Becoming a Strategic Leader

Becoming a Strategic Leader
Author: Richard L. Hughes
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2011-01-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1118046579

Today’s organizations face difficult challenges in order to remain competitive—the quickening pace of change, increasing uncertainty, growing ambiguity, and complexity. To meet these challenges, organizations must broaden the scope of leadership responsibility for strategic leadership and engage more people in the process of leadership. In Becoming a Strategic Leader Rich Hughes and Kate Beatty from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) offer executives and managers a handbook for implementing a strategic leadership process that reaches leaders at all levels of organizations. Based on CCL’s successful Developing the Strategic Leader Program, this book outlines the framework of strategic leadership and contains practical suggestions on how to develop the individual, team, and organizational skills needed for institutions to become more adaptable, flexible, and resilient. The authors also show how individual managers can exercise effective strategic leadership through their distinctive and systemic approach—thinking, acting, and influencing.

The Art of Strategic Leadership

The Art of Strategic Leadership
Author: Steven J. Stowell
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2016-02-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1119213061

Develop the qualities of strategic leadership and become an active contributor to the short- and long-term success of your organization Today's organizations face two daunting challenges: 1. How to create new sources of competitive advantage to sustain long-term growth, and 2. How to engage leaders at every level of the organization so that they are more proactive and forward-looking in their area of responsibility. The Art of Strategic Leadership uses a unique approach to examine what it means to be a strategic leader. Instead of focusing on the skills, behaviors, and tools found in typical books on strategic leadership, the authors shed light on the attributes and qualities necessary to lead strategic change and help transform a business. Strategic leadership is what modern leadership is all about. Organizations expect leaders to anticipate and be proactive more than ever before. In this book, the authors draw on their vast experience working directly with leaders at all levels and use an intriguing narrative to explain this inside-out approach to understanding strategic leadership. The narrative follows the journey of how one manager discovered these critically important qualities. You will experience first-hand how these values and attributes manifest in the lives of realistic leaders; how they orchestrate long-term strategic change needed for the organization to compete and survive and actively shape the future while delivering short-term results. The Art of Strategic Leadership provides the content that will help you informally assess and reflect on your own strategic leadership qualities—those that are strengths and those that indicate areas you need to develop. It will guide you as you incorporate these values and qualities into your own leadership style and become a more effective catalyst for change. This book will help you in the following ways: Develop a more proactive, forward-thinking approach to leadership Approach strategy from both short- and long-term perspectives Adopt the core values and principles of a strategic leader Model the qualities exhibited by powerful leaders Strategic leaders serve as powerful examples to others in the organization. Their qualities and traits spread rapidly to those around them, empowering people at every level to take a more active role in meeting the demands of the future. The Art of Strategic Leadership will help you deepen and broaden your understanding of the core qualities of strategic leadership, leaving you better equipped to lead yourself and your team to a better place and create greater value for customers, owners, and employees.

Strategic Leadership

Strategic Leadership
Author: John Adair
Publisher: Kogan Page Publishers
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2010-10-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0749462043

A strategic leader is essentially the leader of any organization and someone who has to steer the company in times of change, whilst motivating and inspiring their team. Strategic Leadership from the renowned leadership expert John Adair encourages leaders to focus on tomorrow rather than yesterday. It explores the nature and origin of strategic leadership, transferable skills and the art of inspiring others. It then describes the role itself and broad functions of that role such as building and maintaining a team, achieving a common task and motivating and developing the individual. It moves on to assess the skills you need to be effective, and the seven generic functions that make up the role of strategic leader which include providing direction, strategic thinking and planning, building partnerships and developing tomorrow's leaders. Full of checklists, summaries and historical examples, Strategic Leadership will encourage you to ask the right questions whilst defining the role and skills of a strategic leader.

Leading with Strategic Thinking

Leading with Strategic Thinking
Author: Aaron K. Olson
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2015-04-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1118968158

Be a more effective leader with strategic thinking Leading with Strategic Thinking reveals what effective leaders do differently. Eschewing the one-size-fits-all leadership model, this helpful guide outlines four general leadership types and demonstrates how each type achieves success – whether through personal vision, structured process, collaboration, or by empowering others. The authors identify the actions and skills that distinguish strategic leadership, drawn from interviews and focus groups with over three hundred leaders from around the world. Examples and case studies illustrate these concepts in action, and the provided reference materials steer readers toward more advanced information on this important topic. The disruptive forces of technology and globalization raise new challenges for leaders. This book is a manual that will help executives and aspiring leaders harness these forces and address the two central questions of strategic leadership: How do the best leaders develop their strategy? How do effective leaders drive strategic change? Becoming a strategic leader isn’t about mimicking an icon. The most effective leaders seize opportunity in a way that consciously integrates environmental requirements, stakeholder expectations, and personal ability. Leading with Strategic Thinking shows what these leaders do, and gives anyone the tools to be a more strategic leader.

