The Art of Strategic Management and Leadership

Courses Syllabus

Introduction

In these turbulent times, leaders need to focus on what will drive their business enterprise through the obstacles of success. This powerful program offers solutions to any leader who must continue to deal with the economy and make smart decisions about such important elements as new business strategies, succession planning and the use of intellectual capital to sustain and grow their business.

This 10-day programme begins with a week on Strategic Management, which develops the skills behind strategic thinking and developing good strategies to support the strategic planning function.  This session looks at many contemporary theories that focus on the best approaches to take to use resources wisely to stay the course of continuous improvement.

Week two of this programme focuses on The Art of Leadership and on how a leader takes on the responsibilities of implementing new strategies and developing their human assets to support the enterprise.  This session goes deep into the heart of a true leader and helps any leader/manager understand what makes an effective leader in the modern organization.  This session is the catalyst behind what makes a successful strategic plan work in the real world.

Objectives

• Expand your understanding of how Strategic Thinking has developed and is used by managers and leaders
• Develop an understanding or the process of Strategy Formation and Implementation within any organization
• Link the Strategy of a firm with the Desired Outcomes of Revenues, Profits, and Growth through Value Creation and Market Focus
• Recognize factors that require change in your organization and how to lead the changes in your business unit
• Demonstrate the leadership core skills of Communication and Inspiration; Systems Thinking and Emotional Intelligence
• Use personal influence and develop political savvy to network and influence people effectively
• Apply a change management model for communicating and implementing change
• Tap into and “inner power” to gain self confidence and strength
• Get the most productivity out of each employee

Contents

Day One

Strategy Concepts

• Recognise how strategic thinking has developed and how it influences strategies within your organisation
• Understand the importance of vision and values to communicating strategy in organisations
• Identify the key strategies for every organisation
• Distinguish between the process of creating strategy and the content of strategy

Day Two

The evolution of Strategic Planning and Strategic Thinking

• Follow the progression of strategic thinking in business and anticipate where strategy may next develop
• Identify the different conceptual frameworks from which strategic thinking has developed and identify which are active in your organisation
• Recognise the commonalities that exist in different approaches to developing and implementing a strategy
• Articulate the conceptual framework of strategy that your firm uses today

Day Three

A process for creating and updating strategy

• Recognise different approaches to creating and updating strategy within an organisation
• Identify the applicability of a particular approach with the characteristics of a firm and of the environment the firm faces
• Match different processes to specific issues or situations that could develop in your firm
• Strategy in the organisation
• Connect the relationship between strategy formation and implementation and day-to-day activities
• Recognise how strategy is created and implemented at multiple levels of the organisation

Day Four

Strategies for growth, profitability and value creation

• Articulate the link between growth and profitability in public and private sector organisations
• Understand the key factors that make the difference between strategic success and failure
• Relate Action Plans to strategic initiatives and individual performance
• Create conditions that foster Achievement of Strategic Initiatives within the firm when strategy changes
• Recognise and communicate to others the drivers for strategic change within your organisation
• Use insights from past experiences with business and personal change to support the process of strategic change in your company

Day Five

Engaging your organisation in Strategic Thinking

• Ask Strategic Questions that relate your work to the organisation’s direction and strategic initiatives
• Formulate Strategic Hypotheses that suggest directions for the firm to consider
• Carry on Strategic Conversations that you want to have when you return to your workplace

 Day Six

Leadership and Influence: What do they mean?

• The Challenge to Lead in today’s modern organization
• Lessons learned from powerful leaders of the past
• The Changing nature of Leadership
• The role of leaders in today’s organization
• The influence of followers on leadership
• Self Assessment: Leadership Behaviors
• Know yourself, a guide to your inner strengths
• Three Lenses of Leadership
• The Flight of the Buffalo:  Leaders who create Leaders

Day Seven

How a Leader leads from inner power

• Ways to Increase Self Knowledge
• Self Reflection
• Understand how you think
• Becoming a “Systems Thinker”
• The Character of a Leader
• Leadership from Within
• Creating an Environment of Leadership
• Balancing Inquiry and Advocacy
• Guide to your Inner Leader

Day Eight

How a Leader builds trust

• What is trust?
• The benefits of a high trust environment
• How Trust produces the competitive edge
• Building Capacity for Trust
• Personal Influence and Political Savvy
• Effective Interpersonal Influence
• Negotiating Agreement
• Developing Your Political Savvy

Day Nine

How a Leader uses communication to gain influence

• The Art of Communication as a leader
• Building your skills as an effective communicator
• The power of Vision
• Using language a word pictures to demonstrate your vision
• John Kotters Change Management theory in practice
• Practice session

Day Ten

How a Leader influences people

• The Motivating Leader
• How a Leader motivates themselves and others
• The need for achievement, power and affiliation
• Expectancy theory and motivation
• How a leader Creates an environment for self motivation
• Personal Roadmap to Leadership
• Review