- There can be no strategic leadership without an instinctive understanding of the “possible”.This fact was seen in the failures of such strategic leaders as Napoleon (the Spanish Ulcer and theRussian campaign 1812)47, Hitler again in the Russian invasion48, Tughlaq’s49shifting of the capital,Aurangzaib’s designs on the south50etc., the training module recommends case studies of suchmeasures with emphasis on development of mechanisms to prejudge the obstacles throughconsultation, independent criticism etc. This component of the training module also recommendsensitizing the strategic leaders to crucial importance of media views as in the contemporary timesmedia is a forum that represents objective if not collective wisdom of the polity.g) Role of the GovernmentThe Governments are today exposed to reinventing of their roles. There are structural,ideological economic reasons and international movement for change in the direction of theGovernment, the governance and the function it has to perform along with other players which havejumped into the field of governance in the 21stcentury. It is perhaps on account of realization of thefact that governance is today rather more complicated and can not be fully managed by theGovernment alone. The challenges of developed and underdeveloped countries are howeverdifferent. The core task of the Government is now to regulate and not to run and to create enablingconditions for economic development of the country, managing change in the society, balancing theconflicting interests, to provide social justice and to provide mechanism for commercial decisions.There is no fashion of a Big Government now in terms of its functions. The Government is nowsupposed to involve in the transaction from an operational state to an enabling andfacilitating/regulating state. That’s why devolution has taken place in much part of the Governmentand it is no more a sole player nationally and internationally. All this is a complicated policydevolution process involving dozens of processes and host of mechanisms for cooperation of theGovernment and the civil society simultaneously. A strategic leader involved in the Governmenttoday is required to be well acquainted with the entire process; therefore this important mechanismis proposed to form part of the training module.h) Managing Policy Change.Policy formulation is a complex process based on macro economic fundamentals andsustainability of the decisions. The strategic leaders are not only involves in the formulation of newpolicies but they have to bother about policies formulated by their predecessors also. They needskills to manage the policy change and the tools required in the process thereof in the wake ofcompeting political considerations, authorizations and decision making process. It is a sequential47Napoleon was to blame these two campaigns for his decline and fall, See Ludwi, Emile, Life of Napoleon Bonaparte.48Hitler did not appreciate that Russian forces and Weapons far out-numbered his own. See Churchill History of the Second World War, Vol II49Tughlaq Shifted the capital from Dehli to Daulatabad and ruined his empire50Aurengzeb’s campaign against the Marhatas was a major cause of his decline
- process starting from agenda setting to decision making, sustaining and implementation thereof.There are many players, issues and contexts which are likely to be confronted for mustering for thesupport. Prioritization of the issues and bringing them forward for the support is another importantaspect of the matter, in addition to learning the long and short term lessons, monitoring andevaluation of the policy. The entire process directly involves the strategic leaders.In one of the Harvard studies on deregulation of fuel prices in Philippines, importantquestion like context surrounding deregulation of fuel prices, it a effect current choice, linkage ofthe then President to other policy decisions, strategies for dealing with the problem and to measurehow hard it would be to sustain a policy decision were confronted to the strategic leaders.51President Ramos is facing a budget deficit and a depleted Oil Price Stabilization Fund(OPSF). He needs to take some action that will affect the price of oil. In choosing what policyaction to take he needs to find an alternative that will be technically sound and be politicallyacceptable and sustainable. How might he predict response to alternative policies and develop afeasible strategy for dealing with the problem?52Policy is made in many ways and is influenced by a wide variety of factors. In theManaging Policy Change module a basic model for the policy making process may be discussed. Itcould also be explored as to how it works differently under different circumstances and in differentdepartments. It may also be examined as to how the training model can be used to help analyze thepolicy making process as a system and not just a set of unrelated actions. Therefore their exposureto this subject through appropriate training is of utmost importance.i) Stress ManagementStress situations can be categorized in a variety of ways, and emergent and effectiveleadership will vary accordingly. Groups may be frustrated by unattainable goals. They may be fearof impending dangers. They may be anxious because of nuclear and ambiguous demands. Theymay be in conflict over competing demands or with other groups. They may be aroused to respondimpulsively, defensively, or in panic. Threats to survival may be internal or external, substantive orinterpersonal. The emergent leader will do what is immediately required to provide the group withways of coping with the stress. Rapid direction, initiation of structure, and task-oriented leadershipwill make the leader more likely to succeed. The effective leader (Who, of course, must alsosuccessfully influence followers) is a transforming statesman who addresses the inert followers byshaking them out of their torpor in the face of impending dangers or by rousing them to worktoward seemingly unobtainable goals. Competent leadership is especially needed in times of crisisto unite the efforts of members and strengthen group cohesiveness round a common purpose.j) Crises Management Component51Harvard University, Deregulating Fuel Prices in Philippines-the Political Price of Oil, Page-152Managing Policy Change : I, Understanding the Policy Making Process, Harvard University, Page-1
