Strategic Leader Competencies

Strategic Leadership is about shaping the vision, values, and culture of organizations and individuals and generating action to reach long term objectives. The complex environment and demanding duties of leadership at the strategic level are fundamentally different than those of lower levels requiring unique skills and capabilities competencies. This paper discusses the nature of those special competencies required for success at the strategic level. An analysis of environment and duties, as well as a distinction between personality traits and competencies is made to build a frame of reference from which competencies can be examined. Current research in the field is compared and relevant groupings of competencies are reviewed to expand the frame of reference. A grouping of competencies by technical, communicative and conceptual skills is found to be especially valuable in identifying those capabilities which demonstrate clear differences between superior and average performers at the strategic level. Finally, conclusions are reached as to the importance of accurate perceptions concerning strategic leadership competencies for training, development, and selection.