Strategic Speed

Ten skills for agile leadership Complex challenges are all around us—they impact our companies, our communities, and our planet. This complexity and the emergence of networks is changing the practice of strategic management. Today’s leaders need to understand how to design and guide complex collaborations to accelerate innovation and change—collaborations that cross boundaries both inside and outside organizations. Strategic Doing introduces you to the new disciplines of agile strategy and collaborative leadership. You’ll learn how to design and guide complex collaborations by following a discipline of simple rules that you won’t find anywhere else. • Unleash the power of true collaboration • Learn and master the 10 skills of agile leadership • Apply individual skills to targeted situations • Introduces a new discipline of leadership strategy Filled with compelling case studies, Strategic Doing outlines a new discipline of leadership strategy specifically designed for open, loosely-connected networks.

In the second edition of the best-selling Becoming a Strategic Leader, Richard L. Hughes, Katherine Colarelli Beatty, and David L. Dinwoodie draw from the Center for Creative Leadership's (CCL) acclaimed Leading Strategically program to offer executives and managers a comprehensive approach to strategic leadership that reaches leaders at all levels of organizations. This thoroughly revised edition concentrates on practical tools for producing impact right away. The authors place special emphasis on three essential strategic components: discovering and prioritizing strategic drivers, which determine sustainability and competitiveness; leadership strategy, which ignites the connections between people critical to enacting the business strategy; and how to foster the individual and organizational learning that is foundational to sustained performance. The authors and other leadership development professionals have used the distinctive and systematic approach described in this book with great success in CCL's Leading Strategically program. The second edition also contains improved self-assessments that help to align the book's lessons learned with the program's current practices. Readers will find fresh suggestions about developing the individual, team, and organizational skills needed for institutions to become more adaptable, flexible, and resilient. These are critical strategic attributes in a time of ever more rapid change, greater uncertainty, and globalization.

If you’re starting a new business or planning your business’s future, there are plenty of things you should take into account. Strategic Planning For Dummies covers everything you need to know to develop a plan for building and maintaining a competitive advantage – no matter what business you’re in. Written by Erica Olsen, founder and President of a business development firm that helps entrepreneurial-minded businesses plan for a successful future, this handy guide covers all the basics, including: How a strategic plan is different than a business plan Establishing a step-based planning process Planning for and encouraging growth Taking a long-view of your organization Evaluating past performance Defining and refining your mission, values, and vision Sizing up your current situation Examining your industry landscape Setting your strategic priorities Planning for unknown contingencies If you’re in business, you have to plan for everything – especially if you intend your business to grow. Whether you’re planning for a small business, large conglomerate, nonprofit, or even a government agency, this book has the planning specifics you need for your organization. Step-by-step, you’ll learn how to lay the foundations for a plan, understand how your plan will affect your business, form planning teams, discover what your strengths are, see where you are, and, finally, plan where you’re going. And there’s much more: Learn to analyze business trends that will determine your business’s future Set measurable, realistic goals that you can plan for and achieve Make strategic planning a habitual part of the organization Prioritize multiple strategies that you can implement simultaneously Set a defining vision for the organization that guides all your planning and strategy This friendly, simple guide puts the power of strategic planning in the palm of your hand. For small businesses that can’t afford to hire strategic planning consultants, it’s even more imperative. Careful, constant planning is the only way to handle an uncertain business future. With this book, you’ll have all the step-by-step guidance you need to ensure you’re ready for anything that comes.

India and Pakistan have been in a state of persistent conflict that goes back to the very creation of these states after decolonization. This conflict has resulted in several wars and continuing armed clashes. After both states became nuclear powers, one would have expected a fundamental change in the way they wage war, since it is a fundamental principle of International Relations theory that nuclear-armed states do not go to war with each other. But the situation in South Asia seems to defy this principle. India’s conventional superiority should be neutralized by Pakistan’s nuclear capability, while Pakistan’s risk-taking behavior should be reduced. But as a matter of fact, the situation has turned out quite differently: Although large-scale conventional wars have not occurred, the nuclear status seems to have encouraged conflict and risk-taking. The number of armed clashes rose. Bluth and Mumtaz scrutinize the atypical and seemingly paradoxical impact of nuclearization on the conflict between India and Pakistan, paying extra attention on the question of how stable this paradoxical strategic relationship is. They demonstrate that the dominant paradigm used in the International Relations literature is by far not adequate to explain the strategic relations between India and Pakistan and set to work on developing a more coherent explanation. A must-read for everyone interested in International Relations and conflict resolution research.

Analysis of strategic culture facilitates a comprehensive understanding of a nation’s security identity and patterns of policy conduct. Though strategic culture changes over time, why and how these mutations take place has not been researched much so far. This book sheds light on the reasons why specific features of a country’s strategic thinking remain rigid while others transform. The national strategic cultures of post-communist Eastern Europe have been exposed to a panoply of shocks and shifts. Romania’s communist regime cultivated a uniquely thorny relationship with the Soviet Union, which facilitated the development of a national security narrative legitimizing a highly isolationist foreign policy. These factors have heavily weighed on Romanian post-communist strategic thinking and complicated the transition process. At first glance, Romania went through an astonishing adaptation to novel security challenges. Ultimately, however, its traditional national strategic thinking remained in some ways constant. Core features of Romania’s strategic culture—such as the state-nation constellation—were the most resilient to change. In contrast, the intermediary features—such as the understanding of security and role conception—as well as outer layers—such as the foreign policy orientation and guidelines to using force—of strategic culture were more prone to influence by shocks, shifts, and norm entrepreneurs.

