step that requires the most “heavy lifting” in terms of
assessment and data collection, covering a wide range of variables that will affect
decisions regarding both the leadership strategy and the leadership development
strategy to follow.
20. -20-
A sampling of the methods that may be used to
Collect the current-state information needed in
Each category is listed in the table
Dimension Methodologies ofData collection
QQuantity
Workforce planning
HRIS data
Scenario building
Qualities
Assessment centers
Leadership style assessment/personality profiles
Talent management forms/review sessions
HRIS data
Skill/Behaviors Career profiles, Ability testing
HRIS data
Surveys/interviews
Competency identification and assessment
Collective Capabilities
Focus groups
Observation, Interviews
Document analysis
Leadership Culture
Culture assessment surveys
Employee surveys, Observation
Focus groups Interviews
Document analysis
21. -21-
Leadership Dimension Analysis Implicationsof Gap
for leadership
Strategy
Skills /Behaviors Required
by leaders in Asia and other
countries
Current: Mostly ex-pats
Few with languages or
cultural backgrounds required
to create business
relationships.
Future: Local knowledge and
relationships, Language skills
Knowledge of local
regulations Intimate
knowledge of local
customers
Change mix of leaders in
region through hiring and
accelerated internal
development; make certain
their voice is heard at HQ
as well.
Collective Capabilities
Required by Strategy
Current • Meet planning
deadlines Uphold company
policies Maintain product
quality
Future: Successful
innovations to market quickly
Better/faster coordinated
response to global
customers .Talent
development across
functions
Behaviors are new and will
require attention to issues
that arise as people learn to
work together differently.
Current: Mix of Dependent
and independent cultures.
Difficulty in coordinating
product introductions or
policy implementation across
functions and regions
Future: Much more
Interdependent culture
across functions and regions
to enable more effective
global operations, support
more rapid innovation and
support customer
responsiveness
Senior leaders must engage
others in changing
leadership culture through
work on strategic initiatives
22. -22-
Creating the Leadership Development Strategy
The Leadership Development Strategy must be formulated to support the leadership
strategy. The leadership development strategy should specify the actions that must
be taken to retain, develop or acquire the leaders and the leadership skills required
by the business strategy and will cover the topics listed below.
On-boardingProcesses
New leaders must be socialized into the company and leadership culture and must be
made aware of the expectations and developmental requirements that come with each
promotion.
23. -23-
Individualand OrganizationalAssessments
Assessments are used to help individuals gain self-awareness, but also to provide
information that allows the organization to identify talent that is a good fit with available
positions. On the organizational level, assessments determine how the organization
and its leaders are performing, or the impact of development activities on business
results.
IndividualDevelopmentPlans
These are plans that leaders make for their development over a period of time. The
best plans are comprehensive, covering work as well as program activities, and are
discussed by the individual leader with their HR representative and manager.
Required/Core Learning Experiences
Certain learning experiences are required to hold a position or accept a leadership role
at a particular level in the organization.
Elective Learning Opportunities
These are internal or external courses or experiences that are made available to
leaders on a voluntary basis. Tuition reimbursement for courses is often provided by
organizations to encourage leaders to take advantage of elective learning opportunities.
Work Assignments
Work assignments are often overlooked as an opportunity to help leaders develop
specific competencies or practice key behaviors. To enhance the focus on learning
from work assignments, it’s important to have specific goals, opportunities to receive
feedback on progress and a coach or mentor with whom to discuss learning strategies.
24. -24-
SpecialAssignments/Initiatives
There are multiple advantages to tying learning to project assignments. If the project
assignments involve important work, learning from the project takes on relevance that
may not exist as strongly in other learning environments. Team members can provide
helpful feedback, and the relationships that are developed in projects with team
members can facilitate future collaborative work. Managers who oversee projects get
an expanded view of people who work on them as they tackle novelty and teamwork
and perform under pressure. Support for learning during projects can also improve the
quality of the work that is performed, which may be critical on key initiatives. When
executives take an active role in projects related to strategic initiatives, there is an
even more powerful opportunity to support learning and development from the top to
the bottom of the organization. We call these efforts “action development” because
they hold the potential to develop leaders and the organization’s capabilities at the
same time. Facilitated correctly, action development projects hold the key to
1) creating leadership cultures that enable organizational adaptability and 2) the
leadership readiness needed to address ongoing issues and unforeseen challenges.
