Strategic Leadership

1. Strategic Leadership An overview for Human Resource Professionals Linda J. Nolte, MA, CMC, RODC January 2014

2. What do you think? • If you were the owner, president, CEO, founder, manager/director of an organization and you realized that your staff members were not supporting your direction, what would you do? • If you were the key HR liaison for this person, what kind of support would you offer?

3. Leadership • What words do you think of? • Best/worst leader? • Defining leadership is similar to nailing a custard pie to the wall

4. Poor Leadership is an Oxymoron

5. Assumptions about Leadership That leadership is • A special rarified state of being • Independent of personal success • Conferred on a chosen few

6. Interdependence

7. What does it take to get followers? • It depends • On what? • What followers are seeking compared to/matched with what you offer and provide

8. Leaders: Born or Made? • Proliferation of books, seminars, classes, workshops, degrees, etc. on leadership • Lots of money to be made in the leadership industry • Myths and Realities

9. What do you think?

10. Strategic Leadership • Articulates and Promotes the vision and long term direction • May not be the sole creator, but might be! • Cheerleader and Drill team

11. What is Strategy? 1. A method or plan chosen to bring about a desired future, such as achievement of a goal or solution to a problem. 2. The art and science of planning and marshalling resources for their most efficient and effective use. The term is derived from the Greek word for generalship or leading an army.

12. What is strategy? Project-based to support goals also can be similar to tactics.

13. What do we mean by “strategic?” • Strategy – upper case? • strategy – lower case? • Context • Intent • Intra vs. Inter organizational • Community • Volunteer • Public Sector • Private Sector • USA or International?

14. Strategy

15. Strategy

16. Strategy

17. The Literature: • Hart: studied ancient Greeks through WWII “the art if distributing and applying military means to fulfill the ends of policy” • Moltke: Distributing and applying military means to fulfill the ends of policy.

18. The Literature Mintzberg • Strategy is a plan, a "how," a means of getting from here to there. • Strategy is a pattern in actions over time; for example, a company that regularly markets very expensive products is using a "high end" strategy. • Strategy is position; that is, it reflects decisions to offer particular products or services in particular markets. • Strategy is perspective, that is, vision and direction.

19. The Literature Kenneth Andrews • "Corporate strategy is the patternof decisions in a company … Treacy and Wiersema • Narrowing, not broadening • three "value-disciplines" that can serve as the basis for strategy: operational excellence, customer intimacy, and product leadership

20. The Literature Porter • About being different • Unique value mix • Competitive view Kepner Tregoe • Framework guiding choices • 9 factors but single driving force • Matter of perspective Robert • Think and manage strategically • 4 decisions • 10 possibilities for a driving force

21. Tregoe and Zimmerman urge executives to base these decisions on a single "driving force" of the business. Although there are nine possible driving forces, only one can serve as the basis for strategy for a given business. The nine possibilities are listed below: • Products offered • Production capability • Natural resources • Market needs • Method of sale • Size/growth • Technology • Method of distribution • Return/profit Michel Robert takes a similar view of strategy in, Strategy Pure & Simple [8], where he argues that the real issues are "strategic management" and "thinking strategically." For Robert, this boils down to decisions pertaining to four factors: • Products and services • Market segments • Customers • Geographic areas • Like Tregoe and Zimmerman, Robert claims that decisions about which products and services to offer, the customers to be served, the market segments in which to operate, and the geographic areas of operations should be made on the basis of a single "driving force." Again, like Tregoe and Zimmerman, Robert claims that several possible driving forces exist but only one can be the basis for strategy. The 10 driving forces cited by Robert are • Product-service • Sales-marketing method • User-customer • Distribution method • Market type • Natural resources • Production capacity-capability • Size/growth • Technology • Return/profit

22. The Literature: • George Steiner: • that which top management does that is of great importance to the organization • refers to basic directional decisions, that is, to purposes and missions • consists of the important actions necessary to realize these directions • answers the question: What should the organization be doing? • answers the question: What are the ends we seek and how should we achieve them?

