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Why Strategic Leadership is Important

Why Strategic Leadership is Important
Strategic Leadership in Organizations Every person is bestowed with innumerable opportunities through-out his/her life time. Very few are able to identify those angelistic gateways to success; I don’t agree with the age-old saying “Opportunity knocks the door only once.” In this dynamic world we are in a position to create opportunities and build our businesses around to witness our dreams turning into reality. What is strategic leadership? Have you got the spark in you? What started as a small spark of starting an online book store has instigated Sachin and Binny Bansal to build the top most online retail selling platform Flipkart. Bharat Matrimony founder Murugavel Janakiraman identified the unexplored niche of prospective marriage alliances over the internet by creating an online portal which facilitated girls and boys to project their profiles suitably and search for the man or woman of their dreams with ease minus embarrassment. A spark or an idea is what is needed to get into the groove to achieve something that delivers value not only to the creator but to the public over a period of time. Strategic leaders are not born, they are definitely made; they learn from their mistakes, have an eye for chances, molded by the environment they are exposed to and groom themselves to adapt to the setting. What is Strategic Leadership? Strategic leadership provides the vision and direction for the growth and success of an organization. A strategic leader institutionalizes a vision and helps the members of the organization to learn how to convert the objectives into action. A strategic leader also helps to sustain the momentum and interest of the people working under him by exuding the passion towards accomplishing the objectives in the long run. Organizations steered by strategic leaders are more successful in learning, both at the individual and group levels. Both the administrative and visionary traits of leadership are essential for organization-wide learning initiatives to succeed. The organization always needs to learn new things and at the same time, to systematize newly discovered approaches of learning. Strategic leaders believe human capital as an important factor in innovation and the creation of core competencies, and they invest considerable effort sustaining the health of this resource. These leaders attach consideration in building their organization’s resources, capabilities and competencies in order to gain appropriate, sustained competitive advantages. Strategic leaders very well know that focusing on the short term and forgetting about core competencies in the face of changing circumstances will prove to deliver disastrous results. Top Ten Characteristics of a Strategic Leader: Mission focusedAbility to see the big pictureCapable of matching organization’s objectives with the changing environmentCreative approach to problem solvingFuturistic thinkingEmotionally IntelligentBuild a strong team of capable peopleClear about their choicesCombine analytical vigor with serendipityExcellent communicators 3 Key Responsibilities of Strategic Leadership Take Responsibility for Vision, Alignment and DeploymentCreate a Culture of EmpowermentBuild...
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Goals Vs Objectives

Goals Vs Objectives

A goal has the word ‘go’ in it. Your goals should go forward in an unambiguous direction. However, goals are more about everything you accomplish on your journey, rather than getting to that distant point. Goals will often go into undiscovered territory and you therefore can’t even know where the end will be.

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You Can Delegate Authority, but Not Responsibility

You Can Delegate Authority, but Not Responsibility
You Can Delegate Authority, but Not Responsibility Responsibility of a Manager: A corporate manager is accorded with the huge responsibility of leading his subordinates in the right direction, by giving proper insights on the tasks to be accomplished. The success rate depends on how well he delegates his authority down the line to get things done. The art of delegation results not only in down sizing his work pressure but also in the empowerment of subordinates, that elevates them to a higher plane of understanding and achievement. An Excerpt from The Art of Delegation: Developing This Essential Managerial Skill Delegation helps you handover the authority of certain tasks to capable team members so that you free up your time to work on more pressing issues. But you still remain responsible to get those completed in proper way. Hence it is essential to have a status check or communication with the team member on regular basis. Accountability of Subordinates: The subordinates, when entrusted with the responsibilities of performing a task by themselves and the necessary authority to make decisions within the area of their assigned duties, are obliged to perform. The necessary assistance and training for the new assignment has to be planned for, by the manager to make them perform as per the expected standards. The thing is right people should be chosen for the entrusted job. They should possess the zeal and enthusiasm to deliver the desired output. Some people perform beyond expectations and they should be rewarded with additional responsibilities. Whatever the case may be, it is a wise thing to delegate simple assignments at the initial stage, and proceed with more challenging jobs depending upon the caliber of the incumbent. THE ENTREPRENEUR’S GUIDE TO DELEGATION Clear and Clever Delegation: Clear and clever delegation facilitates to build a formal organization structure, where the subordinates are trained well and they look up to the manager for direction and guidance. Although the authority is delegated, the manager is held accountable and answerable to the management for the performance output or the end result. Some managers hesitate to delegate, just for the reason that their weaknesses might get exposed. Some don’t have confidence in their subordinates. Some even fear that they might lose their power if the subordinate is very shrewd and exceeds the expectations. Managers fail because of poor delegation; the reasons being personal attitude of managers in delegating authority. Let us understand some of the basic principles to be adhered to while delegating: The authority delegated to subordinates should be adequate enough to ensure their ability to accomplish the expected results. Authority can be delegated but responsibility can never be delegated. Responsibility of subordinates is “performance” and that of managers is “responsibility for the action of their subordinates”. One cannot be held responsible for a task if he has only limited authority. There need to be a balance between authority and responsibility. The presence of a single superior will invoke greater feeling of personal responsibility among the subordinates. Lack of receptiveness on the superior’s part will incur greater loss in terms of performance and efficiency. Instead, a manager should develop a trustful attitude towards his subordinates and should have the patience to explain the policies, objectives and guidelines and give sufficient authority to perform a duty. HOW WELL EMPLOYEES KNOW ABOUT YOUR ORGANIZATION? Although initially the efforts taken to train a subordinate is time consuming, the more empowered he becomes, less is your time taken to accomplish the enterprise objectives. The superior must be able to create a climate of mutual trust and goodwill, to make delegations effective in the light of expected...
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What Motivates Your Employee

