Assignment of week 23

1)      In your own words and using referenced quotes describe what is meant by the term “strategic leadership”.

2)      Identify two interesting similarities and two differences between the 5 Elements of Successful and Effective Strategic Leadership model and the Transcendent Leadership model.

Answers

1)       Strategic leadership refers to a manager’s potential to express a strategic vision for the organization, or a part of the organization, and to motivate and persuade others to acquire that vision. According to the Professor Richard Lynch, “Strategic leadership is the ability to shape the organization’s decisions and deliver high value over time, not only personally but also by inspiring and managing others in the organization”.

The main objective of strategic leadership is strategic productivity. Another aim of strategic leadership is to develop an environment in which employees forecast the organization’s needs in context of their own job. Strategic leaders encourage the employees in an organization to follow their own ideas. Strategic leaders make greater use of reward and incentive system for encouraging productive and quality employees to show much better performance for their organization. Functional strategic leadership is about inventiveness, perception, and planning to assist an individual in realizing his objectives and goals.  The strategic leadership requires skills and talent that goes beyond the normal thinking. Some essential skills can be pointed as:

a)      Anticipate

b)      Challenge

c)      Interpret

d)     Decide

e)      Align

f)       Learn

Holistic Theories of Strategic Leadership

a)       Five elements of successful and effective strategic leadership model

b)      Transcendent Leadership Model

Five elements of successful and effective strategic leadership model have been developed by Lynch in order to describe strategic leadership. Followings are the five elements of successful and effective leadership model:

a)       Developing and communicating the organizations’ purpose

b)      Sustaining Competitive Advantage over time

c)      Managing human resources & organizational decisions

d)      Setting ethical standards

e)       Defining and delivering to Stakeholders.

Strategic Leadership: Transcendent Leadership

a)       Leadership of Organization

b)       Leadership of Others

c)       Leadership of Self

Answer 2 :

Similarities:

Both the model of strategic leadership, focus on maintaining good relationship between leaders and followers. These models believe that organizational goals can be achieved only with the cooperation in between leaders and followers. Leaders are the idol for its followers or employees. They need to motivate their follower with reward and incentives. Leaders have the responsibility to develop skills of their followers or employees. By maintain good relationship with followers leaders need to achieve organizational goals.

The main purpose of both the leadership model is to achieve organizational goal. By preserving competitive advantage of the organization both focuses on achieving organizational goals and objectives.

Differences:

Lynch model is more flexible than the Transcendent Leadership model. It is because Lynch model is more focused on developing the key skills of employees is only possible with a good relationship with them, whereas transcendent model is more focused with the rules, procedure and structure of organization.

Lynch model give more emphasis to maintain good relationship with stakeholders whereas transcendent leadership model has not mentioned such relationship with stakeholders. Lynch model of strategic leadership believes that with a good relationship with both the internal and external stakeholders, organization may be able to adapt to change in a complex situation.

References:

·         Crossan, M., Vera, D and Nanjad, L. (2008) Transcendent Leadership: strategic leadership in dynamic environments, The Leadership Quarterly, Volume 19, Issue 5, October 2008, Pages 569-581.

·         Lynch, R., (2009) Strategic Management, 5th Edition, Prentice Hall, chapter 16.

·         Burke, C. S., Stagl, K. C., Salas, E., Pierce, L., & Kendall, D. (2006). Understanding team adaptation: A conceptual analysis and model. Journal of Applied Psychology,91(6),1189-1207. doi:10.1037/0021 -9010.91.6.1189.

·         Chemers, M. M. (2000). Leadership research and theory: A functional integration. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 4, 27-43. doi:10.1037/1089-2699.4.1.27.