1. Do Strategic Leaders Matter?

2. Orientation Have you got what it takes to be a strategic leader?
Strategic leaders contributions shape the organization’s future
Cognitive complexity and moral sensitivities
Believe in your capabilities

3. The Strategy Movement Strategic Determinism vs. Strategic Choice
Internal structures and industry structures
Strategy and structure
Environments and fit
Leader’s role to identify correct strategy and authorize implementation
Resource-based theories
Leadership choice and strategic visions
Competitive advantage and core competencies

4. OVERVIEW Maps: Platforms of Understanding
Indication that top-level leaders can make a difference
Leadership and organizational level
Impact of top leaders is in strategy formulation
Lower-level leaders moderators of strategy implementation
Context: Strategic Leadership Processes

5. Nahavandi & Malekzadeh’s Platform of Understanding
Outlines two maps with conflicting implications of leadership impact
Strategic choice: leader’s vision or choice of strategy influences company’s success
Strategic determinism: Strategy not created through leader insight but discovered by analytical processes identifying relevant environmental, cultural and structural factors

6. Can top level leaders make a difference?
Strategic determinism : Strategy identifies factors determined by environmental, structural, or cultural factors. It is thus not created by insight on the part of a leader but discovered by analytical processes
Strategic choice: Non-determinists’ propose that leaders have strategic choice. They can influence strategy formulation and corporate success.
Strategy Formulation and Strategy Implementation: Top leadership cadre influences strategy formulation. Lower level leaders have some influence in strategy implementation.

7. Nahavandi and Malekzadeh’s Integrative Framework
The strategic leader acts as a moderator between strategy and outcomes.
Strategic orientation of leaders may be challenge-seeking or controlling in orientation
High challenge-seeking leaders are innovative in their strategic choices.
High control leaders wish to retain control over decisions and actions.

8. Strategic Leadership Types
High challenge seeking
High-Control Innovator
Challenge-seeking leader who maintains tight control of organization
Participative Innovator
Leader seeks change through process of delegating control of organization
CHALLENGE SEEKING
Status Quo Guardian (SQG)
Challenge-averse leader who maintains tight control of organization
Process Manager (PM)
Challenge-averse leader who delegates control of organization
Low challenge seeking
High control
DESIRE FOR CONTROL
Low control

9. Upper Echelon Studies
Hambrick and Mason proposed that strategy in organisations reflected characteristics of its top executives (‘upper echelon’).
Highlighted the way the leader thinks and the values held.
Essentially, leaders within an upper echelon ‘made a difference’ through their cognitive styles and belief systems

10. The Discretion of the Strategic Leader
Michael Porter’s method of identifying an organisation’s strategic ‘position’ indicated no need for leadership intervention in setting strategy.
This raises a dilemma of strategic choice: ‘Can I, as a leader, create a unique strategy for my organisation, or is it a process best to a team of strategic planners to determine analytically ?

11. TIPPING POINT LEADERSHIP
Strategic transformations occur where there is a rapid shift in strategy orientation and strategy implementation
There are four hurdles (or tipping points), two of re-orientation, (cognitive and resource hurdles) and two of implementation (motivational and political hurdles)
These provide the four steps of the ‘what’ of strategic change

12. Tipping Point Leadership
Cognitive Hurdle
Put managers face to face with problems and customers
Find new ways to communicate
Resource Hurdle
Focus on the hot spots &
bargain with partner organizations
Political Hurdle
Identify & silence internal opponents
Isolate external ones
Motivational Hurdle
Put the stage lights on & frame the challenge to match the organization’s various levels

13. What Sort of Strategic Leader Are You?
The integrative model of Nahavandi and Malekzadeh
You should have a sense of your own concern for challenge, and therefore your likelihood of flourishing in an environment requiring innovation and entrepreneurial leadership. A sense of your need for control as contrasting to willingness to encourage (empower?) followers will indicate the style with which you would approach your leadership tasks.
Are you mainly a strategy formulator or implementer?
There is a fundamental challenge raised for practicing leaders.
Do you, or don’t you ‘make a difference’ in your strategic efforts ? Put another way, does your contribution matter, in organisational performance

14. Summary
Strategic choice maps assume a strategic leader and other top echelon executives will make a difference.
If strategies are largely deterministic, significance of the strategic leader is minimal. Strategy can be left to a team of strategic planners
The characteristics which differentiate effective strategic leaders from others also remain under-defined, although cognitive complexity is often mentioned
Strategic transformations may be assisted through attending to ‘tipping points’ of cognitive, resource based, motivational or political kinds