What Motivates Your Employee
Motivation is one area where periodical updates are necessary for an organisation to gauge the morale and mood of their employees. Companies sometimes act very smart in that they break their hands by patting their own back. If you wish to propel your organisation forward, you need to satisfy your work force first. The million dollar question is a big “HOW?” Well, a problem properly diagnosed is half done. And this motivation thingy is not a problem at all. Keen observation and understanding is what is needed on a manager’s part to steer things in the right direction, that is good for the company. Man, even your kid will turn his back if you want to take control by unleashing your power. The right thing to do is to find out exactly how motivated they are. There are several things that come into the purview of motivation.Let us do this in a questionnaire format so that things might fall in place. Question No 1: What is that, that motivates an employee, to be more precise your employee? (This turns out to be the hot dissertation topic for many young MBA’s) Is it any one of the following? Financial rewards Clear Goals Connecting with others Rank Appreciation and Recognition Throat neck competition Job security Fear Results Excitement Variation or Diversity Principle of Motivation: Well, the principle of motivation is pretty much the  same for all individuals. I 100 % go with Maslow’s hierarchial needs theory which travels right from physical needs at the base of the pyramid upto self realisation at the top. If this is the case,how come there is a disparity when everybody is subjected to the same kind of influence at the work place? For some it stops somewhere in the middle who are very much satisfied with the pay check figure and the perks that go with it. For some there is an inner drive that makes them unstoppable until they reach the pinnacle. This is the very thing that differentiates a manager from a subordinate. This is the very thing that distinguishes a CEO from a manager. This is the same thing that generates top business guns and management gurus who fall a genre apart form the rest of the crowd. Well, there are other factors such as the family background and the environmental influence that shaped up your personality all through. Motivation Surveys: Motivation surveys are not only important in getting to know your employees but also it showers a immaculate image on the company. It feels good for your workforce when they are involved and consulted with, on issues related to themselves. A recent Harvard review has stated that most of the managers feel that they really get motivated when there is : “Recognition for Good Work.” But folks, you will be surprised to know that the same review reveals another side of the coin, the top motivation for workers is when they make “Progress.” Again, call it the inner drive, impulse, motive, ambition, fire in belly, vigor, vitality…Getting to know your work force makes you “BOND WITH THEM” and it aids you in plugging the holes at the right place and at the right time. See, there is no bench mark for motivation, you respect your work force, treat them with dignity, communicate well and give them what they want and that’s it, you are defintely a winner. If you are a person capable of motivating your work force, you automatically become a source of inspiration. My humble suggestions to managers goes thus: 1. Make your employees understand what motivates them.( Kindly find what flares your temper before venturing into this exercise.!) 2....
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Corporate Policy Formulation

Corporate Policy Formulation
Corporate policy formulation What are Policies? Business activities should be based on some solid principles that serve as guidelines for direction. These principles are nothing but policies which help a business firm in attaining its goal. Policy does not tell a person exactly what to do, but it does point out the direction in which to go. While objectives are a goal or an end to be sought, policies are a general rule of action which helps in attaining a  goal. Policy Statements Statements released by corporate firms generally highlight the major policies behind their action. For instance, if a firm says that, its aim is to provide the customers with products that are competitive in terms of quality, price, weight and contents, it tries to sum up the recurring problems in the industry and assures the customers that it will serve the customers in the true spirit of business. What is the meaning of Policy Formulation? Policies are generally formulated by the officials of the top management cadre, as policies reflect the mode of thought and principles underlying the activities of an organization. Policies guide a firm in the following aspects. Thinking Decision making Conduct of business Enterprise operations Problem solving So, it is evident that each policy contains two components, a “principle” and a “rule of action”. Corporate policies are statements of directions, guidance for corporate thinking, corporate behavior and action, and therefore cover a very broad area. Such policy formulations are made in the light of challenges posed from the external environment exposing the strengths and weaknesses of the organization.  The Process of Policy Formulation Process of policy formulation – corporate management – Manu Melwin Joy from...
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