Coaching/Mentoring/Feedback
While the value of coaching and mentoring is widely appreciated, it is seldom realized
in practice because those doing the coaching or mentoring are not adequately skilled or
dedicated. Superficial coaching or mentoring is frustrating and may even damage
relationships that are critical to career success. While coaching and mentoring are
powerful tools, it’s important to invest fully in them before they are employed.
Team-based,Cross-functionalLearning and Relationship Building
Many organizations cite the inability of their executives to work together on teams and
across boundaries as a major obstacle to success. It stands to reason that the way to
learn these things is by doing them, but not without the supports that make learning
powerful: learning objectives, content inputs, assessment, observation and feedback..
25. -25-
Leadership Meetings and Events
Leadership meetings and events are sometimes overlooked as opportunities for people
to learn, as well as to receive information. Given the high costs of assembling people
these days, every effort should be made to leverage these meetings and events for
multiple purposes, including learning.
ExecutiveEngagementin TalentDevelopment
Many of the benefits desired from executive development will not occur unless senior
executives buy into the process, support the investments being made and model the
behaviors that are desired. The creation of a different leadership culture starts with
those at the top stepping up and stepping forward to demonstrate their personal
engagement and support for change.
EmployeeEngagementActivities
Once leaders are on board, it’s possible to engage employees in a meaningful way.
Many employees are informal leaders, whose help is indispensable in achieving
organizational objectives. Engaging them also helps leaders continue to develop, as
they receive feedback on what does or doesn’t work as they attempt to create direction,
alignment and commitment.
Leadership by Level,Function and Location
The leadership development strategy should take into account differences in
requirements by level, function and location. The notion of a leadership pipeline with
identifiable turning points that call for higher and higher levels of leadership ability is
widely accepted. The pipeline notion needs to be complemented with attention to the
specific needs of learners in various functions and locations. Lawyers, accountants and
marketing professionals need special attention, just as leaders in China need different
inputs than those in India .
26. -26-
DevelopmentOver Time
Rather than the one-year outlook driven by budget cycles that is typical in most
leadership development curricula, we suggest that the leadership development strategy
should look out three to five years, from the perspectives of both the organization and
individual executive. By matching the organizational changes that accompany strategy
execution with what will happen to an executive during the same period of time,
development strategies take on a more holistic perspective that includes work
activities, action development projects, conferences, leadership meetings and events,
community service, work assignments, board memberships, mentoring relationships
and other learning opportunities in addition to programs. With this more holistic
perspective, time, energy and resources for development can begin to shift to where
the greatest potential for relevant learning and critical application lie namely to
supporting learning through work, through the implementation of strategies and
through efforts to adapt to unplanned change.
In what ways does strategic leadership differ from ''non-strategic''
leadership? In what ways do these distinctions differ?
“Strategic leadership is about leading a team for the sole purpose of accomplishing a
pre-defined goal in a systematic manner within a specific time frame through careful
planning, identifying individual skill sets critical to the general tasks at hand, executing a
series of actions, and making timely and critical adjustments along the way towards the
success full realization of the stated goal. Non-strategic leadership on the other hand is
a type of leadership that is based on the personality or physical attributes of the leader
in a highly process-oriented environment.”
“Since change is the function of leadership, being able to generate highly energized
behavior is important for coping with the inevitable barriers to change. Just as direction
setting identifies an appropriate path for movement and just as effective alignment gets
people moving down the path, successful motivation ensures that they will have the
energy to overcome obstacle.”
27. -27-
The basic difference between managers and leaders is that managers don’t accept any
change rather they believe in stability but leaders are supposed to bring changes. A
leader has strategy and vision while a manager has plans and he executes his
plans.(Kotter, 1990).
The study reveals the link between the strategic management and the leadership.
