How to Be a Strategic Leader

Strategy is something leaders are doing every time they make a decision, and what’s important is that they do it consciously. In this short video featuring Stanford Graduate School of Business Professor Jesper Sørenson, strategy is presented as an ongoing, iterative process that leaders are engaging in all the time. “We’d do better to demystify strategy,” Sørenson comments.

Learning to build a strategic organization involves not just turning a plan into coherent action, but paying attention to organizational culture. A strategic leader knows how to translate an action plan into a “sensible way of thinking about the world” that a group can align with. That in turn helps build a community that is willing and able to work from a shared sense of purpose.

Sørenson, who specializes in the dynamics of strategic change and its implications for individuals and their careers, believes everyone has the potential to be a good leader — especially if they are willing to assess their own strengths and weaknesses and learn from others.