New Strategists Creating Leaders at All Levels

A pivotal shift in business strategy-making is taking place, assert Stephen Wall and Shannon Rye Wall. Strategy, once the exclusive province of senior management, is now the responsibility of people at every level in today's most forward-looking companies. Drawing on a ten-year study of more than 200 firms such as AT&T, 3M, The Geon Company, and Ritz Carlton Hotels, which included questionnaires and interviews with more than 4,000 line managers and human resource professionals, the authors demonstrate how companies can incorporate the experience of every employee to become more focused, more competitive, and more responsive to changing markets.Challenging the conventional wisdom about leadership in the '90s, the Walls go beyond the boardroom to discuss how to get people involved in the strategic process by moving the responsibility for planning to lower levels and by building a participatory culture based on listening. Debunking the common myth that strategy must precede tactics, the Walls show how adopting a more flexible approach to the strategic development process can balance openness to new opportunities and the need to make decisions quickly with the need to maintain longer-term strategic focus.Having shown how corporate structure can be amended to encourage participation within a more open planning approach, the Walls define new strategy-making roles for every employee -- from the front-line representative who serves as the voice of the customer to the senior executive who shapes basic purpose and direction. Key skills are presented to guide strategic thinking within companies at every stage of development, from new "eagle" ventures to businesses in "circled wagons" crisis mode. These skills are reinforced with a discussion of the core tactics needed to gain crucial support for strategic initiatives. Finally, the authors show how cross-functional teams are strengthening corporate direction by making inclusive and fully informed decisions on a cooperative basis.As companies expand their thinking to accommodate the needs of the new global marketplace, they are recognizing the benefits of tapping the diversity in their own backyards: the insights, experiences, and recommendations of their own associates. By involving leaders at all levels in the art of collaborative strategy-making, more and more companies can discover the possibilities that can chart their path to future success. This book shows new strategists how to lead the way.

Shannon Rye Wall is the co-author of New Strategists, a Free Press book.

Stephen J. Wall is the co-author of New Strategists, a Free Press book.