The need for a strategic leadership role

Strategic Leadership provides the vision and direction for the growth and success of an organization. To successfully deal with change, all executives need the skills and tools for both strategy formulation and implementation. Managing change and ambiguity requires strategic leaders who not only provide a sense of direction, but who can also build ownership and alignment within their workgroups to implement change.

Leaders face the continuing challenge of how they can meet the expectations of those who placed them there. Addressing these expectations usually takes the form of strategic decisions and actions. For a strategy to succeed, the leader must be able to adjust it, as conditions require. But leaders cannot learn enough, fast enough, and do enough on their own to effectively adapt the strategy and then define, shape and executive the organizational response. If leaders are to win they must reply on the prepared minds of employees throughout the organization to understand the strategic intent and then both carry out the current strategy and adapt it in real time. The challenge is not only producing a winning strategy at a point in time but getting employees smart enough and motivated enough to executive the strategy and change it as condition change. This requires the leader to focus as much on the process used to develop the strategy-the human dimension, as the content of the strategy-the analytical dimension.

Strategic Leadership is the ability to anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility and empower others to create strategic change as necessary.

Strategic Leadership Process

The company Gobind Industries

Gobind Industries was founded in 1978 in Barabanki (INDIA), with the aim of providing farmers with Quality of Agriculture implements, at an affordable price, services, lower Horsepower (H.P). They now operate more than 100 stores in India. (Kushal Kumar Agarwal)

The Products

Gobind Industries offers Thresher’s, Harrow, Cultivator, Razor, Reapers, Levelers, Rotovator, Trolley, and other small accessories.

Part I

Culture

” A culture cannot be precisely defined, for it is something that is perceived, something felt”.

(According to Charles Handy, 1998)

Organization Culture

When a group of people works together and live together for any length of time, then form a belief in them what is right and wrong. This behavior based on the beliefs and there actions become habit that they follow routinely. These behaviors constitute the organization’s culture.

Culture reflects the peoples are performing tasks in an organization, for the objectives and goals to achieve them in a given period of time. It affects the way they make decisions, think, feel and act in response to opportunities and threats.

The culture of an organization is therefore related to the people, their behavior and the operation of the structure. It is encapsulated in beliefs, customs and values, and manifested in a number of symbolic ways.

(Strategic Management, 5th Edition, by John Thompson with Frank Martin)

The impact of the culture in an organization’s

Location/ National culture

Environment

The organizations past

Size

The Mission

The Aims and Objectives

Management/Leadership Style

Levels of consultation, participation and acceptance

(Hand notes: Organization Culture)

“In organization, there are deep-set beliefs about the way work should be organized, the way authority should be exercised, people rewarded and people controlled.”

(Acc. to Charles Handy)

When executives articulate and publish the values of their firm, which provide patterns for how employees should behave.

E.g.: – If I am not going to submit my assignment on given prescribed time, and faculty doesn’t ask me or I submitted my assignment late then next time also I am going to do same, while looking to me other guys also started submitting there assignments late, then slowly-slowly the same process is going to be converted into habit then culture in college of submitting late assignments.

In my work place the culture of speaking with the customers in Hindi, therefore for selling the product we required a salesperson those can speak good Hindi which helps the customer to understand the product properly, which will be beneficial to my organization, if I am going to keep those sales person who speaks in English then there is no use of it, but in India after every fourteen miles language changes, so for dealing in the market we had to keep that employee who can speak at least three different languages. So therefore the cultural impact on the organization is very much.

Organizational specific, Legal, Regulatory and ethical requirements impact on strategic leadership

As per my organization

Legal Requirements

Regulatory Requirements

Ethical Requirements

– Regional, local laws and regulation.

– Government operating permits, licenses and approvals.

– Contracts and other documents that include legal obligations.

Regulatory Requirements ensures that the organization identifies, accesses and evaluates laws, regulations and internal organizational requirements that apply to the environmental aspects of its activities, products and services. Identify these regulations helps to evaluate their potential impacts on the company and its products, activities and services.

Ethical requirements in an organization for employees is to work for the company not for the personal interest, that the employee is trying to make money for himself, which will be against the ethics of the organization.

