Leading with Strategic Thinking: Four Ways Effective Leaders Gain Insight, Drive Change, and Get Results

Introduction

Whether responsible for one or many, whether attempting to influence an individual or a nation, we consider strategic thinking and leadership to be of paramount importance.

Issues and Considerations

Strategic thinking and leadership are effective only if they occur within the proper context. Their relevance is only clear if you have first thought about several fundamental questions: What do you care about? What are your challenges? What do you aspire to become? How do you wish to contribute to your colleagues, team, organization, or community?

Answers to such fundamental questions open the door to a slate of additional questions. How do you interpret the present, past, and future? How do you identify and analyze the full range of available options? How do you influence others to support your chosen course of action? What actions will you take to achieve the impact you desire?

This book goes beyond the mechanics of strategic thinking and leadership. We will explore the motives and preferences that lead to an individual thinking and acting strategically. Regardless of your goal, information provided in this book will help you recognize and leverage the positive aspects of your personal style and also avoid your personal blind spots.

In some ways, strategic thinking is like constructing a mental map that connects the current “here and now” to something, somewhere, or sometime in the future. Just like a road map that will take you from the countryside into the center ...