Strategic Leadership Primer for Senior Leaders: Fourth Edition

Leadership is not easy, and there is no magic recipe for successful leadership. That is why there are so many business books about leaders and leadership traits. In the military, we focus on leader development at the very beginning of service, in basic training, and at pre-commissioning . . . every Soldier is a leader. While the principles of tactical leadership are not always easy to do and are certainly aspirational, they are fundamental in nature; provide clear vision and intent, develop mutual understanding and trust, build cohesive teams that work together to achieve decisive results in line with our professional ethic, and provide orders and guidance that develop initiative and focus on what to do and for what purpose, rather than emphasizing the how.These concepts also apply at more senior levels; however, the challenges at the strategic-enterprise level are very different. The Army inherently knew this but did not formally establish a framework for leadership and command above the direct, tactical level until 1987 with the publication of FM 22-103, Leadership and Command at Senior Levels. The transition from tactical to operational leadership is far easier than the transition to strategic leadership. That is why the transition to strategic leadership is central to our efforts at the U.S. Army War College, and why we strive to "produce strategic leaders and ideas invaluable to the Army, the Joint Force, and the Nation." This fourth edition of the Strategic Leadership Primer is designed to facilitate that transition for every student.Many leaders who are successful in early-mid career fail to make the second transition to the enterprise level effectively. Part of their struggle is typically tied to a lack of understanding of the strategic competitive environment where problems are far more complex and previous experiences, while important, are insufficient to solve multi-domain, joint warfighting level challenges. This environment often rewards clarity and punishes those who wait for certainty.