XL…战略领导力：基本技能

Managing YourselfStrategic Leadership: The Essential Skills by Paul J.H. Schoemaker, Steve Krupp,and Samantha Howland cally to environmental shifts—has learnedto apply all six at once. Strategic Leadership:ManagingYourself Theessential Skills Do you have the right networks to helpyou see opportunities before competitorsdo? Are you comfortable challenging yourown and others’ assumptions? Can youget a diverse group to buy in to a commonvision? Do you learn from mistakes? Byanswering questions like these, you’ll geta clear view of your abilities in each area.The self-test at this article’s end (and themore detailed test available online) willhelp you gauge your strengths and weak-nesses, address deficits, and optimize yourfull portfolio of leadership skills. by Paul J.H. Schoemaker, Steve Krupp,and Samantha HowlandT allow leaders to think strategically andnavigate the unknown effectively: theabilities to anticipate, challenge, interpret,decide, align, and learn. Each has receivedattention in the leadership literature, butusually in isolation and seldom in thespecial context of high stakes and deepuncertainty that can make or break bothcompanies and careers. This article de-scribes the six skills in detail. An adaptivestrategic leader—someone who is bothresolute and flexible, persistent in the faceof setbacks but also able to react strategi- he storied British banker andfinancier Nathan Rothschild notedthat great fortunes are made whencannonballs fall in the harbor, not whenviolins play in the ballroom. Rothschildunderstood that the more unpredictablethe environment, the greater the oppor-tunity—if you have the leadership skillsto capitalize on it. Through research atthe Wharton School and at our consultingfirm involving more than 20,000 execu-tives to date, we have identified six skillsthat, when mastered and used in concert,Illuson: Kelly Bla Let’s look at each skill in turn. anticipate Most organizations and leaders are poor atdetecting ambiguous threats and oppor-tunities on the periphery of their business.Coors executives, famously, were lateseeing the trend toward low-carb beers. Challenge Lego management missed the electronicrevolution in toys and gaming. Strate-gic leaders, in contrast, are constantlyvigilant, honing their ability to anticipateby scanning the environment for signalsof change. list long-standing assumptions about anaspect of your business (“High switchingcosts prevent our customers from defect-ing”) and ask a diverse group if they holdtrue. Strategic thinkers question the status quo.They challenge their own and others’ as-sumptions and encourage divergent pointsof view. Only after careful reflection andexamination of a problem through manylenses do they take decisive action. This re-quires patience, courage, and an open mind. encourage debate by holding “safe zone”meetings where open dialogue and conflictare expected and welcomed. We worked with a CEO named Mikewho had built his reputation as a turn-around wizard in heavy manufacturingbusinesses. He was terrific at reacting tocrises and fixing them. After he’d workedhis magic in one particular crisis, Mike’scompany enjoyed a bump in growth,fueled in part by an up cycle. But afterthe cycle had peaked, demand abruptlysoftened, catching Mike off guard. More ofthe same in a down market wasn’t goingto work. Mike needed to consider variousscenarios and gather better informationfrom diverse sources in order to anticipatewhere his industry was headed. Create a rotating position for the expresspurpose of questioning the status quo. Consider Bob, a division president inan energy company we worked with, whowas set in his ways and avoided riskyor messy situations. When faced witha tough problem—for example, how toconsolidate business units to streamlinecosts—he would gather all available in-formation and retreat alone into his office.His solutions, although well thought out,were predictable and rarely innovative. Inthe consolidation case he focused entirelyon two similar and underperforming busi-nesses rather than considering a bolderreorganization that would streamlineactivities across the entire division. Whenhe needed outside advice, he turned to afew seasoned consultants in one trustedfirm who suggested tried-and-true solu-tions instead of questioning basic industryassumptions. Include naysayers in a decision process tosurface challenges early. Capture input from people not directlyaffected by a decision who may have a goodperspective on the repercussions. interpret Leaders who challenge in the right wayinvariably elicit complex and conflictinginformation. That’s why the best ones arealso able to interpret. Instead of reflexivelyseeing or hearing what you expect, youshould synthesize all the input you have.You’ll need to recognize patterns, pushthrough ambiguity, and seek new insights.Finland’s former president J. K. Paasikiviwas fond of saying that wisdom begins byrecognizing the facts and then “re-cogniz-ing,” or rethin