What Being A STRATEGIC Leader Means?

After, more than four decades, of involvement, in, nearly, all areas of leading, from identifying and qualifying, to training, developing, and consulting to, thousands of actual, and/ or, potential leaders, as well as creating, and presenting, leadership planning programs, etc, I have come to, strongly, believe, the best leaders, are, nearly, always, STRATEGIC ones. To be so, one must proceed, with a can – do, attitude, combined with a well – developed, skill – set, and aptitude, and being, ready, willing, and able, to proceed, forward, in the best, possible, way! With, that in mind, this article will attempt to, briefly, consider, examine, review, and discuss, using the mnemonic approach, what this means, and represents, and, why it matters.

1. Strengths/ stronger; serve/ service; solutions; system; sustainable: Effective leaders identify their personal strengths, and weaknesses, as well as the group’s, and focus on using every strength, while, addressing every area of weakness, with the purpose, of making the organization, more meaningful, and stronger! How can anyone, be a real leader, unless/ until, he prioritizes, providing the finest service, and be ready, willing, and able, to serve, the greater good! Instead of empty rhetoric, or populism, one must perceive and conceive of, create, and implement, the finest solutions, which might be addressed, through his relevant, sustainable, well – considered, system!

2. Timely; time – tested: Effective leadership, comes from, proceeding, with a combination of well – considered, timely action, which aligns with time – tested, experiences, etc, and identifying, which current trends, might, be, most useful, in this pursuit!

3. Relevant; reliable; realistic; right: Strategic leaders recognize relevant needs, goals, priorities, and perceptions, and, address them, in a reliable, realistic, well – considered, thorough manner! They weight, heavily, what the right thing to do, is!

4. Analysis; attitude; aptitude; attention; articulate: It takes a thorough analysis, combined with a true, positive, can – do, attitude, as well as a relevant, professionally – developed, aptitude/ skill – set, and paying keen attention, to address the most – pressing, issues! What one articulates, and, how it resonates, with his constituents, are essential aspects of any strategic plan!

5. Trust; trends; true: Unless others trust you, how can you, get them, to listen, and follow? This begins, with telling the truth, and, clearly, demonstrating, they are true, to their stakeholders, while taking advantage of the most relevant trends!

6. Empathy; emphasis; energize/ energy; efforts; excellence; endurance: Never settle for good – enough, but, demand your utmost degree of personal excellence! When, one, effectively, listens, and learns from every experience, and conversation, he becomes capable of the necessary empathy! This must direct his emphasis, and when his personal energy, energizes his stakeholders, his efforts, are, generally, most meaningful!

7. Growth; greater good; generate goodwill: Groups must undergo consistent growth, if they hope to generate goodwill, and serve the greater good!

8. Integrity; important; improve; imagination; innovate: There’s no substitute for absolute integrity, and it is important, to strive, to address, important priorities! Those, with an open – mind, must, strive to improve, and have a well – considered, relevant, imagination, combined with the ability to innovate, as necessary!

9. Character; conceive; create; coordinate: How can you be a strategic leader, unless/ until, you have the quality of character, combined with a willingness, to perceive and conceive of, create, and coordinate the group’s path, forward, by developing and implementing, the finest strategy, and corresponding, well – considered, action plan?

If you hope to be a real leader, strive to be a STRATEGIC one! Will you be up to the task?

About the author

Richard has owned businesses, been a COO, CEO, Director of Development, consultant, professionally run events, consulted to thousands of leaders, and conducted personal development seminars, for 4 decades. Rich has written three books and thousands of articles. His company, PLAN2LEAD, LLC has an informative website http://plan2lead.net and Plan2lead can also be followed on Facebook http://facebook.com/Plan2lead