Good strategy makes good leaders

Abstract

Purpose – This masterclass seeks to identify the leaders others should emulate, what’s are best practices, how did the acclaimed exemplars get to be leaders, and what can we learn from their stories? Design/methodology/approach – The author, a veteran practitioner and long-time observer of the evolution of strategic management regularly scans the business idea marketplace to identify any breakthroughs in the perennial quest for insights into the field of leadership. Findings – Forget leadership – it’s strategy that matters. Companies excel when they adopt good strategies and implement them efficiently. The role of the leader is diminishing, and leadership has little utility as an organizing principle. Practical implications – Look realistically at attempts to show how some CEOs shaped the future of their firms. Stories of success and failure typically exaggerate the impact of leadership style and management practices on performance. They focus on the singularities – the few extraordinary successes– and ignore the many events that failed to happen. We all fall prey to this affective fallacy when we extoll certain individuals – and then overweight their contribution to the success of their organizations. Originality/value – We need to refocus our attention on strategy. Successful leadership ultimately comes down to good strategy and good fortune. We have little control over the vicissitudes of the macro-environment, but firms that adopt the right strategy will do better over the long term.