Strategic Leadership: Role, Components, and Leadership Style

This report discusses the concept of strategic leadership, its components, and the role of a strategic leader in an organization. It also highlights the importance of choosing the right leadership style, such as democratic and transformational leadership, to lead a team towards a common goal. The report provides insights into the actions that a strategic leader can take to motivate employees and achieve the strategic vision of the organization.

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Strategic Leadership
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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Strategic Leadership....................................................................................................................................2
Components of Strategic Leadership.......................................................................................................4
Role played by strategic leader................................................................................................................5
Leadership style.......................................................................................................................................5
Actions taken to lead the team...............................................................................................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................9
References.................................................................................................................................................10
Appendix...................................................................................................................................................12
Appendix 1.............................................................................................................................................12
Appendix 2.............................................................................................................................................12
Appendix 3.............................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
Strategic leadership is defined as the process of motivating the employees with the use
of strategy in order to achieve the organization goals. It is a practice in which leaders use
different styles of leadership to lead the team or group towards the vision of the organization
so that organization can compete in the changing environment. The main aim of the strategic
leadership is to boost up the productivity of the employees and push them towards achieving
the standard. Furthermore, strategic leadership promotes innovation and creativity in the
organization through cultivating an environment that brings positivity (Finkelstein, Hambrick, &
Cannella, 2009).
The role of a strategic leader is to lead the organization in a common direction, to take
difficult decisions, to engage employees in the organization, to adapt and identify the
opportunities in the market and to balance the overall organization through strategy
formulation and implementation (Bergh, Aguinis, & Heavey, 2016).
The essay is based on the leadership styles that are used by a strategic leader in order to
lead the group or team towards a common goal. The essay describes the role of a strategic
leader in an organization and how all this impact on the strategic management process. The
essay includes the information on a leadership style used to lead 57 employees in an
organization so that they can contribute best to their ability under the leadership of a strategic
leader. The style that can be used by the strategic leader is transformational leadership style
and this is discussed below in brief.
Strategic Leadership
Strategic leadership is related to the potential of a leader or manager to express the
strategic vision of the organization and to influence others to work towards achieving that
vision. The term strategic means the ability to do long term planning to achieve the goals or
systematic efforts of the team to achieve common objective (Heracleous & Papachroni, 2016).
Strategic leadership is all about planning, assisting and make them realize others their goals and

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objectives. In order to be an effective strategic leader following traits are needed; Loyalty of
leader towards the organization vision is an essential trait, judicious use of power in order to
complete the work from others, readiness of leader to delegate the responsibilities to others,
strategic leader also possess the ability to control disturbing element and situation (Marshall,
2019). Furthermore, a strategic leader should have the potential to deal with the difficult
situation and to make others motivate towards achieving goal with enthusiasm and
determination (Schoemaker, Krupp, & Howland, 2013).
The concept of strategic leadership is based on several principles that are distribution of
responsibility, systematic sharing of information, transparency, developing and presenting
ideas, acceptance of failure, provide access to other strategists, tackle the most demanding
situations and problems, innovative solutions and cultivating opportunities for others. These
principles help in developing the ability of a strategic leader to follow the strategic leadership in
an organization. The benefits related to the concept of strategic leadership include utilizing
carefully constructed ideas to move forward and focusing on the short term vision as well as
the long-term actions to achieve the strategic goals (Taylor & Storey, 2016).
The strategic leadership framework provides more clarity in taking the decision because
it helps in setting of the benchmarks of which actions are measured. The subordinates have a
roadmap in front of them which guides them in taking the necessary actions. Furthermore,
strategic leadership focuses on the whole organization as the entire organization will move
towards in the same goal rather than a narrow focus on specific sections. Overall, strategic
leadership add more value and clarity to the operations in the organization and having clear
vision will make it easier for employees to understand the things (Carnall & Roebuck, 2015).
Strategic leadership just not only focuses on the decision making aspect and operational
structure of the organization but focus also on values and organizational culture. Moreover, the
strategic leadership creates an action plan that includes a set of goals and objectives which are
well defined. All this develop a scenario where each of these goals can be measured and
through that the organization can create a stronger understanding in leader and employees of

