Convenience

Chapter 11:
Leadership and Influence Processes
3 4 5
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EMERGING APPROACHES TO LEADERSHIP
Recently, three potentially very important new approaches to leadership have emerged. One is
called
strategic leadership
; the others deal with
cross-cultural leadership
and
ethical leadership
.
Strategic Leadership
Strategic leadership is a new concept that explicitly relates leadership to the role of top
management. We define
strategic leadership
as the capability to understand the
complexities of both the organization and its environment and to lead change in the
organization to achieve and maintain a superior alignment between the organization
and its environment. This definition reflects an integration of the leadership concepts
covered in this chapter with our discussion of strategic management in Chapter 3. Its
board of directors, of course, is a key element in any firm’s strategic leadership.
To be effective in this role, a manager needs to have a thorough and complete under-
standing of the organization—its history, its culture, its strengths, and its weaknesses. In
addition, the leader needs a firm grasp of the organization’s environment. This understand-
ing must encompass current conditions and circumstances as well as significant trends and
issues on the horizon. The strategic leader also needs to recognize how the firm is currently
aligned with its environment—where it relates effectively and where it relates less effectively
with that environment. Finally, looking at environmental trends and issues, the strategic
leader works to improve both the current alignment and the future alignment.
40
Since taking the reins at Apple following the death of Steve Jobs, Tim Cook has been
systematically changing the firm’s organization design by rearranging functions and reas-
signing top managers.
41
Jeffrey Immelt (CEO of General Electric), Hector Ruiz (CEO of
Advanced Micro Devices), John Chambers (CEO of Cisco), Michael Dell (founder and
CEO of Dell Computer), and Irene Rosenfeld (CEO of Kraft Foods) are generally seen
as strong strategic leaders.
42
On the other hand, Ken Lewis (former CEO of Bank of
America) and Mike Jeffries (CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch) have recently been cited as
less effective strategic leaders.
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