23. The Decisions are the same: • The choices between and among products and services, customers and markets, distribution channels, technologies, pricing, and geographic operations, etc. • What is required is a structured, disciplined, systematic way of making these decisions. • Options • "driving forces" • “value disciplines" • "value-chain analysis“ • All three as a system of cross-checks

24. The Practical Question: How? How does one determine, articulate and communicate company-wide ends? How does one ensure understanding and obtain commitment to these ends?

25. Strategy and strategy Confused yet? How would YOU differentiate?

26. Elements of Leadership Strategy • Values • Vision • Mission • Goals

27. Elements of Leadership Strategy Values Non-negotiable tenets which influence how you are willing to work/live/volunteer.

28. Elements of Leadership Strategy Vision :What we want vs. what we want to avoid

29. Elements of Leadership Strategy Mission

30. Elements of Leadership Strategy Mission “Guided by relentless focus on our five imperatives, we will constantly strive to implement the critical initiatives required to achieve our vision. In doing this, we will deliver operational excellence in every corner of the Company and meet or exceed our commitments to the many constituencies we serve. All of our long-term strategies and short-term actions will be molded by a set of core values that are shared by each and every associate.”

31. In what order? • Values/Vision first • Mission • Goals

32. Elements of Leadership Strategy Goals • State the desired goal • Long-term goals • Short-term goals • What does success look like?

33. Goals and Objectives: 2014 Annualized • $5M in gross sales • 15% net profit • Less than 2% involuntary turnover in staff • Grow new customer base by at least 15% • Increase sales to existing customers by at least 23% • Survey results = 95% positive staff satisfaction • Fewer than 1% safety incidents

34. Goal Alignment

35. Terms to Confuse and Abuse • Tactics • Tasks • Strategies vs. strategies • Steps • Processes • Job Descriptions • Job Aids • Instructions • Targets • Outcomes

36. Process Model for Strategy Development

37. Why this works!

38. Let’s try a few examples:

39. Smalltown Community Gardens • Values: eliminating hunger, erasing loneliness, building self-sufficient skills • Vision: Nobody in Smalltown, OR is hungry or lonely, unless by choice • Mission: Develop many gardens where citizens gather to produce and share healthy fruits and vegetables and build supportive relationships

40. Smalltown Community Gardens • Values: we all include and help each other • Vision: Everyone in Smalltown, OR has access to, healthy food, supportive friendships, and empowerment • Mission: Develop many gardens where citizens gather to produce and share healthy fruits and vegetables and be involved in mutually-supportive relationships

41. Smalltown Community Gardens Strategic Intent: Smalltown is a safe, sustainable place to live and thrive – everyone wants to live here and no one wants to leave!

42. Smalltown Community Gardens • Goals: • Acquire one location per square mile • Designate one coordinator per garden • Identify participants for each garden • Tactics • Layout and prepare each garden • Select and plant • Maintain • Harvest

43. Smalltown Community Gardens Questions? How would we sell such a vision? Who will directly engage? • Master Gardeners • Land Owners • Existing producing gardens and farms? • Swap volunteer labor for food? • Other groups that have a related vision/mission around hunger, loneliness, self-sufficiency Outreach?

44. What Pulls Me? All organizations can be excellent! Knowledge and skillsexist to make it so! Together we can make excellence the norm!

45. XXX Consulting • Values • Vision • Mission • Strategy • Goals • Tactics

46. XXX Consulting • Strategy • Vision • Tactics • Mission • Goals • Values • Doing things the right way; calling out the elephant in the room. • All organizations are healthy and profitable; they contribute generously to their communities. A better world! • Ask for referrals and leads to like-minded professionals • To consult so that all organizations are led by those who understand organizational behavior and how to balance human, financial, and physical resources within and without their communities. • Share knowledge and experience with HR professionals and support HR professionals in fostering organizational effectiveness and leadership. • Networking, teaching, consulting and presenting on areas of interest and necessity • Complete at least one meaningful contact per month and share my VVMSGT

47. Failure of Leadership • Strategic Leadership is redundant • Poor Leadership is an oxymoron

48. Fitting it Together

49. The Point! • This is not about what to think, or the one “right” answer… but about how to think about the best answer for your organization at this time…. • HR professionals are well-trained and clearly a group of life-long learners… • The best answer today may not be the best answer tomorrow… • BUT… the principles remain constant.

50. Questions?