Becoming a Strategic Leader (2^nd Ed.)
Your Role in Your Organization's Enduring Success
J-B CCL (Center for Creative Leadership) Series

In the second edition of the best-selling Becoming a Strategic Leader, Richard L. Hughes, Katherine Colarelli Beatty, and David L. Dinwoodie draw from the Center for Creative Leadership's (CCL) acclaimed Leading Strategically program to offer executives and managers a comprehensive approach to strategic leadership that reaches leaders at all levels of organizations.

This thoroughly revised edition concentrates on practical tools for producing impact right away. The authors place special emphasis on three essential strategic components: discovering and prioritizing strategic drivers, which determine sustainability and competitiveness; leadership strategy, which ignites the connections between people critical to enacting the business strategy; and how to foster the individual and organizational learning that is foundational to sustained performance.

The authors and other leadership development professionals have used the distinctive and systematic approach described in this book with great success in CCL's Leading Strategically program. The second edition also contains improved self-assessments that help to align the book's lessons learned with the program's current practices.

Readers will find fresh suggestions about developing the individual, team, and organizational skills needed for institutions to become more adaptable, flexible, and resilient. These are critical strategic attributes in a time of ever more rapid change, greater uncertainty, and globalization.

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xiii

About the Authors xvii

Introduction 1

1. What Is Strategic Leadership? 9

2. Strategic Thinking 53

3. Strategic Acting 105

4. Strategic Influence 145

5. Strategic Leadership Teams 197

6. Leadership Strategies for Superior Performance 229

7. Developing Strategic Leadership 259

Appendix A: Strategic Driver Paired-Voting Form 283

Appendix B: STRAT: Strategic Team Review and Action Tool 285

Appendix C: Using STRAT to Develop Your Strategic Leadership Team 291

Appendix D: STRAT Norm Data 299

Appendix E: Talent Sustainability Requirements 303

Appendix F: Leadership Strategy Plan Template 305

Appendix G: Action Learning Projects Criteria for Project Selection 309

References 311

Index 319

About the Center for Creative Leadership 327

Richard L. Hughes served as transformation chair and academic department head at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He has also served in various management and teaching roles at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), where his work focused on senior executive leadership and organizational leadership development.

Katherine Colarelli Beatty has developed strategic leadership capabilities in individuals, teams, and organizations for more than twenty years. She has worked with nonprofit, government, and for-profit organizations from a variety of industries around the globe. Kate is the managing director of the Colorado Springs campus of CCL.

David L. Dinwoodie has served as general manager of EADA Business School in Barcelona. He has held senior management positions with pan-European and global responsibilities at Ernst & Young, BICC General Cable, Planeta de Agostini, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. David is the regional director for Latin America at CCL.