In short
The one question that every executive ultimately needs to ask is, “What business are we in?”
The art of strategic leadership
Strategic leadership is the essential skill to transform a strategy into sustainable results!
Strategic leadership doesn’t come easily in most organizations. Statistics show that fewer than 10% of leaders exhibit strategic skills, a woefully inadequate number considering the demands on organizations today. Strategic skills aren’t needed only in times of growth. During tough times, when resources are tight, it is even more important to ensure those resources are focused in the right areas.
Leaders throughout organizations face tremendous pressures to make short-term numbers and show immediate wins. Operational leadership rules the day. This can lead to a lack of focus. Strategic leadership requires one to think, act and influence others in ways that promote the enduring success of the organization.
The mindset of strategic leadership
First, strategic thinking is grounded in a strong understanding of the complex relationship between the organization and its environment. It requires taking a broad view, involving the right people, with important information and perspectives, asking probing questions and facilitating conversations. Strategic thinkers then identify connections, patterns and key issues.
Next, strategic acting involves taking decisive action that is consistent with the strategic direction of the organization–despite all ambiguity, complexity and chaos. A strategic plan is only a plan; an organization’s actual strategies lie in the decisions and choices people make.
Strategic leaders act in ways that manage the tension between success in daily tasks and success in the long term. They facilitate other’s strategic actions, too, by providing a balance of direction and autonomy, of learning from actions and rewarding appropriate risk-taking.
Finally, strategic influencing is about building commitment to the organization’s strategic direction by inviting others into the strategic process, forging relationships inside and outside the organization, and navigating the political landscape.
To effectively influence others, leaders must understand the impact that they have on them. They should also understand the needs, styles and motivations of others. That's why strategic leadership is both an organizational and a personal process, and it is one that today’s businesses cannot afford to ignore. The job of strategy is not limited to a few top executives. Strategic leaders are needed throughout every organizations if they are to adapt, innovate and succeed well into the future. At IMG we address all of these issues.
Focus on your business
Our business strategy consultants support clients in the translation of innovative and core competencies into real business value by formulating strategies, managing change, and realizing benefits.
Working collaboratively with clients, IMG provides solutions to the business needs that your organization is confronted with, such as growing revenues, streamlining costs and linking strategy to execution.
The most important issue, of course, is achieving sustainable growth and profitability in the global marketplace. But there is no uniform growth strategy. IMG provides tailor-made solutions that are right for your company/organization.
Strategy matters
For some, generating superior performance is all about execution and leadership. For others, however, strategy is paramount – a prerequisite to producing exceptional performance and, therefore, an asset that must be continuously improved and periodically renewed.
The best strategies guide and focus the organization’s energy on a selective set of market opportunities and sources of competitive advantage; they reflect proprietary insights into what drives customer and company value; they make the whole worth more than the parts; they are consequential in terms of decision-making, resource allocation and action.
Featured Insights
The Empowerment of Leadership
Most leaders are “built” not “born.” Many labor under the misconception that leadership is an innate ability resident only in a select few. It is possible to look at great leaders of the past and think that they possess some genetic or socialized code that we cannot possess. The truth is that some people are “born leaders” but they are small minority of the people actually called upon to lead.
Additionally, leadership is no longer confined to just the people at the top of the organization. Historically, organizations only required the people at the top of the organization to lead, but in today’s complex organizations where all the energies of the organization are centered on the customer, it is necessary for people at all levels to be competent leaders. At any given point in time, anyone can be called on to take a leadership role in a mission-critical project.
IMG uses a simple and powerful model for development of leadership ability. By following these five steps, we can improve the understanding and capability of leaders at all levels of the organization.