Think and act strategically every time In today's business environment, strategic planning stresses the importance of making decisions that will ensure an organization's ability to successfully respond to changes in the environment and plan for sustainable viability. Providing practical, field-tested techniques and a complete 6-phase plan, Strategic Planning Kit For Dummies shows you how to make strategy a habit for all organizations, no matter the size, type, or resource constraints. Strategic Planning Kit For Dummies is for companies of all types and sizes looking to build and sustain a competitive edge, set up an ongoing process for market assessment and trend analysis, and develop a vision for future growth. This revised edition includes: new and updated content on planning for both the short and the long-term; crucial information on succession planning; help preparing for the unexpected using scenario planning and agile strategy; strategies for implementing change and integrating strategic plans successfully by involving all staff members; and more. The supplementary CD lays out a comprehensive, 6-phase, step-by-step program, complete with downloadable spreadsheets, charts, checklists, video links, and more Provides value for any business or entrepreneur looking to improve efficiency, focus, and competitive edge Includes practical, field-tested techniques Strategic Planning Kit For Dummies gives today's business owners and upper-level management the tools and information they need to think and act strategically in order to more effectively weather current economic storms while planning for future growth.

Mindfulness-Based Strategic Awareness Training: A Complete Program for Leaders and Individuals is the first book to link mindfulness training and positive psychology to the leadership, strategy and management issues faced by individuals and organizations. Sets out a complete program in Mindfulness-based Strategic Awareness Training (MBSAT), a new form of strengths-based business mindfulness training which enhances participants’ ability to perceive opportunities, adapt and grow Draws on research from neuroscience, positive psychology, behavioural finance and management to show how leaders, managers and individuals can build and maintain more resonant relationships and adapt to constant change Includes real-life vignettes, specific instructions and a wealth of resources designed to guide experiential learning including background information, exercises, guidelines, hand-outs, graphics, and guided audio meditations Mindfulness training is increasingly used in organizational contexts – the author is a pioneer in designing and delivering training that applies mindfulness and positive psychology to the strategic challenges of management and business Reviews by Experts This book is important for all who seek to lead organizations, showing how mindfulness can be combined with the findings from positive psychology for the benefit of all. The book is not just good theory. It also provides a step-by-step practical program to cultivate a balance between motivation for outcomes on the one hand, and compassion toward self and others on the other. Here are skills that can be learned; skills that can truly inspire and sustain wise leadership. —Mark Williams, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Oxford, was also the Founding Director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre. Now Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Psychiatry of Oxford University. Author of «Mindfulness: An Eight week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World», Co-author with Zindel V. Segal and John Teasdale of «Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression» and author and co-author of a series other standard works in the field of mindfulness In today's disruptive times, it is happy and loyal customers that count. This rich and practical book provides an exceptionally smart learning tool to help consumers make mindful decisions that lead to happiness. And for any leader and manager it is a key reading for making wise business and marketing decisions that create value.—Bernd Schmitt, Ph.D., Professor, Columbia Business School, New York. Author of «Experiential Marketing: How to Get Consumers to Sense, Fell, Think and Act, Relate to your Company and Brands.» and «Happy Customers Everywhere: How Your Business Can Profit from the Insights of Positive Psychology.» Juan Humberto Young is the first to integrate positive psychology and mindfulness with a results-oriented focus on business strategy. In today's ever-changing organizations, leaders need clarity and flexibility to adapt and succeed. Built on leading-edge science, this book offers a step-by-step program that will light your path not only to greater strategic awareness but also to greater well-being.—Barbara L. Fredrickson, Ph.D., Kenan, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Author of the two bestsellers «Positivity: Top-Notch Research Reveals the Upward Spiral That Will Change Your Life.» and «Love 2.0: Finding Happiness and Health in Moments of Connection». Juan Humberto Young integrates mindfulness practices, positive psychology, and extensive business experience to design a practical training program that improves personal and professional decision-making. This book offers tools to make decisions that increase subjective

Doing business in the tourism and hospitality scene in Asia can be very interesting and rewarding but also poses many challenges. Not many books have been written on the hospitality industry in Asia. Strategic Hospitality Leadership makes a useful contribution, providing the first specialized approach to the business of hospitality in Asia. The book is an invaluable resource of reference and insightful compendium by contributors who are the Cornell School of Administration's alumni, the Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management faculty, and members of its Joint Advisory Board. Their varied backgrounds and profound appreciation of the complexities in building enterprises from the ground up, or expanding an on-going business organization are the types of first-hand knowledge and perspective that is beneficial, informative, and inspirational to industry veterans and students alike. These contributors include chief executives and senior management of hotels and resorts, serviced apartments, restaurants, and food and beverage groups, who have been successful in Asia. Strategic Hospitality Leadership provides readers with the collective wisdom of these successful top executives on a range of topics including brand management, strategic direction, service, marketing, human resource, crisis management, business growth, leadership, portfolio management, best practices, and development. The book will help current and future leaders address major issues that are being and will continue to be confronted in the hospitality industry in Asia, and aims to increase the success of new entrants into Asia.

According to a study published in Chief Executive Magazine, the most valued skill in leaders today is strategic thinking. However, more than half of all companies say that strategic thinking is the skill their senior leaders most need to improve. Elevate provides leaders with a framework and toolkit for developing advanced strategic thinking capabilities. Unlike the majority of books that focus on strategy from a corporate perspective, Elevate gives the individual executive practical tools and techniques to help them become a truly strategic leader. The new framework that will enable leaders to finally integrate both strategy and innovation into a strategic approach that drives their profitable growth is the Three Disciplines of Advanced Strategic Thinking: 1. Coalesce: Fusing together insights to create an innovative business model. 2. Compete: Creating a system of strategy to achieve competitive advantage. 3. Champion: Leading others to think and act strategically to execute strategy. Every leader desperately wants to be strategic–their career depends on it. Elevate provides the roadmap to reach the strategic leadership summit.