Situational Leadership and Strategic Thinking
Significant learning points:
Dr.
Hope Murray presented this seminar and some of my key takeaways were:
- “Put
down the fire hose!” The most effective
leaders spend 80% of their time thinking and 20% of their time doing. Similarly, leaders interact with people 80%
of the time and accomplish tasks only 20% of the time. Thus, the higher up you go in an
organization, the more important it is to focus on strategic thinking and your
relationships with others.
- “Your
success will be judged by the tasks you accomplish and the people/relationships
you impact.” Success never happens
alone, so don’t be a bulldozer.
- “You
can’t have a better tomorrow if you’re thinking about yesterday all the time.”
- “Know
your foibles and flaws, and work with people who correct and compensate for
your weaknesses.”
- The
best leaders convey confidence, strive to be wise, differentiate between starts
and rotten apples, and take care of their mental/physical health.
Relevance to ideas about leadership:
Leaders
have to be a visionary and developing this vision requires spending time on
strategic thinking. By dedicating
adequate think time, leaders have the ability to be more effective, can focus
on the big picture, make better decisions, and change courses if necessary.
Ways to apply learning to current role:
Through
this seminar, I realized that I need to put down the fire hose. I spend way too much time “doing” and not
enough time “thinking.” While my motives
for “doing” are good, I need to do a better job of empowering the members of my
department to make decisions – particularly when it comes to student
issues. If I want to improve as a leader
and move my department in a positive direction, I need to dedicate more time to
strategic thinking.