Impact on Strategic Leadership

If all these requirements doesn’t fulfill by the company then it will be very costly for leader and as well as for the organization. E.g.: – Painting work shop is not there in an manufacturing industry and the organization painting in the open air, then legally there is going to be problem for the organization by the government. So at this time leader had to think for the proper painting workshop that will be not harmful for any one.

In an organization the employees doesn’t follow the rules and regulation, then it will be affecting on the activities, product and services, for those the leader had to take initiative, and to control the people in an organization so that they can follow the regulation. E.g.: – The regulation in the college is that no one should smoke in the campus, if it occurs then the leader can take hard and fast action on the particular person, who had broken the rules.

If leader caught any of the employees doing any un ethical work that is against the organizational law, then he/she can be fired from his/her job or otherwise the employee can be handover to the police. Its all depend upon the leader that at what sought of problem is their with that employee. The leader can leave him while giving warning, its all depend upon the situation.

The impact on the strategic leader is always a problematic one because if any one break any of these requirements then it will very costly for the organization and as well as for the strategic leader, if any problem occurs then he had to use his skills to resolve those problem, so that the organization should run in a smooth way.

Current and Emerging social concerns and expectations impacting leadership in the organization

Leaders’ impact organizational culture and that, in turn, determines levels of individual, group, and organizational effectiveness. These workshops are designed to help individual leaders strengthen thinking and behavioral styles that promote their effectiveness and moderate styles that prevent them from realizing their potential. It also helps leaders understand the impact they have on culture, and its implications for effectiveness at the individual, group, and organizational level. Leaders from the top-down in organizations are using leadership strategies that cause people to behave in ways that are contrary to how they want these people to behave. “The reason for this is that we have failed to move from controlling to leading. The average leader operates on the basis of untried and untested but very commonly held assumptions about how to motivate people and achieve excellence in performance.”

Part II

2.1 The relationship between Strategic management and leadership

Strategic Management

“Strategy is the pattern of decisions in a company that determines and reveals its objectives, purposes or goals, produces the principal policies and plans for achieving those goals, and defines the range of business the company is to pursue, the kind of economic and human organization it is or intends to be and the nature of the economic and non economic contribution it intends to make shareholders, employees, customers and communities”.

(Kenneth Andrews)

Leadership

“The task of leadership, as well as providing the framework, values and motivation of people, and allocation of financial and other resources, is to set the overall direction which enables choices to be made so that the efforts of the company can be focused.”

(Sir John Harvey-Jones)

“When there is an objective to be achieved, or a task to be carried out, and when more than one person is needed to do it”.

(Armstrong, 1990)

The relationship between the Strategic management and Leadership is that the strategic management is used to establish missions, objectives, and strategies for an organization. Leadership work is to complete those missions, objectives, and strategies with the support of their team, who must be inspired or persuaded to follow them. Therefore leadership is about the encouraging the individuals to give their best to achieve those missions that had been given by the strategic management.

A series of strategic management components whose formulation and implementation will require a leadership input, these components include decisions about:

Planning style

Strategic Intent

Mission

Objectives

Ethos and ethics

Performance management

Financial strategy and management

Core values and ideology

Understanding and choice of the basis of strategy formulation

Perspective-the conceptualization, purpose, and direction of the enterprise.

How the process of strategy formulation and strategic decision-making is to be implemented and facilitated

How the enterprise is to move forwards into the future.

How relationship with key internal and external stakeholders are to be managed within the architecture of the organization.

How to ensure understanding and consensus about the critical success factors of the enterprise.

How power is to be used within the organization; and how the politics of internal and external relationships are to be managed.

(Principles of strategic management 3rd Edition, Tony Morden)

2.2 Leadership styles and their impact on strategic decision

Leadership Style and its Impact

There are three major leadership styles by psychologist Kurt Lewin

a) Authoritarian Leadership (Autocratic)

Authoritarian leaders provide clear expectations for what needs to be done, when it should be done, and how it should be done. There is also a clear division between the leader and the followers. Authoritarian leaders make decisions independently with little or no input from the rest of the group.

Impact: – Researchers found that decision-making was less creative under authoritarian leadership. It is more difficult to move from an authoritarian style to a democratic style than vice versa. Abuse of this style is usually viewed as controlling, bossy, and dictatorial.

