Hi Mariam,
I believe that while leadership, strategy, and change are often taught separately they are really inextricably intertwined and to teach them in isolation is misleading. The topic is really Leading Strategic Change. If one teaches "leadership" one must ask, to what end? That's the strategy question. The strategy question answered shows where we are going-which to get from here to there means managing change. So, Leading Strategic Change.
I have come to believe after a career of consulting with multiple Fortune 100 CEO's that if the CEO of a country or a company or a division or the manager of a department or even an individual DOESN'T HAVE A CHARTER they are negligent. A colleague in strategy and I use this approach with individual companies. Years later, I got a phone call saying Thanks, the work we did together in that one week is still guiding our efforts and our striving to reach our vision.
Many "executives" interchange language like purpose, mission, vision, values, and strategy. That just confuses their people. A CHARTER gives clarity which focuses energy and drives to results.
SO, my answer to your question is that every executive should understand and have a charter. A charter has six elements: mission, vision, values, strategy, short-term measures, and ultimately the big question: WHO is going to make those five decisions? These elements vary in length:
Mission: one inspiring sentence, e.g. "We protect those who protect us." "We make education affordable for everyone." "Bust your buns to make management and shareholders rich" is NOT a sustainable mission.
Vision: 10+ pages of where we want to be financially, marketing, operations, HR, etc. in X years. NOT 3 years. I know one company who spent 4 years developing a 2 year plan. Ridiculous. People who say they cannot see 20 years ahead haven't done their homework. I know one CEO who says our vision is to fulfill our mission. Vacuous. What do you think the organization SHOULD look like in 20 years? Or if you are Konosuke Matsushita at Panasonic Electronics, 250 years!
Values: half a page. What do you stand for? Johnson & Johnson manages 300 federated companies with four basic values. I had one client who had 24 "core" values. WAY too many.
Strategy: Longest section, maybe 30 pages because you have a financial strategy, marketing strategy, etc. for each of the vision statements you've made. Hard work here, too. What's your plan for reaching your vision?
Measures: be careful what you measure! Many C-level executives have shot themselves and their companies in the foot because they focused on the wrong measures.
WHO: If Presidents and Chancellors and Prime Ministers don't have clear charters for their countries, in my view, they are negligent. Same for corporations.
I'm attaching a chapter on charters from my book, Level Three Leadership: Getting Below the Surface 5th edition for your perusal. Whatever model you choose for your course, I hope you will consider the points above carefully and give your students a framework they can use for the rest of their lives and not just a hodge-podge of disconnected research studies.
Very best wishes,
Jim
James G. Clawson
Johnson & Higgins Professor of Leadership and Orgaizational Behavior, Emeritus
The Darden School, University of Virginia
Cell: 434 825-3797 Web: http://faculty.darden.virginia.edu/clawson/index.htm
Twitter: @Jajisee Blog: http://jajisee.blogspot.com/
Level Three Leadership: http://www.nadobimakoba.com
Latest Work: A Song of Humanity: A Science-Based Alternative to the World's Scriptures
Am 21. November 2017 um 20:52:37, Mariam Shebaya (mariam@shebaya.com) schrieb:
Hope you are all doing well!
I will be teaching a Graduate course on Corporate Strategic Management this coming spring.
I would be very grateful if you can point out and/or share some resources (especially in-class exercises, case studies, videos, textbooks, and any other relevant material that have worked for you and that you would recommend. Material on strategic thinking would also be highly appreciated.
Mpact Consulting & Coaching
Organization Development Consultant
Leadership Development – Executive Coaching
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