The Strategic Leader

The Strategic Leader
Author: John Pisapia
Publisher: IAP
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2009-08-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 160752273X

This book helps leaders focus on, and achieve, their main purpose - the development and maintenance of a high performing organization. You will find the habits, actions, and tactics that have worked in that crucible and what I believe will continue to work under the dynamic conditions leaders face today. The book is framed around six habits gleaned from leaders who have successfully answered the following questions. Do I need to think differently? What is the environment telling me? Where are we going and where do we need to go? How do I position myself and/or my organization, team and individuals to take advantage of opportunities presented by the environment? How do I multiply myself though other people? How do I find and turn talent into performance? How do I ignite the soul of followers to achieve greatness beyond what anyone imagined possible? How do I know if we are succeeding? How do we continually adapt to change and maintain profitability and our competitive advantage? The Strategic leader answers those questions by identifying the actions and tactics used to establish a holistic learning approach to leading. It accomplishes its objective by describing how strategic leaders use new actions and tactics -jumping the curve, minimum specifications, organizational fitness, generative conversations, chunking change, lighting the way, running for daylight, bonding, bridging, bartering, and institution building - to create direction, establish alignment and commitment, in order to produce results in a dynamic globalizing world. In the first section you will discover the value of the leader’s Wheel to develop a high performing organization. In the following chapters you will discovering the six habits that enable you to turn the Wheel: acquiring a strategic mindset, artistry, anticipating, articulating, aligning and assuring. Your path to discover these secrets will be aided by two original self assessment tools: The Strategic Thinking Questionnaire (STQ) and the Strategic Leadership Questionnaire (SLQ) which are available to those who purchase the book.

Being Strategic

Being Strategic
Author: Erika Andersen
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2009-05-26
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0312553986

STRATEGY? TACTICS? CONFUSED? How many times have you sat in a meeting and heard someone use the word “strategic?” As in: “We’re not being very strategic about X.” or “We need a strategic plan for project Y.” And, if your organization is like most, everyone in the meeting nods wisely, the meeting drones on, people endlessly debate how to approach the situation at hand, with – generally – no one the wiser as to what “strategic” really means. Next time, respond: “Being strategic means consistently making those core directional choices that will best move us toward our hoped-for future. Is this what we’re doing?” Everybody talks about strategy, but there is a big gap between discussing strategy, defining strategy and actually being strategic -- so you can accomplish something. This book helps you approach business—and life—strategically, explaining what strategy is, why it's important, and how to do it. Being Strategic offers you a step-by-step model and skills for strategic thought and action that are broadly applicable and thoroughly practical: • First, get clear about the problem you’re trying to solve • Then, figure out where you’re starting from • Now, imagine your “castle on the hill,” the future you want to create. • Identify the “trolls under the bridge”; the obstacles in your path • Next, outline the path to the castle: your core strategies and the tactics for implementing them. • Re-evaluate your strategy and your tactics as conditions change Framed around the story of 13th-century Welsh nobles building an actual castle, and weaving in dozens of real-life examples from her practice, which has helped restaurateur Danny Meyer and many others, noted consultant Erika Andersen offers a complete course in turning around a business, or a life.

Deep Dive

Deep Dive
Author: Rich Horwath
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
Total Pages: 152
Release: 2009-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1608320332

Get competitive by learning to think strategically.The inability to set good strategy can sink a company¿and a leader¿s career. A recent Wall Street Journal study revealed that the most sought-after executive skill is strategic thinking, but only three out of ten managers have this skill set.Horwath explains the three keys to strategic thinking, breaks them down into simple, attainable skills, and gives you practical tools to apply them every day, providing managers with a clear path to mastery of the three disciplines: 1. Acumen¿generate critical insights through a step-by-step evaluation of your business and its environment2. Allocation¿focus your limited resources through strategic trade-offs 3. Action¿implement a system to guarantee effective execution of strategy at all levels of your organization Based on new research with senior executives from 150 companies and the author¿s experience as a thought-leading strategist, Deep Dive is the first book to focus on the most important level of strategy¿you. Armed with this knowledge and dozens of effective tools, you can become a truly strategic leader for your organization.--Rich Horwath is the president of the Strategic Thinking Institute, a former chief strategy officer, and professor of strategy at the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. As a thought-leading strategist, he has worked with such giants as Adidas, Amgen, and Pfizer. He is the author of four books and more than fifty articles on strategic thinking and has been profiled in business publications around the world, including Investor¿s Business Daily.

Strategic Leadership of Change in Higher Education

Strategic Leadership of Change in Higher Education
Author: Stephanie Marshall
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2007-04-11
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1134127855

Drawing on the current research base on the management of change, this book analyzes the key features in planning, delivery and monitoring the impact of planned change initiatives in higher education. Comparing and contrasting the findings of twenty-five action research high level corporate change management projects, the initiatives discussed include: the introduction of Kaplan and Norton’s ‘Balanced Scorecard’ approach, resulting in strategic mapping at all levels a major cultural shift programme to bring about globalisation of all aspects of the university, taking account the perspectives as to how this should be achieved the introduction of a mentoring scheme to promote diversity and equality and greater understanding and support of black and ethnic minority staff. Filled with practical lessons for leadership and change in higher education, this book raises awareness as to how to tackle topical issues and effectively lead universities through major change. With expert commentary and feedback from the stakeholders involved at each institution, Strategic Leadership of Change in Higher Education is essential reading for all those taking on leadership and management positions in higher education.

Strategic Leadership and Strategic Management

Strategic Leadership and Strategic Management
Author: Shand Stringham
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2012-12
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1475964315

Leaders and managers face tremendous pressure to keep their organizations moving forward successfully. It can seem like an impossible task amid economic uncertainty and hyper-competition. The roles of leader and manager tug us in opposite directions: managers seek stability and predictability, and leaders usually opt for turbulence and change. With so many companies asking their best employees to be both leaders and managers, it's no wonder that so much of the business world is dysfunctional. This guidebook explains how leader-managers work-and how to succeed in both roles. You can learn how to - leverage competing requirements for leading and managing change; - formulate effective operational and developmental strategies; - make decisions that address complex challenges and opportunities; and - help people through the anxiety and trauma of change. Whether you are a student seeking to understand the workplace, an employee rising up the ranks or an active leader or manager, Strategic Leadership and Strategic Management provides you with tools and knowledge to help your organization succeed.