- In routine emergencies, leaders have access to a repertoire of capacities and executableoperational routines that, with modest customization and adaptation, can provide an appropriateresponse to the situation. In true crises, leaders cannot have a previously planned, developed,tested, and deployable routine available to them that will adequately address the situation they face.By definition, they will have to improvise new approaches or combinations of existing routines.Much of this work is conceptual and cognitive in nature, and is therefore especially difficult to do –and to inspire others to do – in circumstances of elevated stress, like those likely to prevail in acrisis situation.CRISIS MANAGEMENTChallenges of Routine Emergencies53A leader’s central challenges in a routine emergency will include the following:1. Assess the situation with accuracy;2. Promote effective customization and adaptation of existing routines to the specificcircumstances of the given incident;3. Mobilize and inspire the efforts of the participants;4. Coordinate the potentially quite complex collection of customized, pre-plannedresponses;5. Organize and ensure support and flow of requisite resources to those operationallyengaged in the response;6. Communicate effectively to those participating and to others involved outside theresponding organization(s) about the situation and what they should do.Leadership Challenges of Crises1. The strategic leadership challenges of addressing true crises include the following:2. Accurately and quickly assessing the ways in which the current situation is significantlydifferent from past circumstances;3. Resisting more comfortable (but inaccurate) diagnoses and assessments of the situation thatignore the significant elements of novelty;4. Mediating potential cultural conflicts among those with a bias for immediate action andthose with an inclination to delay choices and deployments until a deeper understanding ofthe situation and analysis of the options can be developed;5. Developing and maintaining a “big picture” perspective of all the salient features of thesituation (including its significant novelties);53Encyclopedia of Leadership Vol-I by George, Sorenson & James M. Burns Page 290-295
- 6. Communicating, both internally and externally, relevant and comprehensibleunderstandings of the situation that allow other to understand and organize their work andefforts productively;7. Orchestrating creative imagining, design, and development of new approaches and/or newcombinations of existing routines;8. Maintaining high quality in reasoning and choosing among new, untested, risky, andrelatively poorly understood courses of action;9. Coordinating the rapid development of new plans and details of operational action for thechosen approach;10. Mobilizing and inspiring the required effort from the participants, including their attentionto the cognitive work that is essential but that they will find difficult given their elevatedstress levels;11. Overseeing the execution of newly designed (and, therefore, probably imperfectlyfunctioning) actions and deployments; and12. Performing all these tasks while the leaders are themselves operating under elevated stress.Understanding the challenges presented by true crisis situations is an important step towardsbeing able to address them necessarily. Training would do this trick. Crisis transcends routineemergencies and can be of unprecedented scale, to which the existing routines can not simply beadapted. They require major innovation and redesigning of organizational structure and operations.Katrina in New Orleans and recent earth quakes in Pakistan invalidated application of a previouslydeveloped and practiced routines and required broader adaptation, thus requiring improvedcommand and communication structure on short notice and a very little prior design. Even theAmerican failed to meet Katrina Emergency (so much so that a few hundred drivers could not bearranger), although some grace was demonstrated in handling Rita a few weeks later. Even the 9/11crisis wan handled more professionally, perhaps on account of localized nature of the problemwhere time tested procedures perfectly worked. In Islamabad, removal of debris and taking outhuman beings from the sunk building posed a novel challenge to ICT Administration to which itsstrategic leaders were never exposed or formally trained.Professional and Moral Ethics54Absence of moral and professional ethic is the root cause of the most of the governanceproblems. Ethics are the Standards of conduct that guide decisions and actions, based on duties,derived from core values. The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary states the following onEthics:54http://www.eaie.nl/pdf/torino/705.pdf
