Strategic leaders are responsible for knowing the organization’s environment, considering what it might be like in 5 or 10 years, and setting a direction for the future that everyone can believe in.

Strategic leadership means the ability to anticipate and envision the future, maintain flexibility, think strategically, and work with others to initiate changes that will create a competitive advantage for the organization in the future.

Leaders not only tap into dreams for the future; to make a real difference, they link those dreams with strategic actions. Four types of leaders are described based on their attention to vision and attention to action – the uninvolved, doer, dreamer, and effective leader.

There are four levels that make up the domain of strategic leadership – vision, mission, strategy and action. Strategic leadership doesn’t come naturally, but leaders can develop the necessary skills for thinking strategically and navigating uncertainty. To improve strategic leadership, leaders can identify weak points in these skills and work toward correcting them.