Leadership

WHITE PAPER

WHAT SENIOR LEADERS DO:

THE NINE ROLES OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP

BY LOREN APPELBAUM EXECUTIVE CONSULTANT, SUCCESSION MANAGEMENT PRACTICE, DDI MATTHEW PAESE, PH.D. PRACTICE LEADER, EXECUTIVE SUCCESSION MANAGEMENT, DDI

it remains one of management’s highest priorities. With the speed of change facing business today, the need for effective senior level strategic leaders, who can formulate and execute business strategies to produce desired results, is seen as critical to the very survival of the business. Contrasted with operational leaders, whose primary role is to manage day-to-day business operations, leaders who transition from operational to strategic leadership must assume a variety of key roles to achieve longerterm strategic business results in pursuit of profitable sales growth, increased market share, implementation of change, and the strategic alliances that will help achieve these goals. Quite often, one of the biggest barriers to success in making the transition to strategic leadership is a lack of insight into the roles that leaders need to assume at the senior strategic level. A taxonomy is needed that defines and helps to clarify the nature of these roles and the transition leaders must make to perform well in these roles. This in turn will help better prepare leaders to be successful, and to provide a framework for their development and deployment.

WHITE PAPER — WHAT SENIOR LEADERS DO: THE NINE ROLES OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP

Advancement from the operational to the strategic level represents one of the most critical and challenging professional transitions a leader can make. And not all leaders can make the move successfully. The frequency of senior executive failure, churn and turnover is significant. Articles such as Fortune magazine’s “Why CEO’s Fail” (1999) provide numerous high-profile examples. A study by Manchester Consulting estimates that four in 10 senior leaders fail within the first 18 months on the job (Across the...