The Art of Strategic Leadership

Preface

It doesn't matter what position you hold in the organization—senior leader, mid-level manager, front-line manager, or leader of a group—your organization needs and wants you to be a strategic leader. When it comes to excelling as a leader, you cannot afford to stay in a strategic cocoon, insulated from a turbulent business environment, and neglect your responsibilities to think and act ahead of the curve. Markets, rivals, and the business environment all change too fast, are too complex, and are too competitive on a global scale for you not to be looking forward and leading your part of the business in a proactive way. Whether you lead sales, IT, quality, or another function in the business, you need to have a strong sense of direction, be aware of your strategic qualities, and have a deep concern for the future.

Leadership today is about more than just being operationally effective, solving existing problems, and guiding people through the normal work that needs to be done each day. Leadership is all about effectively executing short-term responsibilities while also shaping the future. The promise of a better future is what gets team members engaged and unleashes their motivation. When people are invited to be part of creating the future and can clearly see how they fit and why they matter, it causes them to do their best work. In these challenging and exciting times, organizations desperately need leaders—at all levels—who have a vision and a plan to help move their ...