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what it is right and what need to improve (Olwan, Irtaimeh, & Lozi, 2019). Furthermore the
ability of leader to measure the employee performance can improve productivity.
In spite of the various advantages of the strategic leadership, there are some drawbacks
also that are predicting the future in an accurate way in order to formulate the strategies for
long term is not an easy task. Another area of concern is that a strategic leader tries to balance
the long term and short term vision of the organization that affect the short term productivity
of the organization and profitability of the organization. Strategic leadership is amongst the
popular leadership strategies but the strategic framework is difficult to master because of the
complexity (Kraft & Bausch, 2016). Formulating a strategy is not an easy task but proves to be
an effective step for strategic direction of the organization. But when the leader possesses the
right qualities of skills and knowledge, the ability to communicate with others then this
framework can be fruitful. Strategic leadership is good at giving a widespread roadmap to an
organization and to help different parts within it work towards the same objective. Even though
it is complex, it can provide a sense of direction and clarity for an organization (Kaufman, 2017).
Components of Strategic Leadership
Strategic leadership includes of the various components that are creating a vision,
involvement of high level executives, strategic formulation, setting or planning for the future
and the main component is innovative or revolutionary thinking (Appendix 1). The actions that
are taken by strategic leader include determining strategic direction through specifying the
vision and by identifying the strengths and weaknesses. After deciding for the goals, the activity
that is done by the leader is to manage the organizational resources. The resource management
is done according the strategy and by aligning all the resources in an efficient manner with the
strategic goal (Hooijberg & Lane, 2015). Strategic leader after aligning the resources focus on
managing the human capital for the organization as acquiring the workforce as per the strategic
framework is the important action taken by a leader. Other action that is taken by strategic
leadership is sustaining the organizational culture or developing a positive environment and
culture that best fit the values of the organization. Changing culture is considered to be a
difficult task but it can be achieved through proper strategic leadership action. Moreover, the

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strategic leader is also responsible for communicating ethical practices, policies and procedures
and encouraging ethical behavior amongst all the team members so that all the employees
work in the right way with following ethical code of conduct (Morden, 2016).
Role played by strategic leader
A strategic leader plays various roles in an organization as his responsibilities are more
than just to induce or motivate others towards goals. He acts as a navigator, strategist,
entrepreneur, change agent, motivator and captivator. A strategic leader identifies the issues
and causes that are affecting the organization. He develops the strategies for long term vision
of the organization and takes risk as an entrepreneur by exploit the opportunities at right time
(Covin & Slevin, 2017). The leader is also work as a change agent by developing the mind of
employees to accept the change or take it in a positive note rather than resisting it. Strategic
leader also plays role of motivator by influencing, developing, encouraging and attracting the
efficient workforce and talent in the organization and as a captivator the leader is responsible
for inducing people to follow the vision by developing dedication, passion and persistence
towards the common goal and vision. Except from all these roles the strategic leader also plays
the role of crisis manager, integrator, visionary, policy maker, mobilizer and a spokesperson
(Mittal & Dhar, 2015).
Leadership style
Strategic leadership is a process in which the strategic leader opts for a best fit
leadership style to lead the team towards strategic vision. In the case the new senior manager
should opt for the democratic or participative style of leadership and transformational style of
leadership. As the responsibility of a strategic leader is to take difficult decision and encourage
productivity and innovation in the organization and in order to lead 57 employees towards
common direction it is essential to use democratic style of leadership to satisfy the employees
and to make sure that all of them contribute with a shared vision for the future.
Democratic Leadership style helps in the leader to take decision by considering other
team member’s opinion or take suggestions from the subordinates. This style ensures the
strong feedback mechanism in the organization. The democratic style of strategic leadership is