Authoritarian leadership is best applied to situations where there is little time for group decision-making or where the leader is the most knowledgeable member of the group.

As per my organization the authoritarian leader is the Chairperson of the Gobind Industries, sometimes he had to take it self decisions which is good for the organization but it was less creative, therefore he tries to make decision while having a meeting with the department leaders.

b) Participative Leadership (Democratic)

Democratic leadership is generally the most effective leadership style. Democratic leaders offer guidance to group members, but they also participate in the group and allow input from other group members.

Impact: In this group were less productive than the members of the authoritarian group, but their contributions were of a much higher quality.

Participative leaders encourage group members to participate, but retain the final say over the decision-making process. Group members feel engaged in the process and are more motivated and creative.

c) Delegative (Laissez-Faire)

Delegative (laissez-fair) leadership was the least productive of all three groups. The members in this group also made more demands on the leader, showed little cooperation, and were unable to work independently.

Impact: Delegative leaders offer little or no guidance to group members and leave decision-making up to group members. While this style can be effective in situations where group members are highly qualified in an area of expertise, it often leads to poorly defined roles and a lack of motivation.

(http://psychology.about.com/od/leadership/a/leadstyle.htm)

2.3 Leadership styles in different situations and its impact

In the graph we can see that there are three stages as per the different situation in an organization.

In first stage: the environment and the targets of the organization are soft and they are not under pressure, so the manager’s should adopt a soft leadership style to maintain the feel-good factor in the team. In this type of situation the leadership is must required to check there members because if doesn’t then due to easiness of the environment then became laziness, therefore at this time also there should check on the members. If the leader doesn’t do this then in future this will be converted into problem for an organization.

In second stage: the environment becomes harder and targets and processes are under pressure, at this stage the manager had to adopt the harder leadership style, in order to focus the efforts of the team to achieve their goals. At this stage the leader had to take some harsh steps against the members of his team, so that they can achieve their goals. If they cannot do this then it will loss for the organization and the blame is going on the team leader, at this point he had use his skills, talents to bring out his team from the hard environment.

In third stage: if the environment remains hard and targets and processes are under pressure, then the manager had to adopt hard and soft leadership style, so that the members should not frustrate with the leader, which will be again harmful for the organization, at this stage the manager had to motivate its members and as well as at some times he should harsh so that the work should not be pending, due to the soft behavior of the manager.

Part III

3.1 A culture of professionalism, mutual trusts, respect and support within an organization

– A culture of professionalism in an organization: Developing a Culture of professionalism in my own organization while giving example, I am going to be the leader in this organization and developing a culture of professionalism. While entering into my organization, I felt that I just came into the fish market I cannot recognize any of organizational members at first time and the environment is not that much good as it should be in the organization, some of the members are wearing t-shirts, some of them wearing colorful shirts, while looking all these I decided to make a culture of professionalism so that our members can treat to the customers in value able manner, and it will be easy for the consumers to recognize the staff members easily. I provided them a dress material and ask them to enter in a this formal dress only which changes the culture and as well as the creates the professionalism in an organization, giving them training how to behave or deal with the customer, which increases our sale and gives satisfaction to our consumers.

– A mutual trusts: mutual trust means the beliefs, truth, reliability, ability or strength of every members are there in an organization. This had to be maintained by the leader within the members. The leader should not be partial with any of the member, if he does that then the others members trust he is being loosing and it is going to affect the organization, which is not a good leadership by the leader, he had to make faith equally with every members,” As parents makes trust, faith and treats equally to all of their children” in the same way the organization is also like a family.

– Respect: respect in an organization is must because without respecting each other you cannot move a single step also. If the staff member gives respect to the manager then he/she also had to give respect to his juniors. Respect can be in terms of listening to the seniors and giving respect to juniors, helping them in any of the problem. In an organization giving respect to the customer is must, it can while dealing them asking about water or tea or a coffee, or while receiving them in the reception area, these all shows the respect towards a consumer and as well as within the members of an organization.

– Support: within the organization the support can be given with in the team members, it can be one department to another department also. The example, if a employee is being given some work to do and he is not able to complete within the time period, then his team member can give support to finish his work on time. Example between two departments, in sales department if any of the member sales something to the consumer and to the consumer he had to give bill of the product, then the sales person request to the finance department to give their support to them for printing out bill as soon as possible.

