Kairology

Introduction by Ian Williams

A number of my clients have recently been working through issues around strategic versus operational leadership. We all want to understand the difference and be involved in both, in the most appropriate way. What we often forget is that our personal leadership needs to be strategic, so that we can demonstrate the skills needed in leading others strategically. The leader’s job is to involved people in strategic issues – particularly those relevant to their job and goals – and to allow them the space and time to be strategic. What I often hear is frustration from senior people that leaders don’t or won’t rise to the challenge. My advice is coach, encourage and build confidence – then have the courage to step back. This article gives some good definition and helpful pointers.

Ian

What is strategic leadership and why do I need it? by Stephanie Tuia

Strategic leadership is a self-explanatory term, and even when separated, still provides a meaningful definition. A definition of strategic leadership can be summed up as the ability to anticipate, prepare, and get positioned for the future.”

In my experience, I have been able to pinpoint specific examples of colleagues who have exemplified strategic leadership in their professions. I’d like to share some examples of how strategic leadership is essential to a work environment.

A small company had been acquired by a larger firm. With this, the current leader had been let go and a new leader was appointed to take charge.

Anticipate and Prepare
Being acquired by a larger firm may bring more awareness to a company or provide better benefits, but several cons may get in the way at first. During a transition period, many employees are sometimes left without a job, or have decided to move on to other things in the wake of unsatisfied changes. It was no different when a well-liked president of the company was phased out due to financial setbacks. The firm took a lengthy process to make a move until finally appointing an internal employee to serve as the interim president. Left with a lot of the dirty work, the new leader immediately went to work and restored and initiated productivity with his employees. His biggest attribute was that he was prepared for this new role before he was even appointed as the new president. His natural work ethic had already groomed him for charismatic leadership and when the opportunity for advancement came, he wasted no time in taking charge and continuing the work. Likewise, a strategic leader will be able to pick up the pieces and restore work productivity regardless of a drastic change. Being the cheerleader and still an enforcer, Teams leaders are versatile figures held accountable for their employees work performance.

Get positioned for the future
A team leader’s major objective is to keep worker performance at a high and encourage improving results that would ultimately lead to a brighter outlook and future. Preparing employees now enables them to do such. Team Leaders have a weekly, monthly or even yearly report to give so their main motivation would be to constantly focus on the progress and performance of their individuals. In order to maintain and continue a future of positive results, an effective team leader will use strategic planning in his/her strategic management. Mentally, he/she will find ways to encourage employees to perform high to obtain team incentives, but will also encourage strategic planning at the individual level. Training employees to strategically plan in their prospective territories will alleviate the leader with multiple responsibilities and generate a more productive outcome in the work area. With a focus on the individual employee, a team leader will have the power to influence his/her employees to control their progress and look towards a better outcome.

One department is flourishing with work productivity, while one department is far behind.

Focus on the right energies
In a business world where deadlines are demanding and profits are important, companies and their leaders will hold work productivity as a high priority. A strategic leader will observe less than optimum circumstance and move quickly to create beneficial change. Saving time by focusing only on the right energies will help a company profit. For example, an employee serves in two departments, splitting duties between each. It is evident that his/her skills are stronger in research and development rather than in the sales department. A strategic leader may see more value in changing this employee’s role to work in this stronger area of expertise. At the same time, a strategic leader will realize that this employee may be able to provide unique insight across both functions that others cannot. Strategic leaders will observe these situations quickly and waste no time in shifting employees to areas where both the individual and organizations can benefit the most.

These glimpses give you some helpful scenarios of how strategic leadership can be applied in your work environment. Should you have any future problems with work productivity, profits or even issues with your employees, address those concerns with some professional guidance and you’ll discover how an investment in your team will result is bottom line results.

To learn more about effective strategic leadership visit http://www.cmoe.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephanie_Tuia http://EzineArticles.com/?Applying-Strategic-Leadership-in-the-workplace&id=292267

Introduction by Ian Williams

My feature article this month is by Maynard Trist, who successfully sums up some simple principles that brings the essence of leadership into perspective, and also draws together the principles of other well-known writers we know. Clients often ask my view on whether leaders are born or made. As I understand it, leadership guru Warren Bennis sees them as born, whereas expert Peter Drucker sees them as made. My own view is that both are true: leaders develop from whence they came! In other words, there are some inherited and innate qualities within us, but the values we develop, and the life experience we have, shapes our leadership qualities. See what you make of these 5 principles, and consider how you can apply and use them in your own leadership development journey.