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helpful in increasing the commitment level of the subordinates towards the organization goal as
subordinated also get preference and through that they feel themselves as the important part
of the organization in decision making (Puni & Agyemang, 2016). This also brings the benefit of
diverse opinions and innovative solutions to the strategic leader and from that the leader
implements innovative solutions for the problems. Innovation is encouraged in the organization
if the strategic leader opts for the democratic leadership style because employees are free to
give ideas, suggestions, and feedback and challenge the status quo. The democratic style
develops an environment to think outside of the box and for an organization this type of
environment can brings benefits in terms of product development and productivity. This style
help build a positive work environment that is based on trust. Since leaders and subordinates
have equal rights to decision making and to access the information so there is no mistrust or
resentment within the group. It brings the trust of subordinates on the leader’s motive and
decision taken by the leader and this will be helpful in motivating the subordinates as their
efforts are in the right direction. More the trust amongst the leader and subordinate in the
workplace, the more loyal and motivated the subordinates will be. Overall, the democratic style
can push up productivity and accordingly increase the bottom line (Tang, 2019).
Strategic leader lead the team according to the situation and behavior of their
members. Transformational leadership style also proves to be an effective one for the strategic
leader. People who possess this style are the most effective leader who always tries to inspire
others in a constant manner to achieve the future goal. The main characteristic of
transformational leader is to take initiatives to change the status quo and adapt the changes
quickly in an organization through identifying the opportunities in the environment. In order to
lead the team under transformational leadership style following elements are necessary in
order to be a transformational leader creating vision for the future, motivating employees to
deliver the vision, managing the employees, building strong relationship with the employees.
First of all a transformational leader formulate the strategy to develop an inspiring vision for
the people, encourage people to chase the vision, linking the goal of individuals with the
organization vision, motivating their team to follow the change or to accept the change as soon

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as possible, communicate the roles and responsibilities clearly to each individual and connect
all this to the strategic plans (Nguyen, Mia, & Chong, 2017).
The transformational leadership style and democratic leadership style are two styles
that should be followed by the senior manager in the organization in order to be an effective
strategic leader. As these two styles are the best and useful in the current business scenario.
The strategies that are formulated by the management to achieve the goal can only be
implemented through the leaders in the organization. A leader should possess necessary traits
for effectively implementing the strategies in an organization and for that democratic style and
transformational style are helpful as these styles are highly effective if used in a proper manner.
Actions taken to lead the team
Strategic leaders are facing many challenges related to modernizing the organization
and to lead in this competitive environment. In order to deal with the challenges the strategic
leaders take necessary actions to lead the team so as these steps can be taken by the senior
manager to lead the employees in the organization for that firstly he has to; forming a strategic
vision, developing skills of members, allocate resources, give a clear action plan to the
employees according to their role and then providing incentives (Rosenbach, 2018).
According to Blanchard these five actions should be taken by strategic leader. The first
step to be taken is to set the goal or vision of the organization towards which all the team
members will work. After building the vision for them second step is to develop the skills that
they need in order to accomplish the task as per their role. The main action that should be
taken by the leader is to give responsibilities to team by identifying their key strengths or
individual strengths that will be helpful in getting the best out of each employee through
assigning them the task they can do their best. This will be also helpful in differentiating the
efficient employees or skilled employees in the organization as for a new leader firstly knowing
their team members is important than consequently he can take steps to manage them. After
allocating the responsibilities next action is to allocate the resources to the employees and then
they will work as per the action plan. In between the role of a strategic leader is to take action
to motivate the employees in the same direction and then evaluating the performance of the

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team as per the strategic vision and process. Finally then the strategic leader give incentives to
the deserving employees as per their work and efforts all these actions are helpful in
implementing the change by a leader in an organization (Jennings & Stahl, 2016).
In this changing environment the roles and responsibilities of the strategic leaders are
not only limited to these five action plan rather they have to act as the change agent and follow
the actions like motivating the employees to accept the change, communicate them the need
of change, understanding the problems of the employees regarding change and take effective
actions to remove that barriers. In the strategic management process the role of strategic
leader is in strategy implementation as all the actions are taken under this process to
implement the strategies.
The actions that is taken by the strategic leader for strategic implementation includes
the whole organization in the change that is divided into two groups that are Soft S ( staff,
shared values, skills and styles) and Hard S ( structure, system and strategy) Appendix 3. In
order to ensure effective implementation of the strategy by the actions of the strategic leader
these seven factors are interconnected to each other. The strategic leader take action to align
strategy with the structure and system and this action can be taken by the leader by using an
effective leadership style and as discussed above the manger will opt for the transformational
and democratic leadership style. The leader has to take actions regarding activities related to
staffing that includes hiring, training and development of the potential skills employees and
acquiring skilled resource for the organization if necessary. The heart of this strategic leadership
action framework is shared values. Ultimately all the actions of the leader is directed towards
shared values that is the driving force for the organization (Blanchard, 2018).

