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Information integrity and logic integrity can cause huge swings in strategy management. 

Leadership is about change and direction. With “VUCA” new normal, shaping a clarified vision is often difficult as it requires insight and alignment at the most senior levels and needs to link to the overall strategic imperatives of the company. In the senior position, organizational leaders need to stay on strategic focus rather than tactical details.

 They are able to count on the answer and understand the scope of the answer and any constraints on validity or accuracy. They make deep influence on corporate culture and orchestrate transformative change smoothly.

Senior leaders should have strategic views to “keep the end” in mind and guide through strategy management: Every organization has limited resources, talent and tight time schedule, all strategies fall under and are subject to systemic constraints in which they exist. Senior leaders are systemic at a higher level, forward-looking and goal driven, set the right priority to focus on the most important thing. They have a role to play in balancing, not only leveling the internal playing field, but also leveraging different lenses -you build the best strategy based on the circumstances that will allow the highest probability of success and manage risks effectively.

When the business gets over-complicated or stagnated, trace down the poor behaviors or lower-than-expected performance, understand the causes behind it. Some chaotic situations require an "act, sense, respond" approach, and so the strategy is to act and find out what happens. Top leadership guides through strategy management by checking up: Is strategy understood by employees and customers? Statistics show that in many companies, the majority of their people don’t know what their business strategies are, so they cannot align their daily work with strategic goals of the companies. Senior leaders should oversee their core capabilities, ensure scientific resource allocation in a way that really supports the strategy, day-to-day decisions are in line with strategy, and capability-based strategy have a higher success rate.

Senior management influences "invisible culture": Culture is a collective mindset, attitude, and behavior. Senior leadership makes a high influence on corporate culture. Sometimes it is the management culture that is out of date and harming the organization's prospects. Good culture can lift a so-so strategy, while a negative culture will eat strategy for dinner. Thus, senior leaders need to gain an in-depth understanding of changes, especially at the strategic level. Culture is an amalgamation of people, their core values, their socioeconomic realities, lifestyles, and education. Good policy can make a significant influence on shaping desired cultures. However, culture is not something that can be dictated and followed such as a new policy or rule from management only. Senior leadership has to set good examples, people, process, and technology have to be aligned seamlessly to ensure that great culture can be built to support solid strategy management.

Corporate culture is a business character and personality. Change is supposed to happen. Resistance is supposed to happen. Company strategy flowing from company culture is intentional leadership at its best. Senior leaders should develop a practical roadmap, walk the talk; believe in the effects and high value of company culture, provide ample room for cultural development, design and advocate an authentic culture to improve the success rate of business strategy. It is nevertheless true that the change itself has become unpredictable and evolutionary, an organization with strong culture and change capability is an environment of growth and letting go, possibilities, the mix of order and chaos, solutions, innovation, creativity, and change are interconnected. Senior Management plays the role of culture influencer to drive transformative changes and lift the organization up towards the next level of organizational growth and maturity.

The senior leaders are more interested in getting an update about the performance of the common strategic business goals: Senior leaders make strategic decisions on a daily basis, information integrity and logic integrity can cause huge swings in strategy management. Top management should verify the integrity of the information prior to trusting decisions emanating from it. Quality information allows leaders at all levels to understand where they stand and what is required as a team to enhance business disciplines. People have different focuses and there are discrepancies of perceptions and motivations. One interpretation of performance data may differ greatly from another interpretation of that same data. It is always beneficial to harness communication and improve accuracy of overall results when multiple heads come together to interpret and define information sources and outcomes.

Organizationally, there should be common goals; this kind of common goals helps to create collaboration and cohesion. In many circumstances, having different goals tends to lead to differing priorities, communication breakdowns, and the growth of "silos." Senior leaders have discernment to improve information quality and integration, make a data-based decision to unify, not divide. The more engaged the business leader in assessing information-based performance results, the better and more persuasive and strong their leadership become. Though not every executive needs to become data guru, all senior business leaders, if possible, need to become decision-making gurus and change agents.

Great leadership is a good combination of mindsets, attitudes, expertise, insight, and behaviors. Senior leadership implies strategic foresight, profound insight, decision wisdom, the high level of intellectual and emotional maturity, and leadership influence. Top leaders perceive the business through a multidimensional lens, understand the people and the organization through an ecosystem lens, develop the company as a living thing, and make it possible to allow the organization to explore digital transformation in all directions for making a seamless paradigm shift.

Posted in: Leadership Master