Strategic Leadership :Uncertainty Times

Many companies require leaders with strong operational skills to help maintain the status quo within the organization. But, with the coronavirus outbreak, business leaders start rethinking their strategy, which arise many questions concerning Strategic Leadership: Uncertainty Times. Keeping that in mind, here are a few tips on strategic leadership that organizations can use if they are looking to cope with the challenges brought upon by the recent pandemic.

Strategic Leadership Begins with Courage

The best leaders are those that have a refined set of traits that differentiate them from
their peers. While there are many principles that make up a good strategic leader,
at the top of the list is always courage. What makes courage the most important
trait of any strategic leader is that it’s a choice. The best strategic leaders in
the world choose to be out in front and are constantly making bold decisions.
While having courage does not mean having any fear of consequences of one’s actions,
it means knowing the importance of leading from the front and keeping everyone
motivated towards a single goal.

Effective Communication

Effective communication remains an indispensable tool for any strategic leader, especially during these times of uncertainty. With the lockdown in full swing in most countries, employees are being forced to

work from home under unusual circumstances. It is up to the business leader to make

sure, that they use the right communication tools to get the message across. Also, it requires clear and concise communication now more than ever

since many businesses are not operating with in-house employees.

This need for effective and clear communication is appearing across the board, from employees that are working remotely, to business partners, stakeholders, and customers. The best strategic leaders are those who know the importance of effective communication, especially while dealing with a crisis such as a coronavirus pandemic.

Maintaining Customer-Centric Business Processes

The coronavirus outbreak has left many businesses scrambling to ensure their customer’s needs are met, which is easier said than done. But, wise leaders know the importance of adapting to new
technologies and new working environments quickly is key to getting closer to a customer-centric business model while adapting to new challenges.

Strategic leaders know all too well the importance of listening to their customer’s wants and needs
before identifying new ways to deliver their products and services. This is a balancing act
that requires patience and the ability to make difficult decisions on the fly
in order to gain market share.

Preparing for What’s Next

While decisive decision making has been a crucial part of being a leader,
the best strategic leader is always going to have his sights set on what comes next.
This means making decisions that come along with long term implications for the organization.

This can only be achieved when business leaders review lessons they have learned
along the way, follow tangible metrics, and tweak business processes accordingly to
be prepared for whatever comes next. Keeping that in mind, the strategic leader of
the future will have to a better job at communicating the value their service provides
to customers and shareholders.

The trick will be to lead the conversation regarding these crucial business matters instead
of merely waiting to respond to the queries of disgruntled or afraid customers and stakeholders.
It`s important attribute in Strategic Leadership: Uncertainty Times.

Distribute Responsibility

While it can be very tempting to keep on wearing many hats while playing
a leadership role, effective leaders know the importance of pushing power downwards within their organization. This means empowering people at all levels of the company by allowing them to make decisions.
Distributing responsibility is also a great way for organizations to identify potential strategic
leaders and see the impact of the decisions they make.

Furthermore, by distributing responsibility, companies can efficiently increase the collective intelligence and adaptability of their workforce, which is something that would not be possible if you
we`re making all the decisions. While letting go of the reigns will be difficult for
some companies that are used to the traditional decision-making hierarchy, it will make a
big difference in building strategic leadership at the ground level of an organization.

That being said, businesses are still going to need a small central management team
to oversee the operations and advise management and those that are tasked with making
particular decisions at lower tiers of the organization.

Make it Safe to Fail

While failure is the last thing on one’s mind when it comes to running a business,
it is crucial for strategic leaders to create an environment where employees feel
safe after they’ve made an error. While there are many organizations that use
espoused values that encourage employees to fail fast, every failure is soon
followed by the dreaded phone call from the management. This means the
people makes errors or fail in their tasks, these people are punished by not
getting rewards or being promoted.

In the new reality in which we live in, where social distancing and remote working is
the new normal, strategic leaders need to enshrine an acceptance of making errors
of failure, mainly because a strategic leader cannot learn from the “tried and true”
methods that always succeed. And more importantly, everyone in an organization
needs to learn how to manage the failure that’s associated with making uncertain
decisions and how some types of failures can turn into successes.

Those leaders that have been around for a while have had to deal with the
2008 recession, the dot-com collapse, and other challenges that have risen in the past,
but dealing with a global pandemic is new to us all. Only those leaders who are
quick to adopt a forward-thinking mindset to various business processes will be
able to help their companies stay afloat and weather this storm.
We have reached the end of our topic today: Strategic Leadership: Uncertainty Times.

For more information about our topic visit: https://hr.uw.edu/pod/strategic-leadership-program/