Page 72 - Develop your leadership skills- John Adair. -- 2nd ed

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6

How to lead at the

strategic level

It is better to have a lion at the head of an army
of sheep than a sheep at the head of an army of
lions.

(Daniel Defoe)

Earlier in this book I mentioned that leadership takes place on
three broad levels: team, operational and strategic. The essen-
tial nature of leadership as response to the three circles – task,
team and individual – remains unchanged at all these levels.
What changes is complexity. As compared to the team leader’s
role, the task of the strategic leader is both longer-term and
more complex. The team that he or she has to harmonise and
align on to the common purpose may be extremely large,
subdivided into many units and geographically disperse.