In the last 20 years there has been an increased interest (Yukl 2010) in “Strategic Leadership“ among top executives. Since this time the extent of the influence on top leadership bodies or even only on CEO is being discussed and tried to be proven (see e.g. Giambatista 2005). Definite proof - neither in one nor the other direction - does not exist, however.
The stock exchange perfectly reflects this: A CEO switch in some companies does not result in any significant change in the stock prices, in others they rise or sink significantly. The resignation ofSteve Jobs in 2011 serves as a good example. The value of Apple decreased right after the announcement of his resignation by 13,6 billion Euro. What will Apple do in the future without the ingenious Steve Jobs? After a “digestive period” the share has recovered and now jumps from one record to the next — an end is not in sight. And a Steve Jobs surely belongs to the exceptional CEOs of this world.
From our point of view it is evident that the influence of individuals tends to be overestimated: The dependence on economic and political general conditions, the influence of legal requirements and regulatory authorities, the manifold interactions within a leadership team and the entire organisation as well as the enormous technological change are only some of the factors that determine the environment.
Similarly we look at “Strategic Leadership in the Healthy Organisation (HO)“ not as a unique feature of upper leadership bodies. In essence strategic leadership is all about formulating a future vision, the strategic cornerstones and derived goals in order to safeguard the survival of the organisation. The top management hereby is the focus of attention. However, this does not imply that strategic leadership is only their domain. The orientation of action towards the future visionand the goals of the organisation can just as well be done by a shift supervisor in production or by an employee in the controlling department by inspiring their colleagues and by making clear the responsibility of each individual towards their colleagues, customers, suppliers, society and the environment in the sense of the company strategy.
This brings us to an important differentiation between the traditional understanding of organisation and leadership: In a healthy organisation leadership is not the privilege of executives. Leadership as a social process always happens when somebody else affects others (and oneself) in a controlling and guiding manner. Actions and decisions make up leadership. If this leadership happens in a strategic manner, it is aligned to the strategy of the company.
In case of the sustainability strategy of an organisation this could mean e.g. instructing somebody not to waste resources or to see to it that tasks are being implemented in a sustainable manner. No special badges are required for doing this. With this in mind, responsibility is entrusted to everyone.
What does this imply in concrete? How can you lead strategically in order to effectively contribute to the unfolding of potential and, thus, to extraordinary performance?
The following recommendations are true for all hierarchy levels, however, they may be of varying significance and have shown to be particularly helpful in the sense of our cellular model:
- Provide for a positive future image and a clear strategy.
- Promote a continuous discourse, integrating everyone in order that the subjects of sense,strategy and concrete implementation can be openly discussed.
- Act confidently and with trust in the successful implementation.
- Make your expectations clear, in order that everyone knows how they can contribute to the success of the company strategy.
- Align your actions on strategically desire results.