Strategic Leadership: The Fuel for Growth

Being a leader is hard. Being a strategic leader isn’t any harder. In fact, it can make leading easier, because what needs to be done, what is important and what isn’t is clear to everyone in the organization. What kind of leader would you rather be?

A strategic leader has a clear picture of what the company will be like in five years. Some call it a vision, others call it a strategic positioning statement, but whatever you call it, a strategic leader has a plan and knows where they are going. They can divide everything that crosses their desk into three piles: gets us where we are going, doesn’t get us where we are going (trash), and may get us there so hold onto it for a rainy day. That leader can prioritize, align operating units, make decisions quickly, knows where to allocate resources and what kind of people are needed to succeed. (A client once told us that they saved a month off the budgeting process because all areas were clear on priorities. Don’t you wish that were you? Would you like to cut out one month of administrative work?)

The Enterprise Model shows how the various components of a business interact for success. Strategy must thrive within the reality of the marketplace and be consistent with the culture while driving all business operations.

Are you a Strategic Leader?

• Do you have a good access to important information about your company and the marketplace?
• Have you established a clear culture for your company so that behaviors are consistently interpreted and the written and unwritten rules work together?
• Do you have a clear vision for the future of your company and a plan to get there?
• Do you run your company according to that plan, investing, hiring the right skill sets for tomorrow, and upgrade technology? In other words do you budget to a plan or plan a budget?
• Do you have the right people to get you there?
• Do you spend as much time on the future as today?
• Do you limit your tomorrow by your success today? In other words, do you fear change due to current success, even though tomorrow’s world may be different?
• Are you able to identify risks and minimize them with contingency planning or are you risk adverse?
• Do you fear change? And are you able to lead change?
• Have you adequately communicated your vision and expectations of others?
• Do you have measures in place that will show you moving toward your vision one step at a time?

If you are struggling with some of these concepts, Reynolds Consulting, LLC can help. Contact us to learn more about strategic leadership.