Managers Need Strategic Capabilities

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Managers Need Strategic Capabilities

According to the authors of Becoming a Strategic Leader (Jossey-Bass), a just-released book on strategic leadership, the typical manager often has difficulty leading in ways that contribute to the organization's long-range success.

The authors, Rich Hughes and Kate Beatty, base their conclusions on eight years of work with nearly a thousand executives and leaders who participated in the Center for Creative Leadership's Developing the Strategic Leader training program. Hughes and Beatty are both employees of the center, a nonprofit leadership training organization in Greensboro, N.C.

During their work in the Developing the Strategic Leader program, both observed that many managers do not lead teams with strategic concerns in mind. Instead, they focus primarily on what must be accomplished daily.

Hughes and Beatty suggest that the skills needed for more strategic leadership can be developed by any employee, not just managers, and that a company will be better for it. "Strategic leaders should come from all functions and work at all levels in an organization," says Hughes. "It's not just the job of top executives.

All employees can develop a strategic outlook and should accept the responsibility of strategic leadership. The process of creating and sustaining a competitive business advantage is too complex for any one person “even the CEO” to develop and carry out."

Blogged on 3:51 PM by Upay

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