What Is Strategic Leadership? Purpose And Attributes Of Strategic Leaders
Leadership styles vary widely, making it difficult for businesses to choose the one that works best for them. Finding your team’s ideal leadership style will help you challenge the status quo, reduce risk, expand your business, and improve your team’s communication abilities.
This is when strategic leadership comes into play.
This article will take you through the details of strategic leadership. Take a look.
What Is Strategic Leadership?
A strategic leader is one who can think ahead, establish concrete plans, inspire their team, and maximize their available resources to achieve their goals.
Leaders that think strategically also manage strategically. Everyone in their company recognises and appreciates the importance of their leadership role and shared vision for the company’s future.
A leader’s thought process directly correlates to his or her leadership style, making productivity and management attitude critical factors. Also, the ability to connect the dots between the big picture and the here and now is indicative of a strategic leader.
Purpose Of Strategic Leadership
Leadership in the modern day is much more than merely getting things done, addressing problems as they arise, and directing employees toward accomplishing daily objectives.
Effective strategic leadership and management requires a delicate balancing act between two core competencies that include creating value for the company and living up to current standards; taking into account the possibilities, issues, and worries that will have an impact on tomorrow’s outcomes and acting accordingly.
Strategic thinking must be embedded at the very core of the company, and leaders at all levels must be involved in developing strategic plans for their respective areas of the business if it is to succeed in these dynamic and demanding times. However, expecting leaders to always be in a strategic mindset is unreasonable.
Therefore, leaders can train themselves to always think strategically and take the initiative. It is a person’s underlying behaviors and frame of mind that bring strategy, goals, and plans to life; thus, leaders who connect their leadership style with strategic plans and concepts have a much better chance of getting the results they want.
Core Attributes Of Strategic Leaders
1. Honesty
Truthfulness is the cornerstone of effective strategic leadership. To gain the respect of your team, be honest about your accomplishments, setbacks, and the reasons you choose one path over another when pursuing your goals and strategies. The “honesty is the best policy” adage will help you build trust among employees if you live by it. For strategic leaders to truly inspire trust, they must also be open and honest with their constituents.
2. Effective communication
Possessing strong communication skills is, without a doubt, a crucial quality in a strategic leader. Even if you have a crystal-clear idea of what you want to achieve, it will be next to impossible to implement if you can’t effectively communicate this idea to your team or colleagues. Good communication helps share your vision with the team and lets them achieve your strategic goals and objectives.
3. Management
Strategic leaders are aware of how to lead a group of people. They are able to properly distribute available resources, assign duties to subordinates, and give those subordinates the authority to make choices on their behalf.
4. Commitment
Commitment is the willingness to give one’s full attention to the things that matter most for one’s achievement. Leading by example is a straightforward method of conveying your enthusiasm and dedication to the cause. If you want your staff to put in the effort and get the results you’re hoping for, you’ll need to do the same. When employees can see that their supervisor is much more committed to their work than they are, it has a profound effect on morale.
5. Awareness
Leaders that think strategically are aware of how their behaviour and states of mind affect their teams. They are able to think before behaving, exhibit emotional intelligence, and keep themselves from becoming easily distracted or moody.
6. Innovation
Leaders need to be grounded in reality, but they also need to be able to spot opportunities for innovation and carry them out. Fostering the ability to quickly modify and adapt to changing business or economic conditions is important. An ability to adapt to new situations and to think beyond the box are necessary qualities of a strategic leader. No idea is too far-fetched if reasonable choices are made based on facts.
7. Challenge
Strategic leaders with a strategic mindset always challenge the current quo. They are not afraid to question the status quo and welcome alternative viewpoints. They don’t act until they’ve given the issue lots of thought and considered it from different angles. Patience, bravery, and an open mind are required.