Strategic decisions are crucial for the growth and development of any organization and
vary according to different management and different leadership styles. It also evaluates
the utility of different leadership styles in context of different situations. Different theories
of management and leadership are also evaluated in this report with regard to their
impact on strategy of an organization. It is also concluded in the end that in the given
scenario what should have been the approach of the leadership for the strategic
decisions and the recommendations are made accordingly.
Strategic management operates on several time scales. Short term strategies involve
planning and managing for the present. Long term strategies involve preparing for and
preempting the future. Marketing strategist Derek Abell (1993), has suggested that
understanding this dual nature of strategic management is the least understood part of
the process. He claims that balancing aspects of strategic planning requires the use of
dual strategies simultaneously.
Strategic Management is actually a solid foundation or a framework within which all the
functioning managerial operations are bundled together. This is the highest level
corporate .activity that sets the terms and goals for a company that it should follow for
prosperity.
Strategic management techniques can be viewed as bottom-up, top-down, or
collaborative processes. In the bottom-up approach, employees submit proposals to
their managers who, in turn, funnel the best ideas further up the organization. This is
often accomplished by a capital budgeting process. Proposals are assessed using
financial criteria such as return on investment or cost-benefit analysis. The proposals
that are approved form the substance of a new strategy, all of which is done without a
grand strategic design or a strategic architect. The top-down approach is the most
common by far. In it, the CEO, possibly with the assistance of a strategic planning team,
decides on the overall direction the company should take. Some organizations are
starting to experiment with collaborative strategic planning techniques that recognize
the emergent nature of strategic decisions.
28. -28-
Functional strategies include marketing strategies, new product development strategies,
human resource strategies, financial strategies, legal strategies, and information
technology management strategies. The emphasis is on short and medium term plans
and is limited to the domain of each department's functional responsibility. Each
functional department attempts to do its part in meeting overall corporate objectives,
and hence to some extent their strategies are derived from broader corporate
strategies.
Many companies feel that a functional organizational structure is not an efficient way to
organize activities so they have re engineered according to processes or Strategic
business units (SBUs). A strategic business unit is a semi-autonomous unit within an
organization. It is usually responsible for its own budgeting, new product decisions,
hiring decisions, and price setting. An SBU is treated as an internal profit centre by
corporate headquarters. Each SBU is responsible for developing its business strategies,
strategies that must be in tune with broader corporate strategies.
The "lowest" level of strategy is Operational strategy. It is very narrow in focus and
deals with day-to-day operational activities such as scheduling criteria. It must operate
within a budget but is not at liberty to adjust or create that budget. Operational strategy
was encouraged by Peter Drucker in his theory of Management by objectives (MBO).
Operational level strategies are informed by business level strategies which, in turn,
are informed by corporate level strategies. Business strategy, which refers to the
aggregated operational strategies of single business firm or that of an SBU in a
diversified corporation refers to the way in which a firm competes in its chosen areas.
Corporate strategy, then, refers to the overarching strategy of the diversified firm. Such
corporate strategy answers the questions of "in which businesses should we compete?"
and "how does being in one business add to the competitive advantage of another
portfolio firm, as well as the competitive advantage of the corporation as a whole?"
Since the turn of the millennium, there has been a tendency in some firms to revert to a
simpler strategic structure. This is being driven by information technology. It is felt that
knowledge management systems should be used to share information and create
common goals. Strategic divisions are thought to hamper this process. Most recently,
this notion of strategy has been captured under the rubric of dynamic strategy.
29. -29-
Strategic management
It involves the formulation and implementation of the major goals and initiatives taken by
a company's top management on behalf of owners, based on consideration
of resources and an assessment of the internal and external environments in which the
organization competes, provides overall direction to the enterprise and involves
specifying the organization's objectives, developing policies and plans designed to
achieve these objectives, and then allocating resources to implement the plans.
Strategic management is not static in nature; the models often include a feedback loop
to monitor execution and inform the next round of planning.
Link between Strategic Management and Leadership
As John P. Kotter suggested that the change is the function of leadership and strategic
decisions means decisions leading to substantial changes in management processes.
