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.

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.

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.

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.

This book integrates and assesses the vast and rapidly growing literature on strategic leadership, which is the study of top executives and their effects on organizations. The basic premise is that in order to understand why organizations do the things they do, or perform the way they do, we need to deeply comprehend the people at the top-- their experiences, abilities, values, social connections, aspirations, and other human features. The actions--or inactions--of a relatively small number of key people at the apex of an organization can dramatically affect organizational outcomes. The scope of strategic leadership includes individual executives, especially chief executive officers (CEOs), groups of executives (top management teams, or TMTs); and governing bodies (particularly boards of directors). Accordingly, the book addresses an array of topics regarding CEOs (e.g., values, personality, motives, demography, succession, and compensation); TMTs (including composition, processes, and dynamics); and boards of directors (why boards look and behave the way they do, and the consequences of board profiles and behaviors). Strategic Leadership synthesizes what is known about strategic leadership and indicates new research directions. The book is meant primarily for scholars who strive to assess and understand the phenomena of strategic leadership. It offers a considerable foundation on which professionals involved in executive search, compensation, appraisal and staffing, as well as board members who evaluate executive performance and potential, might build their tools and perspectives.

The globalized economy, dominated by the diffusion of innovation and social, political, and economic changes, allows people and knowledge to flow without knowing what lies ahead. As new economies emerge and technologies impose significant changes, the internationalization of markets and industries has made defining its delimitation more difficult. Competitive Drivers for Improving Future Business Performance is a conceptualized reference source that discusses the use of digital skills to manage change in volatile contexts and provides fundamental understanding of competitive advantage to guarantee superior performances. To assure this level of performance, a set of choices (drivers) must be created ensuring operational efficiency, innovative products, customer knowledge-base, and focused branding. Featuring research on topics such as consumer experience, strategic leadership, and flexible technologies, this book is ideally designed for managers, executives, entrepreneurs, academicians, consulting professionals, researchers, industry professionals, and students seeking coverage on how to improve competitive performance in an era of uncertainty.

In good times and bad, in the different situations of renewal, crisis, and chronic resource constraints, the strategic leadership of public services is crucial. Good leaders are essential in helping the public sector to adapt and solve ‘wicked’ problems, and they are also integral to the reform and modernization of public governance. This new edition of Strategic Leadership in the Public Sector continues to provide insights into useful approaches and techniques for strategic leaders, looking at: what is expected of leaders competency frameworks leadership theories techniques and processes of strategic leadership leading strategic change the strategic state emerging leadership challenges. Replete with real-world case studies and examples, and including new material from the USA, Canada, Australia, Europe and India, plus an appendix with practical worksheets, the book gives students a truly international outlook on the subject and offers a clear understanding of the significance of leadership, strategic management and public services reform. This textbook represents essential reading for postgraduate students on public management degrees and aspiring or current public managers.

Most individuals who move into leadership positions expe-rience the modern day version of trial by ordeal. It’s sink or swim. To reduce the learning curve and create a more effec-tive process, this book describes a road map for leadership development, a series of four stages that expand personal competence as well as create a broader impact on the orga-nization or business. Each stage requires unique changes in thinking, perspective taking, and behavior, both those needed to acquire as well as those needed to jettison. The book is a pragmatic approach for self-motived individuals to take con-trol of their professional development by giving them the concepts, tools, techniques, and assignments to develop their leadership effectiveness where it counts the most—on the job. While highly relevant to new and existing managers, the book is ideally suited for technical professionals and leaders in technical organizations looking to develop critical lead-ership skills distinct from technical expertise. The concepts and principles are directed toward the individual for on-the-job application, however, this also serves as an organi-zational and leadership development resource for Executive MBA programs, as well as a blueprint for in-house leadership development programs.

Drawing together current thinking and research by leading writers in the field, this Reader will help you to understand and critically analyse key strategic aspects of educational leadership, including: - leadership perspectives and values - external and internal contexts - autonomy and accountability - partnership and collaboration - leading strategy and change. The book explores major challenges for educational leaders in managing the increasingly permeable boundary between educational organisations and their external contexts and reconciling environmental expectations and internal priorities. The Reader will encourage you to positively problematize the field and reflect on current debates and issues. This book will be an essential resource for providers and students of postgraduate level courses in educational leadership and management, as well as those involved in undertaking professional development programmes. It will also serve the reflective practitioner as personal reference when occupying or aspiring towards leadership roles in schools, colleges and other educational organisations. Dr Maggie Preedy, Professor Nigel Bennett and Dr Christine Wise have taught, researched and published widely in the field of educational leadership and management. Maggie Preedy and Christine Wise are Senior Lecturers in the Faculty of Education and Language Studies at The Open University, UK. Nigel Bennett is Emeritus Professor of Leadership and Management in Education at The Open University.

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.