THE 4P's of STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP

The Learning Opportunity:
With global economic uncertainty continuing, the fear of more recessions and an increasing competitive environment there is a critical need for leaders to demonstrate the ability to focus on more strategic concerns. Taking a more wholistic view can serve as the catalyst for many leaders to significantly shift their current thinking and behaviors in order to let go of and move away from focusing on operational and functional concerns.

Effective leaders create winning outcomes by being clear about the organizational strategy, integrating both the analytical and human elements and subsequently driving greater levels of understanding and commitment towards a shared agenda. How important are these components to your organization and how effective is your executive team in balancing the strategic analytical elements with the human elements of your organization?

In the middle of the recession Henry Mintzberg introduced the concept of “communityship” as opposed to “leadership” and affirmed in “Rebuilding Companies as Communities” [2009] that “Companies must remake themselves into places of engagement, where people are committed to one another and their enterprise.” Leadership is about relationships, it’s about connectivity. People are stymied from providing high levels of productivity and collaboration if they feel polarized, divided, resentful or distrustful. The 4P’s of Strategic Leadership model reinforces the need for leaders to capitalize on their ability to build meaningful interrelationships with the various groups and individuals with whom they interact in order to integrate and interconnect 4 key leadership strategies: PURPOSE – PRACTICES – PEOPLE - PERSONAL.

The choice for winning organizations in today’s turbulent marketplace is to build more sustainable cultures, create a culture of growth, attract high achievers and encourage people with great potential. Literature consistently reveals that employee engagement does not merely correlate with bottom line results – it drives results. So you have to wonder why so many leaders remain reluctant to actively find and identify the reasons behind the lack of full engagement in their organizations. To fully work at eliminating those reasons and implement behavioral strategies that will facilitate far-reaching engagement.

WestJet Airlines is one of the most admired organizations in Canada. Why do you think over 85% of WestJet employees own shares in the company? Because they believe so strongly in what WestJet is trying to do and are so excited about its strong performance record that they commit their own money into shares. With just this one example, the most skeptical leaders should be left with no doubt as to the fundamental financial and sustainable benefits to be gained by creating work places where employees’ believe in the organization’s products and services, wiling to go the extra mile, understand the bigger picture, respect and collaborate with their colleagues, advance their skills, knowledge, attributes and interests, and take pride in a sense of belonging.

The 4P's Strategic Leadership model reinforces the need for leaders to align their organizations strategic goals, business practices and organizational culture with their human capital needs; to develop and support personal leadership competencies and build healthy, effective organizations. If as a leader, you truly want to build a great organization versus just a good one, the win-win is to develop and nurture a positive work culture where you are clearly seen to believe in the value of investing time, energy, effort, commitment and resources to capture the hearts, heads and hands of your employees. Quite simply, in the words of Jamie Moody, President with Tree of Life Canada, it is time for leaders need to accept that the “People Agenda is the Business Agenda.”

Current and potential HR Leaders and Leaders.

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H. Mintzberg [2009]; "Rebuilding Companies as Communities" S. Covey (2004); "The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness"

		Trish Maguire Synergyx Solutions View Profile

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