Strategic Leadership Course Purpose
To develop innovative strategic thinkers and change agents who can create and lead agile organizations to attain and maintain a
competitive advantage in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous strategic environment.
Strategic Leadership Course Objectives
- Evaluate, analyze, and synthesize strategic leader competencies, to include technical, conceptual, and interpersonal competencies as they relate to transformational leadership and transforming and changing organizations. (LA #2,5)
- Evaluate, develop and apply the tools of strategic leadership for implementing coherent strategies to lead organizational transformation in joint, interagency, multinational, and cross-cultural environments. (LA #5)
- Evaluate the moral, social, and ethical impact of leading in the 21st century information age organization. (LA #5)
- Enhance self-awareness and engage in continuous self-assessment, development, and life-long learning. (LA #5)
Strategic Leadership Course Threads
This course addresses the challenges of strategic leadership. The concept of strategic leadership serves as the overarching framework for the course and provides intellectual underpinnings in four specific areas: The strategic environmental context; strategic leader competencies; organizational change; and creating resilient and effective organizations.
Key threads that dominate the leadership curriculum during the academic year comprise:
- an understanding of environmental complexity (internal and external),
- key strategic leadership competencies and skills,
- creative, critical and systems thinking,
- meeting ethical challenges inherent in operating at the strategic level,
- leading change and transformation,
- promoting competitive advantage,
- enhancing self development, and
- meeting the challenges of information age national security and private sector organizations and industries.
Executive Assessment and Development
As part of the Strategic Leadership Course, you will have the opportunity to participate in one of two possible individual leadership assessment and development opportunities. U.S. students and native English speakers can take advantage of the leading-edge Executive Assessment and Development Program (EADP). Students who are not native English speakers can take the Discovery Insights instrument. The purpose of these two programs is to increase your awareness of your strengths and weaknesses, and help you develop the skills needed to become effective, successful strategic leaders and change agents in the 21st century.
The feedback from your counselor will provide you with the basis for continued reflection and development during your year at ICAF. While there is no formal treatment of the EADP or Insights Discovery after the SL course ends, there are two things you might keep in mind. First, your feedback counselor is available to continue to meet with you at your convenience throughout the academic year to talk about your continued development. Second, as you observe successful leaders of industry during the Industry Study Program later in the academic year, continue to pay attention to the modeling of competencies that they demonstrate in leading their organizations, and assess your own growth and development of the things you will need for continued success in your professional career and in your personal life.
One of the major goals of the EADP and Insights Discovery is to facilitate guided self–development. An important way to grow and develop the capability to meet future challenges is through a structured approach. Learning by trial–and–error can be very costly as you move on to positions of greater responsibility in your organization. Further development requires awareness, which can only come through an assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. As you get a better idea of those areas that represent strengths for you, as well as those areas where it might be beneficial to work on developing skills or capabilities, you can continue to target your self-development into the areas that will be the most beneficial for you. The EADP and Insights Discovery may help you to determine which skills to work on and the Leadership Architect software offers practical suggestions on further skill development. But, it is important to remember development ultimately is an individual responsibility.
Please take advantage of all the resources available to you to further your own growth in strategic leadership, both while attending ICAF and following graduation.
Strategic Leadership Course Assessments
Student assessment is a part of all coursework at the Industrial College. The Strategic Leadership course assessment will take into account both intellectual mastery of the course content and the extent to which the student builds skills – actually uses
the content skillfully in seminars, exercises, case studies and written work during the course and contributes to seminar learning. Both aspects relate to the course objectives and to performance requirements in the world beyond ICAF. Course unique requirements are described below.
- Contribution to seminar discussions, exercises, and case studies (50%):
- Half of your Strategic Leadership assessment will consist of your participation in the course and your contribution to seminar learning.
- Quality as well as quantity of your contributions will be evaluated.
- Written assessment (a total of 50%):
- The other half of your Strategic Leadership assessment will consist of a written paper.
- Detailed instructions will be provided in a separate document.
Accreditation Policy
The ICAF Department of Strategic Leadership has developed this course with consideration of the accreditation standards outlined
by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction 1800.1, “Officer Professional Military Education Policy (OPMEP).”