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Conclusion
Strategic leadership is defined as the ability of the leaders to lead the organization in a
strategic way by planning for the long term. The strategic leader possesses various skills to lead
the organization some of them are transparency, delegation of responsibilities, innovative
thinking, empathy and transparency. All these traits of the strategic leader depend on the style
they follow to lead the group. In the above case discussed, the senior manager should opt for
the transformational leadership style and democratic leadership style. Both of these styles are
related to the characteristics of a strategic leader as transformational style includes innovative
thinking, take risky decisions and to encourage the change whereas the democratic style
focuses on the active engagement of the employees in the organization in order to improve the
productivity or final outcome. The actions that are taken by the leaders in order to lead the
team or group includes formulation of vision, assigning them the tasks and goals as per their
abilities, acquiring necessary skills as per the strategic goals, allocating the resources to the
team and measuring their performance as per the standard. The strategic leadership action is
explained through 7s McKinsey model of the action. This specifies that all the actions are
interconnected towards the shared values and goals. So it is concluded that strategic leadership
is a complex process but need to be adopted by the organization in this changing environment
as a strategic leaders plays various roles in an organization in order to lead the team effectively.

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References
Bergh, D. D., Aguinis, H., & Heavey, C. (2016). Using meta analytic structural equation modeling‐
to advance strategic management research: Guidelines and an empirical illustration via
the strategic leadership performance relationship.‐ Strategic Management, 477-497.
Blanchard, K. (2018). Leading at a higher level: Blanchard on leadership and creating high
performing organizations. FT press.
Carnall, C., & Roebuck, C. (2015). Strategic Leadership Development: Building World Class
Performance. UK: Macmillan .
Covin, J. G., & Slevin, D. P. (2017). The entrepreneurial imperatives of strategic leadership.
Strategic entrepreneurship: Creating a new mindset, 307-327.
Finkelstein, S., Hambrick, D. C., & Cannella, A. A. (2009). Strategic leadership: Theory and
research on executives, top management teams, and boards. US: Oxford University
Press.
Heracleous, L., & Papachroni, A. (2016). Strategic Leadership. Singapore: Sage Publications.
Hooijberg, R., & Lane, N. (2015). Strategic leadership. Encyclopedia of Management, 1-4.
Jennings, K., & Stahl, J. (2016). The serving leader: Five powerful actions to transform your team,
business, and community. Berrett Koehler Publishers.
Kaufman, R. (2017). Practical strategic leadership: Aligning human performance development
with organizational contribution. Performance Improvement, 16-21.

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Kraft, P. S., & Bausch, A. (2016). One Style does not fit all! Examining Strategic Leadership
Behaviors for Innovation across Cultures. Academy of Management, 108.
Marshall, S. (2019). What does the future look like for strategic leadership? Strategic Leadership
of change, 80.
Mittal, S., & Dhar, R. L. (2015). Transformational leadership and employee creativity: mediating
role of creative self-efficacy and moderating role of knowledge sharing. Management
Decision, 894-910.
Morden, T. (2016). Principles of strategic management. New York: Routledge.
Nguyen, T. T., Mia, L., & Chong, V. K. (2017). Effect of transformational-leadership style and
management control system on managerial performance. Journal of Business Research,
202-213.
Olwan, A. A., Irtaimeh, H. J., & Lozi, M. (2019). Strategic Leadership Competencies and its
Relationship on Achieving Organizational Commitment: A Theoretical Study. Journal of
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Puni, A., & Agyemang, C. B. (2016). Leadership styles, employee turnover intentions and
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Rosenbach, W. E. (2018). Contemporary issues in leadership. New York: Routledge.
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Appendix
Appendix 1 Components of Strategic Leadership
Source: (Finkelstein, Hambrick, & Cannella, 2009)
Creating a
vision
High level
Management
Strategy
Formulation
Revolutionary
Thinking
Anticipating
and creating
future

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Appendix 2: Strategic Leadership and Strategic Management Process
Appendix 3: Strategic Leadership Actions ( 7s McKinsey Model)
Source: (Heracleous & Papachroni, 2016)
Strategic
Influencing
Strategic
Planning
Strategic
Acting
Strategic
Teaming
Strategic
Learning
Struc ture
Syste ms
Style
Staff
Skills
Strate gy
Shared
Values