Strategic Leadership : A Strategic Leader

The London Academy for Higher Education: Extended Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership Course Manual 2011 / 2012

Strategic leadership in healthcare is the act of transforming a health care organization so that its daily functioning matches the organization’s vision, core values, the cultures it serves, as well as organization’s culture, organizational climate and structure. In implementing strategic leadership, managers and healthcare executives can gain a greater sense of clarity in the changes that need to be made so that the organization can reach its full potential. Healthcare leaders can also make stronger connections internally and externally, with incorporating strategic leadership, to help the organization grow and expand the organization’s reputation, while contribute to the organization’s well-being.

Strategic management is the process where leaders establish an organization’s long-term direction, set the specific performance objectives, develop strategies to achieve these objectives in the light of all external and internal changes, and undertake effective strategies to manage these changes and execute action plans.

Pearce, J. A. II, & Robinson, R. B. (2009). Strategic management: Formulation, implementation, and control (11th ed.). [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-text]. New York: McGraw-Hill. Retrieved August 20, 2011, fr

John Kotter, a leading advocate and educator in change initiatives, expresses two essential characteristics that must be present in any change initiative. First, any change that is considered to be useful and necessary must go through a multi-step process that will transcend obstacles in its way. Second, it is essential that any change initiative must be lead by effective leadership (Kotter, 1996). However, any leader in a change initiate must reconcile the reality that a major component to mankind’s instinctive nature is that people have an inherent need for predictability and order (Hogan, 2007). Leaders must, therefore, consider that initiatives may be experienced in ways that contradict this basic need leading to employee resistance (Bernerth, 2011). Considering such a potential obstacle, Kotter developed an eight-stage change process to guide organizations through initiatives in ways that may retain employee stability and enable employees to maintain a sense of identity and understanding (Huy, 1999).

Often times, leadership and management can easily be confused although they are very different on a fundamental level. More so, leadership is a process focused on making organizational changes. Leadership directs its focus towards, “tomorrow”. Additionally, leadership is transformational, consultative, and participative. It is geared toward leading people, having followers, and is often times regarded as people-oriented. Management on the other hand is about controls and results, it focuses towards, “today”. Management is authoritative, autocratic, consultative, and democratic. Management focuses on administering work that is to be completed. Also, managers have subordinates and is task-oriented. In relation to strategic planning both leadership and management have very different jobs. Effectiveness in an organization is directly dependent on the leaders. Strategic planning is crucial when clarifying where your organization is going and what measures you may be taking to reach your goal. Leaders are the ones who assemble the strategic plans to reach the goal. Through implementing the strategic plan, leaders influence people so that they are able to do their job willingly and enthusiastically. The leaders central focus is on the principles and guidelines. They work to ensure the strategic plan encourages any change that is needed. On the other hand, management organizes and coordinates the necessary steps of the strategic plan. They bring stability to plan and help regulate any policies and procedures that may be necessary in the strategic plan process. Managements attempts to have a firm basis on the control of what might be essential for the strategic plan. A few questions I might have for the management team at Oakwood Health Services are: “What criteria will we use to

Dr. Copeland says, I do not know exact wording for strategic leadership, but according to my opinion the strategic leader is who, works as separate individual along with group of people and create the road map, alliance, and assurance needed to accomplish the standards along with the goals for the organization.

The process of implementing change can be cumbersome and difficult at times, and need to follow some type of planning. Effective planning needs to include devising strategies on change implementation. Sometimes change requires management to come up with methods or solutions that are completely different from those developed and used in the past.

According to Koh and Jacobson (2009), although strategic leadership is a requirement for running any organization, the strategic leadership in Public health extends in scope and indulgence. The leaders in public health have a driving force, which is a profound sense of mission. They know that their mission will have many challenges but still take on the mantle of leadership. Strategic Leadership in Public health spells uncertainty in results and the wounding of the leader in the quest for achieving the mission. Viewing it from this dimension, I can help nut develop some fear for failure and being turn down as it is the norm for public health leadership.

Each situation, team, or company may require a different or combination of a few tactics. This approach will directly affect the outcome of the scenario. In 2002, Jeff Marsee explored ten steps to implementing change:

According to the author “individuals and teams enact strategy leadership when they create the direction, alignment, and commitment needed to achieve the enduring performance potential of the organization.” Pg.11. Strategic leadership tends to make significant changes within the organization for long periods of time, and includes “It also exist in individuals and teams throughout the organization who are close to the customer, consumer, and client and have access to data and information that are that are important for the lonterm success of the organization…In this way, the best CEO’s rely on and nurture input and insights throughout the organization to set the strategy, and help in understanding how well the strategy is working.” Pg.

Those who wish to become strategic leaders must first recognize that leadership is not, nor should never be about someone wishing to be popular. The reality is that what may presently appear to be popular may be ruinous in the long term, and organizations that do not continuously evolve generally encounter numerous challenges and obstacles. Times change, societies change, and members needs change, and thus if an organization wishes to be relevant and maintain membership, revenues and keep their missions vital, it must be willing and able to adapt and evolve. Doing this requires leadership who strategically consider the future, and where their emphasis and focus must be. Strategic leaders also consider ramifications of either taking actions which may be potentially unpopular or even in error versus the impact that taking no action will take. Strategic leaders understand that even avoiding taking action is, in and of itself, taking an action, and that everything either has or potentially may have a ramification.

It is a difficult task when soliciting buy-in from subordinates in an organizational change initiative due to an inherent resistance to change. This synopsis will present three change tactics that are commonly used to engage employees in the change process and they are: Kotter’s 8-step Process for Leading Change, the Change Management Foundation Model, and Deming’s Plan-Do-Check-Act model. It will also discuss why organizations should use benchmarks in the change process. This document will conclude with a summary of this discussion.

In the review of the book, “Making Change Work: Practical Tools for Overcoming Human Resistance to Change,” I decided to summarize the major steps the book establishes. It discusses how to begin the change process by understanding your need for change, to the final step of the change process where an organization needs to implement changes. After summarizing the steps, I am going to show how the book relates to the textbook, Organizational Change: An Action-Oriented Toolkit, as well as giving a managerial implication.

Before coming to USAWC I think that my experience and knowledge gained during the twenty-five years of service is an important quality to possess. At one point I thought: “A few years until retirement, and probably no special secrets for me to discover during academic year. I can only confirm what I know, gained some new knowledge and meet a bunch of interesting people before returning home". Much to my surprise, already after the first reading and discussion at the seminar, made me realize that this will be more interesting than I had hoped.