Hence, Strategic Management and Leadership are closely related or in other words,
inseparable. In fact, the terms leadership and strategic management are
interchangeable because a leader performs key function like initiating, planning,
supporting, controlling, evaluating, etc. Their other responsibilities include building,
developing maintaining a team and achieving a common goal by keeping the individual
member of the team motivated. (Griffin , R. W. 1999).
“Strategic management is a process of coordinating technological, financial, material
and human resources of an organization for enabling it and its stakeholders in achieving
stipulated target efficiently and effectively. Strategic management is a wide term in
comparison to leadership as far as scopes are concerned because leadership is mainly
limited to organizing, directing and supporting individuals or the human resource in
order to achieve the stipulated goal whereas strategic management refers to all
resources within an organization.
Strategic leadership plays key role in responding to the challenges which businesses
have to face due to rapid changes in technology, growing competition and globalization.
30. -30-
Impact of leadership styles and management on strategic decisions
There are different types of leadership styles like Autocratic, Bureaucratic,
Charismatic, Democratic, Laissez- faire,
1. Autocratic leadership style: when the leaders use absolute powers in making
decisions. This is more prevalent in military and Adolf Hitler is a good example of it. In
corporate world, United Aviation Services (Dubai) is known for autocratic leadership.
2. Bureaucratic leadership: when the leader follows the strict theories of leadership
defined in books. This style is followed where safety measures are prominent specially
working on machines
.
3. Charismatic leadership: When the followers are highly inspired by the leader and
believe blindly in their leader. Mahatma Gandhi was a Charismatic leader
..
4. Democratic leadership: When team members are included in decision making by the
leader. This helps in building team spirit and motivating all by increasing trust, skill and
confidence
.
5. Laissez-faire leadership: When the leader leaves the team members to take
decisions n their own and monitors them. This is applicable with efficient and capable
teams.
Impact of different theories of management and leadership on organizational
strategy.
There are several theories of management and leadership on organizational strategy
like Great Man theories, Trait theories, Behaviorist theory, Situational leadership,
Contingency theory, Transactional Theory, transformational theory, etc. Different
organizations are influenced by different theories of management and leadership.
Organizational strategy of Philips is based on behaviorist theory and the key factors
of it are determination to achieve results, focus on the market, finding better ways, top
performance, inspiring commitment and developing self and others.
In case of Vodafone the strategy is mainly based on situational leadership and
contingency theory with special features like valuing communication, team
development, strategic vision, building capability and commercial drive.
31. -31-
The scenario of the given case proves that the planning methods are useful in meeting
the challenges of any situation and developing leadership skills. Leadership traits can
be learnt and developed to meet the strategic needs. This paper has the relevance for
handling complex situation of the present competitive business world by utilizing
leadership skills in making strategic decisions to achieve the stipulated goal.
.Example
Strategic Challenges for leadership(HR Strategy)
Organization
Capability
HR Practices
Organization
Development
Culture
Gap Analysis
33. -33-
Strategic Challenges acrossthe HR Policy Strategic
Hr policies have different clusters based on which HR Managers can develop various
strategies like:
Talent identification
Human capital development
Reward management
Employee relations
To do business in a global environment it is important for organizations to
understand cultural differences and develop cross cultural differences
Strategic issues involved in HR roles
Redesigning:
HR Outsourcing and Role delivery
34. -34-
Understanding CulturalDifferences
Greet Hofstede identified five dimensions of culture which influence work related
attitudes of employees. They are:
Individualism Vs Collectivism
Power distance
Uncertainty Avoidance
Masculinity Vs Femininity
Time Orientation
35. -35-
Workforce diversity……
Diversity refers to differences in age, personality, ability and social status. The changing
demographics have resulted in increased attention to diversity. The issues to be
addressed are:-
Gender Diversity
Age Diversity
Cultural Diversity
Succession Planning
CEO
Succession planning is the process of identifying , assessing and developing talent to
ensure that every key position in the organization is held by an efficient leader
Company strategy:- Strategy is a driven activity that consist of the goals and objectives
of each department and fitting into the vision and mission of the Municipality. Identifying
and developing leaders is part of a strategy and is not reserved for a few selected
people.
