Strategic Leadership Defined
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Strategic leadership involves both art and discipline. The art of strategic leadership is creative thinking, envisioning alternative futures, and considering various scenarios. The discipline is having the courage to make decisions, implement policies, and influence others to achieve a shared vision. Strategic leaders think broadly and have impacts that last over long periods of time, often through significant organizational change. They drive organizations to thrive in the long term. For organizations to be strategic, they must continually assess where they are, understand their mission and vision, learn how to achieve their goals, plan strategies, implement tactics, and check their progress. Strategic leadership is a learning process that everyone in an organization contributes to, not just those at the top.
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Strategic Leadership Defined
- 15. Strategic Organisation = Continually Becoming Assessing where we are In community / WAGGGS Understanding where we are & want to be Mission Vision Learning how to get there Planning & using strategies that will continue to make us who we are Making journey Implementing tactics Checking progress Current performance
- 17. Strategic Leadership Involves discovery more than determination Is not reserved for those at the top Strategic Leaders Must foster Strategic Leadership in others Blend skills of thinking, acting & influencing to drive strategy as a learning process
- 20. Effective 1. Functionally successful in short term, but not sustainable long term 2. Strategically focused organisation successful in both short & long term 3. Failure inevitable both in short & long term 4. Short term crises will prevent longer term sustainability Ineffective Effective Ineffective Operational Process & Planning Short Term Effective Mgt Strategic Planning Process (Long Term)
- 22. Successful Strategic MO within WAGGGS Provides direction Uses strategic thinking for policy making Has a definite plan of action Balances long & short term goals Creates ownership Builds partnerships Leads by example Has a succession plan
- 23. Needs to Develop balance - short & long term Develop strategic leadership in self & others Turn vision into reality Turn words into action (make the journey) Monitor progress - change direction if needed
- 24. I skate where the puck is going to be, not where it has been Wayne Gretskey Leadership that can THINK ACT INFLUENCE
- 25. A Strategic plan is only a plan for an MO Actual strategy lies in the decisions & choices an organisation makes as they enact or fail to enact the plan Strategic Leadership is the responsibility of many people, not just those at the top; a process of never ending individual, team and organisation learning & cannot be explained by a set of procedures
- 26. Are you prepared to have a go? It will challenge you, but also be exciting to try
Editor's Notes
- Aim: To give a clear definition of what Strategic Leadership is and its relevance for today and the future of Guiding. Intro: “ All men can see the tactics whereby I conquered, but what none can see is the strategy out of which it evolved” Sun Tzu.
- This workshop is about more than the governance and management of an organisation and it is not about strategic planning. These have been done before and many of you are familiar with these terms and how to do them. We have good leadership in many of our MOs in the AP Region so why are we having this workshop? Many of you know how to develop a strategic plan and are already implementing them so what are we here to learn?
- Guiding celebrates it 100th birthday soon, and rarely do organisations last that long. Guiding and Scouting has because Baden Powell had a vision which others captured and under his leadership and vision the movement grew. He often wrote that Scouting/ Guiding should never be an organisation, but a movement – able to assess, adapt and change when and if needed. Guiding began because of a need and it will continue as long as it continues to be relevant and influencing and contributing to its community up to date and meeting the needs of its members, and being the voice of young women. However we must be careful that we do not think all we have to do is meet the needs of girls and young women, or we will remain inward looking. There are so many external forces that impact our world and organisations today that we must also be aware of and understand in order to be relevant in today’s world. Girl Guiding / Girl Scouting needs to be up to date with what is happening, understanding where it fits and how it can contribute to the community in which it finds itself. For many years it was the leader in small group work and now more than ever still needs to be a leader in what it offers both girls and young women and their community so that their voice can be heard.
- Leaders today need to show Strategic Leadership and at a later time we will explore the difference between Leadership and Strategic Leadership. Today we are defining Strategic Leadership.
- Mike Freedman, President of the world wide strategy consulting company in his book “Strategic Leadership as an Art and a Discipline” and says:- “ The need for honest, strategic leadership has never been more important”. Art he says is the art of creativity to fashion a vision. Discipline is the discipline “to direct the thought processes and turn vision into reality through action”.
- ART Thinking that is open, out of the box Big picture –helicopter view and perspective Involves the creation of alternative strategic visions Ability to see what if? scenarios The courage to analyse and see decision making criteria
- DISCIPLINE Courage to make decisions Implement policy Get others to share the vision and work together to achieve it Beatty in “Becoming a Strategic Leader defines it as:- “ A way of thinking, acting and influencing others in ways that enhance an organisation’s sustainable, competitive advantage”.
- Like the Trefoil needs all parts to be a trefoil and the promise needs three parts to ensure we are guides so Strategic Leadership is about thinking, acting and doing.
- WHO ARE STRATEGIC LEADERS IN AN ORGANISATION? Strategic leadership can be found in Individuals. Teams. All levels of an organisation.
- WHAT ARE CHARACTERISTICS OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP? It is broad in scope. The impact of Strategic Leadership is felt over long periods of time. Strategic Leadership often involves significant organisational change. The work of Strategic Leadership is to drive and move an organisation so that it will thrive in the long term.
