[Music] strategic leaders are responsible for knowing the organization's environment considering what it might be like in five or ten years and setting a direction for the future that everyone can believe in strategic leadership means the ability to anticipate and envision the future maintain flexibility think strategically and work with others to initiate changes that will create a competitive advantage for the organization in the future leaders not only tap into dreams for the future to make a real difference they link those dreams with strategic actions four types of leaders are described based on their attention to vision and attention to action the uninvolved the doer the dreamer and the effective leader let's take a look the leader whose low in both providing vision and stimulating action is uninvolved not really a leader at all the leader whose all action and little vision is a doer he or she may be a hard worker and dedicated to the job and organization but the doer is working blind the dreamer on the other hand is good at providing the big idea with meaning for self and others this leader may effectively inspire others with a vision yet he or she is weak on executing strategic action the vision in this case is only a dream of fantasy because it has little chance of ever becoming reality to be an effective leader one both dreams big and transforms those dreams into a significant strategic action either through one's own activities or by hiring other leaders who can effectively execute the vision in the strategy there are four levels that make up the domain of strategic leadership vision mission strategy in action at the top level is a clear compelling vision of where the organization wants to be in five or ten years a vision is an aspiration for the future the vision works in concert with the organization's mission its core values purpose and reason for existence mission answers the question who are we is this organization the next level strategy response to the question how do we achieve the vision strategy provides direction for translating the vision into action and is the basis for the development of specific mechanisms to help the organization achieve goals action specifies what do we do right now strategies our intentions whereas actions make things happen strategic leadership doesn't come naturally but leaders can develop the necessary skills for thinking strategically and navigating uncertainty leaders should anticipate threats and opportunities effective leaders are continuously scanning the environment leaders talk to people research and so forth so they don't miss important signs of change that could help or hurt the organization strategic leaders challenge the status quo strategic thinkers question their own and others assumptions about mental models and how the world works they examine problems or opportunities from many perspectives strategic leaders interpret trends leaders look for patterns and what they see in here and seek new insights rather than accepting an easy answer finally strategic leaders achieve alignment leaders have great buy-in among employees and other stakeholders who may have different even conflicting views and interests to achieve the vision everyone must be aligned in the same direction to improve strategic leadership leaders can identify weak points in these skills and work towards correcting them [Music]