Creating Vision and
Strategic Direction
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“Good business leaders create a vision,
articulate the vision, passionately own the
vision, and relentlessly drive it to
completion.”
Jack Welch
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“The Best Way to Predict the Future is to
CREATE it!”
Peter Drucker
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Strategic Leadership
The ability to anticipate and
envision the future, maintain
flexibility, think strategically,
and initiate changes that will
create a competitive
advantage for the
organization in the future
4
Most important function of a
leader
The most important function of a leader is to
develop a clear and compelling picture of
the future, and to secure commitment to
that idea.
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Ex. 13.1
The Domain of Strategic
Leadership
Vision
Mission
Strategy
Architecture for alignment and
implementation
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Vision
An attractive, ideal future that is credible yet
not readily available.
It should evoke a picture in the mind and
suggests a future orientation, implies a
standard of excellence or virtuous condition,
and has the quality of uniqueness!
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Ex. 13.2
Examples of Brief Vision
Statements (selected)
Motorola
– Become the premier company in the world
Ritz-Carlton (Amelia Island) Engineering Dept.
– Where no hotel has gone before – free of all defects
Johnson Controls Inc.
– Continually exceed our customers’ increasing expectations
New York City Transit
– No graffiti
Egon Zehnder
– Be the worldwide leader in executive search
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Questions to Ask?
The leader must ask theree questions to
test his or her vision:
1) Is this the right time?
2) Is this the right direction?
3) Are these the right goals?
This must then be shared with your team and have
it SUPPORTED.
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The Nature
of the Vision
Ex. 13.3
Vision
Current
reality
Staying the course
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What Vision Does
•
•
•
•
Links the present to the future
Energizes people and gains commitment
Gives meaning to work
Establishes a standard of excellence and
integrity
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Common Themes of Vision
•
•
•
•
•
Vision has broad appeal
Vision deals with change
Vision encourages faith and hope
Vision reflects high ideals
Vision defines the destination and the journey
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Vision must be able to:
•
•
•
•
•
Work at multiple levels
Be inspirational at all levels
Encourage independent action
Develop Self-reference
Be supported by the Company LeaderShip
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Requirements for an effective
Vision
• For a VISION to be effective it must be
developed by leaders.
• Developed by leaders, those with
strengths to influence to establish direction
• Must be communicated to followers and
must be supported by them.
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Requirements for an effective
Vision
• Developed by leaders, those with
strengths to influence to establish direction
• Must be communicated to followers and
must be supported by them.
• Must be comprehensive and detailed so all
understands it’s meaning and direction.
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Mission
The organization’s core broad
purpose and reason for
existence
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Mission
• Two critical parts:
– Core values guide the organization
– Core purpose is why the organization exists
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Leader’s Framework for Noble
Purpose
Purpose
Discovery
Excellence
Altruism
Heroism
Description
Finding the new
Being the best
Providing service
Being effective
Basis for Action
Pioneer
Fulfillment
Happiness
Achievement
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Strategic Management
Strategic Management
– The set of decisions and actions used to formulate
and implement specific strategies that will achieve a
competitively superior fit between the organization
and its environment so as to achieve organization
goals
Strategy
– The general plan of action that describes resource
allocation and other activities for dealing with the
environment and helping the organization attain its
goals
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Develop Strategies Focusing On
• Core competence
• Developing synergy
• Creating value for customers
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Core Competence
Something the
organization does
extremely well in
comparison to competitors
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Synergy and Value
Synergy: the interaction of
organizational parts to produce a
joint effect that is greater than the
sum of the parts
Value: the combination of
benefits received and costs paid
by the customer
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Strategy Formulation and
Implementation
Strategy Formulation
– The integrating knowledge of the environment, vision,
and mission with the core competence in such a way
as to achieve synergy and create customer value
Strategy Implementation
– Putting strategy into action by adjusting various parts
of the organization and directing resources to
accomplish strategic goals
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Ex. 13.7
Making Strategic Decisions
Ease of Implementation
Hard
High
Strategic
Impact
Low
High Impact, Hard to
Implement.
Major changes, but with
potential for high payoff
Low Impact, Hard to
Implement.
Difficult changes with little
or no potential for payoff –
avoid this category
Easy
High Impact, Easy to
Implement.
Simple changes that have
high strategic impact –
take action here first
Low Impact, Easy to
Implement.
Incremental
improvements, “small
wins;” pursue for symbolic
value of success
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Ex. 13.8
Linking Strategic Vision and
Strategic Action
High
The Dreamer
The Effective Leader
The Uninvolved
The Doer
Vision
Low
High
Low
Action
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