Strategic Leadership Essay example -- Business Management Studies

Strategic Leadership The only thing harder than being a strategic leader is trying to define the entire scope of strategic leadership a broad, difficult concept. We cannot always define it or describe it in every detail, but we recognize it in action. This type of leadership involves microscopic perceptions and macroscopic expectations. Volumes have been written on the subject, which may in fact contribute to the difficulty of grasping the concept. One finds confusing and sometimes conflicting information on this blended concept that involves the vagaries of strategy and the behavioral art of leadership. Sometimes the methods and models used to explain it are more complicated than the concept and practice of strategic leadership itself. Exercising this kind of leadership is complicated, but understanding it doesn’t have to be. Beginning with a definition and characterization of strategic leadership and then exploring components of the strategic environment may prove helpful. Future leaders must also recognize the nature of that environment. Finally, they should also have some familiarity with ways of developing competencies for dealing with the broad, new challenges that are part of leading in the strategic environment. What Is Strategic Leadership. The common usage of the term strategic is related to the concept of strategy—simply a plan of action for accomplishing a goal. One finds both broad and narrow senses of the adjective strategic. Narrowly, the term denotes operating directly against military or industrial installations of an enemy during the conduct of war with the intent of destroying his military potential. Today, strategic is used more often in its broader sense. Thus, we use it to relate something’s primary importance or its quintessential aspect for instance, the most advantageous, complex, difficult, or potentially damaging challenge to a nation, organization, culture, people, place, or object. When we recognize and use strategic in this broad sense, we append such meanings as the most important long-range planning, the most complex and profound decisions, and the most advantageous effects from a bombing campaign as well as leaders with the highest conceptual ability to make decisions. As mentioned earlier, strategy is a plan whose aim is to link ends, ways, and means. The difficult part involves t... ...e, again, to expand their perspective and increase their conceptual ability. In fact, many of them are experts in a number of unrelated fields. Becoming a dual expert helps one think in multiple dimensions. After committing to some or all of these development activities, potential leaders should reflect on each activity as a way of mining the total benefit and seeking greater meaning. They will also benefit from mentoring other leaders and being mentored themselves. When mentors share their experiences, they help others know and understand them. Conclusion The many components of the strategic-leadership environment challenge even the best leaders. The monumental consequences of strategic decisions call for individuals with unique performance abilities who can navigate the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity inherent in the nature of those decisions. Aspiring leaders can rise to the challenge by undergoing self-assessment and personal development. Accepting the demands of strategic leadership involves a transition from the art of the familiar to the art of the possible. This is the realm of strategic leadership and the strategic environment.