- 1) Moral principles that control or influence, a person’s behaviour: professional/business/medicalethics; to draw up a code of ethics; he began to question the ethics of his position.2) A system of moral principles or rules of behaviour; a strongly defined work ethic; the protestantethics.3) The branch of philosophy that deals with moral principles.It is a system of values, moral activities and virtues that the individual accepts. It is thebasis of the choices he makes and it can be perceived by others as well. Professional ethics includesethical sensitivity to perceive the morality of the decision – making situation, the ability to applythe ethical principles in decision-making situations in a way leading to a fair conclusion and thewill to act according to the ethically correct decision despite temptations and social pressure.Ethical problem solving is one of the key elements in professional ethics. What benefits and whatharms will each course of action produce and which alternative will lead to the best overallconsequences? What moral rights do the affected parties have and which course of action bestrespects those rights? Which course of action treats everyone the same, except where there is amorally justifiable reason not to, and does not show favoritism or discrimination? Which course ofaction advances the common good? The value basis of a certain unit, department or academicprogramme bears strong connection to professional ethics including ethical problem solving.Almost all professional groups, sections, businesses and organizations have a form ofethical code, or code of conduct.Ethics in the InstitutionDo we need a code of conduct? Does any institution or organization needs a code of conduct? It isthe organizational responsibility to set behavioral standards and its obligation to train employees inwhat those standards are” (Jennifer J. Salopek)55A code of conduct is intended to be a central guide and reference for users in support ofday-to-day decision making.56There is a delicate line of distinction between the professional ethics and common ethics ofmorality. There are inclusive and exclusive moral and ethical models. There is a difference as totheir applicability in different departments which may even arouse the conflict. The principles ofmorality are to be applied across the board the society has the greater role to play throughinstitutions created to serve the social goals. Unfortunately, in our country all pervasive societaldecay has been degenerated into a big social problem, therefore, it is all the more imperative thatthis important component is included in the proposed training module for strategic leaders who aredirectly concerned with various cross sections of the Government and the Civil Society.55www.ethics.org/faq.html T+D Magazine, July 2001: Do the Right Thing56Driscoll, Dawn-Marie and W.Michael Hoffman, Ethics Matters: How to implement Values-Driven Management, 2000, p.77
- Complex Negotiations57Handling negotiations, particularly complex, is a difficult task. It involves many steps. Onehas to prepare to negotiate from a position of strength by diagnosing the particulars of situations,participants, the roles of games, negotiate-able agenda, goals to be persuade, the interests,alternatives, potential agreements and their accessibility and linkages. Barriers/constraints, players,coalition building prospects, bargaining power, toxic issues, dispute resolution and conflictmanagement and the process of assessing the trades offs and alternatives are some of the importantsegments. Strategic leader, equipped with adequate techniques can shape the structure ofnegotiations and enjoy the bargaining position. Therefore, needs to be properly trained accordingly.The leaders need understand the basics of negotiations, to create win -win situation, structuring ofnegotiations, managing the climate and environment, tactics, ploys and gambits, handlingdeadlocks, to better understand the other side and proper planning and preparations for negotiationsso that they are highly effective in negotiations58. Presently hardly a few leaders possess formalnegotiation skills and training and are thus not equipped with tool, techniques, and concepts that arevital in today’s highly competitive environment. In the case of HUBCO, the failure waspredominately on account of completely unprofessional handling of negotiations mostly by non-representative characters, not with- standing the other factors involved in the case. They were notfully aware of tricks and skills which made them vulnerable and at the mercy of the other party whowere obviously more aware.APPROPRIATE GROWTH STRATEGYThere is a need to derive broad lessons from the diverse experience with economic growthin the last fifty years. The economic analysis of the renowned economists is now the subject matterof discussion for the purposes of drawing some economic package/design with reference to localconditions and design. It requires sound economic underpinning to endow the economy withresilience to shocks and maintain productive dynamism in the era of globalization and New WorldEconomic Order. Economics has important ideas on the subjects of incentives, markets, budgetconstraints and property rights etc. It provides for different ways and means to analyze todistribution and alocative consequences of requisite changes in the policy in the light of politicalconstants and local conditions which matters allot59. The real lesson of growth strategies is takeeconomics more seriously and careful examination of the contingent relations between theeconomic environment and policy implication. Strategic leaders are essentially required to beexposed to the necessary decision making in this background. This does not mean the formal studyof the theories of economic growth. Adequate sensitization of the strategic leaders to broader57Break Through in Business Negotiations by Michell Watkins58www.tmicyprus.com/web/training/scheduled/4210.php59Page 29, Growth Strategies by Dani Rodrik
- principles is however essential. Therefore this important item is being proposed to form part of thetraining module.
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