3.2 Strategic leader focus on Organization in the achievement of objectives

The leader must focus on the objectives as higher profits, shareholder value and customer satisfaction. To achieve results, the leader had to develop a solid, sound, customer-focused, and entrepreneurial strategy, aimed at market leadership, based on innovation, and tightly focused on decisive opportunities. He had to provide the feedback to the organization about the higher profits every month so that he can came to know that where he is failing to bring up higher profits. These can be done while increasing the market share, increment in the quality of a product, good after sales service. While providing all these he bring the higher profits for the organization and as well as customer satisfaction and the shareholder value in the market. Shares are rising of the company on the daily or weekly basis, which is again beneficial to the organization.

3.3 Strategic Leader supports and develops understanding of the organization’s direction

The organizational direction means the organization vision, mission, values and direction towards customers. The strategic leader supports the vision of the organization, as the vision of the organization is “To become a most successful and respected thresher company in the India and the best after sale service provider in the market.” So the strategic leader had to work as per their vision because Gobind Industries is already a respected organization in India and it is easy for the leader to make more successful organization and he can develop this by working on it or by providing best after sales service to the consumers as compare to their competitors.

“We will provide high quality of product so that the consumer can easily use multi crop threshers” this is the mission of the company which the leader had to support while making corrections in the machinery to achieve more better quality of product as in the mission is being mentioned.

The organization values are: believing in excellence service through Integrity, Innovation and Learning

Integrity that the strategic leader develops and support is the honesty and doing right thing for their consumers and always honoring our commitments.

Strategic leader develop and support the creativity and change for achieving continuous improvements and results in our jobs and in our organization.

As the organizational direction is about learning then the strategic leader support and develop this part in itself also which will be helpful for himself and for the organization too. Organization believe in on going learning new things by getting knowledge from consumer, market, suppliers, dealers, friends or from any stakeholder about our product fault or any better need for an organization which will be beneficial for our consumer and for the organization.

3.4 Strategic Leadership Styles are adapted to meet changing needs and to enable organizational development and commitment

With varying degrees of success, many leaders get their strategy making to this point and either stop or their process stalls. A major reason is the lack of understanding and commitment to the steps required to build more effective strategic leadership practices and a strategy dialogue in the operating groups below the senior managers. These groups and especially their leadership teams frequently do not know how to proceed and there is no consistent in-house resource to assist them. The net effect is the sense of excitement and momentum that was generated at the top of the house in the earlier stages of the strategy process is lost and the strategy team of employees is derailed before it is even gets started. One of the best ways to address this is to identify and train a cadre of high potential line managers in the middle of the organization that can serve as champions of the strategy process to those both above and below them. In this sense they serve both as a catalyst for the process and as a bridge between formulation and implementation. They do not replace the leadership role of the senior teams in each of these operating group but they do serve as a critical additional resource that is dedicated to creating momentum and fostering consistency. This can be especially important if the strategy defined requires changes in the organizational culture as well as the business model. This resource also helps to ensure that the day-to-day running the business is not neglected as the demands of building a large-scale strategy dialogue come into play.

To integrate both dimensions into strategy making in a way that creates a winning outcome and gets the whole organization understanding and committed to this common agenda requires leaders who are clear about the strategic capacity of each of their internal stakeholder groups and who have the perspective and insights to lead in a way that incorporates both dimensions as the strategy is developed. The steps described below are intended to provide the leader with techniques to do that. Taken collectively, they define a process that incorporates both the analytical and human dimensions, while challenging individuals throughout the organization to raise the quality and quantity of their strategic thinking and their strategic leadership.

Conclusion

Finally, when deciding what vocabulary and toolset is best to use while working across large populations, simpler is usually better. The simpler the language and the fewer the tools, the more accessible the strategy becomes to larger groups of people and the more people can understand it, know how they should think and talk about it, and identify how they can contribute. Some situations require more sophisticated (i.e. more complicated) tools because there is a need for much more thorough analytics. Many do not. The right balance point between comprehensiveness and simplicity will provide enough analytical complexity to adequately describe the marketplace, the customers, what you do and how you will compete, but nothing more than that. Simplicity, where it can be found, makes a significant difference when working across a large population.

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