Performance review & Potential assessment:- Performance reviews done on an
individual basis. Part of the review must include the determination of the potential of
the person and the preparation of such an individual to address the needs of the
department in particular and the Municipality as a whole.
Succession & planning:- To ensure long terms staffing of managerial and other key
positions
To coordinate cross departmental movements
To monitor the ongoing development of managers
To ensure state-of-the-art managerial development processes
To identify possible exits
36. -36-
Succession plans & Exit plans Talent:-
Who is going where?
Performance and retirement exits
Critical, core and scarce skills at all levels identified
Individuals with high performance abilities identified
Individuals with strong academic roots combined with exceptional personal attributes
identified
Innovative, creative individuals identified who can open up new landscapes
Individuals in designated groups identified who have the potential to develop into new
leaders
Benefits of Succession Planning
It assures the continuity of leadership in organizations.
It contributes to the success of the organization.
It guides the development activities of key executives.
It ensures that the senior management does a disciplined review of the
leadership talent available within the organization.
It helps review the selection , appraisal and management development
processes.
Leadership In Family owned and Professionally Owned firms
It is difficult to separate ownership and management in such business.
Mostly have family members on the board.
Issues of trust, control systems and governance surface in such business.
37. -37-
Reasons behind transition of family owned business into
professionally owned business
Globalization
Increased complexity
Need for specialist expertise
Competitive pressures
Strategies for successful Transition of family owned
business into professionally owned business
Freedom to professional managers
Change in the mindset
Ownership
Determination
38. -38-
Women CEO’s
Make better managers as they are known to be intitutive, conscentitious, sensitive ,
sympathetic, caring and innovative.
Sulajja Firodia motwani – Managing Director of Kinetic Finance. And Joint managing
Director of Kinetic Honda ltd.
Glass Ceiling
The term “glass ceiling” was originally coined in the early 1990’s in a Wall Street
Journal column titled The Corporate Woman. The glass ceiling is defined as,
“Any unacknowledged discriminatory barrier that prevents women and minorities
from rising to positions of power or responsibility, as within a corporation.”
Although this term is widely accepted, the issue itself has served to be a topic of
ongoing debate. While females have made strides since the Women’s Rights
movement first began, in the opinion of Professor Rapping, “the glass ceiling
definitely still exists.”
And it’s a challenge for leadership.
Conclusion
A leadership strategy supports the effective implementation of an organization’s
business strategy . Without the right leadership organizational strategies will remain as
link on paper. Getting the right leadership to implement business strategies takes
careful planning and dedicated effort, and often substantial investment. Ie the sports
coach whose mediocre team never wins a championship even with a new book of plays
every year, the CEO can’t hope to achieve bold new strategies without giving though to
his leadership team and leadership culture. Too many organizations have become
complacement with their existing leadership programs instead of making certain that
they are linking their leadership strategies and development investments with their
business strategies and taking full advantage of the learning opportunities that
accompany strategic change.
39. -39-
References
o
Griffin , R. W. 1999. Management. (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton. John
Adair, 2010. Effective strategic leadership; the complete guide to strategic
management. Oxford, Pan books.
Kotter J. P. 1995. Leading change
o Jump up^ May, R. (n.d.). Strategic Leadership for Executives.
BusinessDictionary.com - Online Business Dictionary. Retrieved October
15, 2013, fromhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/article/682/strategic-
leadership-for-executives/
o Jump up^ Fulmer, R., Stumpf, S., & Bleak, J. (2009). The strategic
development of high potential leaders. Strategy & Leadership, 37(3), 17-22.
o Jump up^ Strategic Leadership: Concepts, skills, style, and process.
Journal of Management Development, 1991, 10(1), 42–53, S. Stumpf and
T. Mullen.
o www.authorstream.com/.../himanshupjoshi-86585-strategic-leadership
o www.strategy-business.com/strategy_and_leadership
o en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Leadership
o www.ccl.org/leadership/pdf/research/LeadershipStrategy
o en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_management
o managementstudyguide.com/strategic-management.htm