The specific learning areas (LA’s) are shown after each lesson objective in the syllabus pages.
Course Materials
The following materials are provided to each student prior to the beginning of the course:
- SYLLABUS, Class of 2009 with ANTHOLOGY. (Anthology required readings for each lesson follow the lesson syllabus.)
- BOOKS:
- Barnett, Thomas P.M. The Pentagon's New Map. (New York: G.P. Putnam and Sons, 2004.)
- Colosi, Thomas. R. On and Off the Record: Colosi On Negotiation. (Dubuque, IA: American Arbitration Association, 1993.)
- Jacobs, T. Owen. Strategic leadership: The Competitive Edge (Rev. ed.). (Washington, D.C.: National Defense University, 2006.)
- Kotter, John and Dan Cohen. The Heart of Change. (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2002.
- PAMPHLETS:
- Paul, Richard and Linda Elder. The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts & Tools (4th ed.). (Santa Rosa, CA: The Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2006.)
- Gryskiewicz , Stan and Sylvester Taylor. Making Creativity Practical: Innovation That Gets Results. (Greensboro NC: Center for Creative Leadership, 2003.)
- HARVARD BUSINESS PRESS REPRINTS:
- Bazerman, Max and Dolly Chugh. “Decisions Without Blinders.” Harvard Business Review (2006): 1-12.
- Beer, Michael, “Organizational Effectiveness,” Harvard Business School Note, rev. Sep 22, 1994 [9-493-044].
- Bradach Jefferey. “Organizational Alignment: The 7-S Model.” Boston: Harvard Business School Note 9-497-045 (1996): 1-9
- Charan, Ram. “Home Depot’s Blueprint for Culture Change.” Harvard Business Review (April 2006): 61-70.
- Courtney, Hugh, Jane Kirkland, and Patrick Viguerie. (1997). “Strategy Under Uncertainty.” Harvard Business Review (November-December 1997): 67-79.
- Hill, Linda A. A Note on Building and Leading Your Senior Team,
1-23. Boston MA; Harvard Business School Press, 9-402-137,
June 6, 2002.
- Hill, Linda. Power Dynamics in Organizations. (Boston: Harvard Business School: Case 9-494-083, 1994.)
- Garvin, David A. “Building a Learning Organization.” Harvard Business Review, 71, no. 4, 1993: 78-91.
- Garvin, David and Michael Roberto. “What You Don’t Know About Making Decisions.” Harvard Business Review (2001): 108-116.
- Garvin, David A.; Edmondson, Amy C.; and Gino, Francesca. “Is Yours a Learning Organization?” Harvard Business Review, R0803H (March 2008): 1-11.
- Hammond, John S., Ralph Keeney, and Howard Raiffa. “The Hidden Traps in Decision Making.” Harvard Business Review (2005): 1-12.
- Kaplan, Robert and David Norton. “How to Implement a New Strategy Without Disrupting Your Organization.” Harvard Business Review 84, no. 3 (2006): 100-109.
- Kaplan, Robert and David Norton. “Strategic Management: An Emerging Profession”. Balanced Scorecard Review, Vol. 6, No., May-June 2004.
- Koch, Janie. “Global Alignment: A Telecom's Tale.” Balanced Scorecard Review, Vol. 6, No., May-June 2004.
- Kotter, John. “Leading Change.” Best of Harvard Business Review, January 2007, 1-10.
- Ostroff, Frank. “Change Management in Government.” Harvard Business Review 84, no. 5 (May 2006): 141-147.
- EXECUTIVE BOOK SUMMARIES:
- Kaplan, Robert and David Norton. The Strategy Focused Organization. Soundview Executive Book Summaries, Vol. 23, No. 1, January 2001.
- Kaplan, Robert and David Norton. Strategy Maps. Soundview Executive Book Summaries, Vol. 26, No. 4, January 2004].
- Pink, Daniel P. A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age. Soundview Executive Book Summaries, Vol. 28, No. 5, May 2006.
- MIT REPRINT:
Ready, Douglas and Conger, Jay. “Enabling Bold Visions,” MIT Sloan Management Review, 49, No.2 (2008), 70 – 76.
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