Ian

5 Things You Should Know If You Want To Be A Leader

By US author, Maynard Trist

Much has been written about leadership: rules, pointers, styles, and biographies of inspiring leaders throughout world history. But there are certain leadership ideas that we ourselves fail to recognize and realize in the course of reading books. Here is a short list of things you thought you knew about leadership.

1. Leaders come in different flavors.

There are different types of leaders and you will probably encounter more than one type in your lifetime. Formal leaders are those we elect into positions or offices such as the senators, congressmen, and presidents of the local clubs. Informal leaders or those we look up to by virtue of their wisdom and experience such as in the case of the elders of a tribe, or our grandparents; or by virtue of their expertise and contribution on a given field such as Albert Einstein in the field of Theoretical Physics and Leonardo da Vinci in the field of the Arts. Both formal and informal leaders practice a combination of leadership styles.

• Lewin’s three basic leadership styles - authoritative, participative, and delegative
• Likert’s four leadership styles - exploitive authoritative, benevolent authoritative, consultative, and participative
• Goleman’s six emotional leadership styles - visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and commanding.

2. Leadership is a process of becoming.

Although certain people seem to be born with innate leadership qualities, without the right environment and exposure, they may fail to develop their full potential. So like learning how to ride a bicycle, you can also learn how to become a leader and hone your leadership abilities. Knowledge on leadership theories and skills may be formally gained by enrolling in leadership seminars, workshops, and conferences. Daily interactions with people provide the opportunity to observe and practice leadership theories. Together, formal and informal learning will help you gain leadership attitudes, gain leadership insights, and thus furthering the cycle of learning. You do not become a leader in one day and just stop. Life-long learning is important in becoming a good leader for each day brings new experiences that put your knowledge, skills, and attitude to a test.

3. Leadership starts with you.

The best way to develop leadership qualities is to apply it to your own life. As an adage goes “action speaks louder than words.” Leaders are always in the limelight. Keep in mind that your credibility as a leader depends much on your actions: your interaction with your family, friends, and co-workers; your way of managing your personal and organizational responsibilities; and even the way you talk with the newspaper vendor across the street. Repeated actions become habits. Habits in turn form a person’s character. Steven Covey’s book entitled 7 Habits of Highly Effective People provides good insights on how you can achieve personal leadership.

4. Leadership is shared.

Leadership is not the sole responsibility of one person, but rather a shared responsibility among members of an emerging team. A leader belongs to a group. Each member has responsibilities to fulfill. Formal leadership positions are merely added responsibilities aside from their responsibilities as members of the team. Effective leadership requires members to do their share of work. Starting as a mere group of individuals, members and leaders work towards the formation of an effective team. In this light, social interaction plays a major role in leadership. To learn how to work together requires a great deal of trust between and among leaders and members of an emerging team. Trust is built upon actions and not merely on words. When mutual respect exists, trust is fostered and confidence is built.

5. Leadership styles depend on the situation.

How come dictatorship works for Singapore but not in the United States of America? Aside from culture, beliefs, value system, and form of government, the current situation of a nation also affects the leadership styles used by its formal leaders. There is no rule that only one style can be used. Most of the time, leaders employ a combination of leadership styles depending on the situation. In emergency situations such as periods of war and calamity, decision-making is a matter of life and death.

Thus, a nation’s leader cannot afford to consult with all departments to arrive at crucial decisions. The case is of course different in times of peace and order—different sectors and other branches of government can freely interact and participate in governance. Another case in point is in leading organizations. When the staffs are highly motivated and competent, a combination of high delegative and moderate participative styles of leadership is most appropriate. But if the staffs have low competence and low commitment, a combination of high coaching, high supporting, and high directing behavior from organizational leaders is required.

Now that you are reminded of these things, keep in mind that there are always ideas that we think we already know; concepts we take for granted, but are actually the most useful insights on leadership.

About the Author: Maynard Trist is the webmaster of unblock myspace