- Two examples from the commercial world are IBM and DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation). Both these companies existed in the 1980s and were leaders in the computer world By 1983 IBM looked like it would go out of business because the big computers produced by IBM were seen as outdated, old technology and shares had dropped from $43 to $13. Then the leadership and vision of the company changed from being product driven approach to service driven approach and bold steps were taken which involved a complete change in thinking and by 2002 IBM was and still is a leading company in modern computer technology. By contrast DEC which was a key competitor and designer of the first laptop and first commercial business connected to the internet and the second largest computer company in the world in the 1980s no longer exists today. Because with its successes it became more inward looking. Their products were very well designed, but would only work with other DEC products and the management did not advertise as they thought their products would stand alone. They finally sold out to Compaq in 1998 because their greatness was not sustained.
- HOW IS THIS RELEVANT TO US IN GGGS? (ask what they think?) Strategic Leaders are good managers as well as good leaders and they make sure things happen and are not just talked about, but always seeking ways to improve. Strategic Leadership is a continuous process for:- “ It is not enough just to do the thinking, planning and reflecting, people want to see things happen. GGGS cannot rest on the goodness of its product as it has been able to do in the past. There is too much competition today for our time”
- The Centre for Creative Learning describes a strategic Organisation as a Continual Learning Engine and we will explore more about Learning Organisations in later sessions.
- A strategic organisation is one that is about continually becoming The process involves Assessing where we are ---- In community / In WAGGGS Understanding where we are --- Mission, Vision and where we want to be Learning how to get there --- Planning and using strategies that will continue to make us who we are Making the journey ---- Implementing the tactics Checking our progress ---- Current performance
- Strategic Leadership involves discovery more than determination. Strategic Leadership is not reserved for those at the top. It’s not good enough to be a good Strategic Leader yourself; you have to foster SL in others. Strategic Leaders blend skills of thinking, acting and influencing to drive strategy as a learning process in other organisation.
- HOW CAN AN MO IN GUIDING BECOME A STRATEGIC ORGANISATION ? By using the example OF THE OAK TREE, We CAN SEE how all that we have and do can enable an organisation such as guiding to develop so that it is a strategic organisation able to assess, having a vision of what it wants to be It will be able to learn how to get there as it explores and evaluates options, ensuring they are the best options to follow and then making the journey and implementing their plans while continuing to check progress and changing direction if this seems necessary. Oak Tree Diagram tree diagram on ppt Roots = glue that enables strategic leadership to develop. Trunk = principles and values of an organisation that is preserved. Branches, leaves blossoms, acorns = actions that change – the long and short term goals. Some blossoms bloom and then die, some drop off some need pruning and some thrive. Strategic Leadership is a continual learning process like the seasons.
- WHERE DOES STRATEGIC PLANNING FIT? Strategic organisations will certainly plan and work to solve long and short term goals and a balance of long term and short term planning is vital to the success of a strategic organisation. However the challenge is to get the balance right between long term and short term goals and planning. Too much emphasis on long term planning may result in dissatisfaction and may cause people to stop contributing. By contrast if there is only short term issues addressed and band aid solutions applied with no thought of consequences of the decision this will lead to dissatisfaction as well. Dealing with issues as they arise is another trap as it might solve the immediate problem, but not really address the real problem.
- This diagram shows the results of short term and long term planning which is effective and ineffective The Window is an example of continuous learning process
- In the back of your workbook you will find a story from Girl Guides Association of Garden Land. Using the 5 steps of the process we have talked about discuss how the Executive Committee could approach this issue. Discuss what questions they may need to ask, what they need to be assessing and how they could work in order to reach the best decision for GGA Garden Land at this time. Sharing of discussion if time permits
- CONCLUSION/ Summary A successful strategic organisation within WAGGGS I it will:- Provide direction for the organisation as a whole. Uses strategic thinking and planning to get strategy and policy right, it will not follow the local fad without question. Have an operational plan and administration that can make the vision reality. Have the ability to organise and reorganise to give balance to the whole and parts. Be able to build morale, and release a corporate spirit and ownership. Relate the organisation to other organisations and society as a whole through allies and partnerships. Lead by example to choose today’s leaders and develop tomorrow’s leaders.
- In order to achieve this outcome it will need to:- Develop a balance between short term and long term perspectives. Develop and enhance strategic directions. Develop and use variety of strategic processes. Develop and enhance strategic leadership in self and others. Develop strategic measure of success. Example here But more importantly it will be able to:- Assess where it is at. Understand where it is and where it wants to go. Be prepared to learn how to get there. Make the journey.
- Assess its progress realistically because its leadership will be strategic in Thinking Acting Influencing Wayne Gretskey a famous ice hockey player said:- “ I skate where the puck is going to be, not where it has been”
- Allan Chambers the first man to walk unsupported to the North Pole said:- The impossible is possible. Greatness is being a consistent model. Everyone is important. Feedback must be regular open, honest. Rehears all possible scenarios for the future. Morale comes form planning. Plan with flexibility and apply flexibility in execution. Go inside and trust your instincts. Exploit uncertainty and challenge the normal. Remember A Strategic plan is only a plan for an organisation. Actual strategy lies in the decisions and choices an organisation makes as they enact or fail to enact the plan. Strategic Leadership is now the responsibility of many people, not just those at the top; it is a process of never ending individual, team and organisation learning and cannot be explained by a set of procedures.
- Are you prepared to have a go? It will challenge you, but also be exciting to try.