APA WRITING EXERCISE 1
APA Writing Exercise Assignment: What is Strategic Leadership?
School of Business, Liberty University
Author Note
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to
APA WRITING EXERCISE 2
Abstract
The term Strategic Leadership has numerous meanings that are normally dictated by the field
that a scholar is studying. Three definitions of the term strategic leadership were sourced from
three different databases and three distinct peer reviewed journals. Gale, Business Source
Complete, and ERIC were the three databased used study articles found in the Indian Journal of
Industrial Relations, The Academy of Management Review, and the Eurasian Journal of
Educational Research. The professions examined were education information technology, and
Boards of Director or Top Management Teams. Subsequently, the articles are all from different
countries with varying cultural perspectives, assumptions, and research limitations. The
definitions range from managing, developing, and innovating to a substantive decision-making
responsibility. Strategic leadership is described as an intentional act used to direct an
organization. While the definitions defer the ability to execute a plan to lead your organization to
success is at the basis of each definition.
Keywords: strategic leadership, management, organizational development, leadership
APA WRITING EXERCISE 3
APA Writing Exercise Assignment: What is Strategic Leadership?
According to Jha, Kumar, & Singh, strategic leadership is “the ability of forming,
improving, and sustaining the capacities of learning, changing, and managing mind in the
organization”. (2022).) This article was retrieved from the Gale database. The definition was
used to evaluate individuals and leaders in the information technology or IT professions. In the
business management and organizational development sector strategic leadership is characterized
as fundamental decision-making responsibility, “beyond the interpersonal and relational aspects
usually associated with leadership.” (Luciano, Nahrgang, & Shropshire, 2020). This article was
retrieved from the Business Source Complete database. Lastly, strategic leadership is defined as,
“shaping the future by directing the employees of the organization to the targets in line with the
vision of the organization, and to ensure rapid strategic change” (Ucar & Dalgic, 2021). This
definition is associated with scholars of educational administration and teaching. This article was
retrieved from the ERIC database.
The notion that strategic leadership is related to one’s ability to develop and improve
their organizations through strategic implementation intentional processes such as learning,
empowering, and organizing are closely aligned with what I believe that strategic leadership is.
(Jha, Kumar, & Singh, 2022). The word intentional was used throughout the article highlighting
the importance of a leaders premediated and purposeful actions. When a leader has vision,
clearly defined goals, and a plan to implement. A strategic leadership approach fosters stability
and properly prioritizes its employees, product or service, and organization. I personally consider
this definition as more accurate than the definitions from the other two articles.
Similarly, the authors Luciano, Nahrgang, & Shropshire, speak of decisive and
purposeful decision-making competencies that must be possessed by a strategic leader. In board
APA WRITING EXERCISE 4
rooms or top management teams leaders just have the intrapersonal skills needed to navigate an
organization. (2020) A leader will need to have in-depth knowledge of the organization, people,
and task before implementing a strategic plan to make decisions about an organization’s future.
In Luciano, Nahrgang, & Shropshire’s definition they defer from the other two as the approach
to strategic leadership does not place a large emphasis on human emotion or inspiration. This
definition is geared towards a corporate and structured strategic leadership system. I perceived
strategic leadership in the article as a rigid system used to ensure maximum efficiency in an
organization. The author’s definition defers from the other two articles because it is examining
leaders in dynamic and high stress environments such as a board room.
The definition of strategic leadership used by authors Ucar & Dalgic, highlights molding
and shaping the future by leading the individuals in the of the organization to achieve goals
closely aligned with the ideals of the organization. (2021) The definition is loosely similar to Jha,
Kumar, & Singhs definition. The shaping the path of your employees to reach a goal and
improve the future of an organization is inherently what the authors were referring to in their
definition of strategic leadership. Unlike the first and second definitions the terms intentional,
decisive, or purposeful were not mentioned. It is likely that the terms were not used because of
the specific industry that the authors studied. In the educational study, an overwhelming amount
of the research pool stated that they viewed principals as servant leaders based on the definition
above.
My definition of Strategic leadership is the ability to successfully make decisions that
inspire employees to work towards a common goal through the use of intentional actions related
to empowering, managing, developing, and inspiring personnel while simultaneously assessing
the best practice to achieve short- and long-term organizational goals. This definition draws
APA WRITING EXERCISE 5
inspiration from all three definitions; intention, decision making, and shaping a path for one’s
organization and employees. I would apply this definition in the workplace by analyzing the
needs of my organization, learning the strengths and weakness of the workforce, and developing
a plan to manage and implement this practice within my organization. I would explain my
definition of strategic leadership simply and in a manner that would allow my organization to
understand our vision. Strategic leadership is simply a well formulated plan to lead and develop
our organization to success through a series of processes.
This essay examined the commonality and differences in the definitions of three
definitions of the term strategic leadership. Researching strategic leadership through the lens of
different cultures and professional backgrounds allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of
the complexity of the term strategic leadership. Strategic leadership is the ability to develop and
improve their organizations through strategic implementation intentional processes such as
learning, empowering, and organizing. (Jha, Kumar, & Singh, 2022). Strategic leadership must
entail purposeful decision-making competencies and encompass shaping an organization’s future
by leading individuals to achieve organizational goals. (Ucar & Dalgic, 2021). The development
of my own definition of strategic leadership utilizes key aspects from all three definitions; the
ability to successfully make decisions that inspire employees to work towards a common goal
using intentional actions related to empowering, managing, developing, and inspiring personnel
while simultaneously assessing the best practice to achieve short- and long-term organizational
goals. Limitations during my research are I needed to utilize three separate databases to craft
this essay. Business Source Complete database contained a plethora of peer reviewed articles
related to strategic leadership. Assumptions as previously mentioned are that the definitions are
APA WRITING EXERCISE 6
likely influenced my cultural and societal structures of the distinct articles written in varies
regions of the world.
APA WRITING EXERCISE 7
References
Jha, R., Kumar, M., & Singh, S. (2022). Strategic Leadership & Business Performance- A
Mediation Model. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 57(3), 450+.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A701832722/GBIB?u=vic_liberty&sid=bookmark-
GBIB&xid=b13ee4ed
Luciano, M. M., Nahrgang, J. D., & Shropshire, C. (2020). Strategic Leadership Systems:
Viewing Top Management Teams and Boards of Directors from A Multiteam Systems
Perspective. The Academy of Management Review, 45(3), 675–701.
https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2017.0485
Ucar, R., & Dalgic, S. (2021). Relationship between School Principals’ Strategic Leadership
Characteristics and School Teachers’ Organizational Commitment Levels.KEurasian
Journal of Educational Research,K91, 105–126.
APA WRITING EXERCISE 8
Appendix
Annotated Bibliography
Jha, R., Kumar, M., & Singh, S. (2022). Strategic Leadership & Business Performance- A
Mediation Model. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 57(3), 450+.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A701832722/GBIB?u=vic_liberty&sid=bookmark-
GBIB&xid=b13ee4ed
Indian Journal of Industrial Relations is a quarterly peer reviewed journal that has been in
circulation since 2004. The journal has published over 58 volumes and is revered by
scholars and professionals globally. The Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations and
Human Resources publishes the journal. The study was conducted by authors and
researchers Rashmi Jha, Manish Kumar and Shailendra Singh. The authors are credible
scholars with research that spans multiple years. The authors have a cumulative 58
articles published in peer reviewed journals. The article is based on a cross-sectional
survey from information technology or IT companies located in India. The researchers
examined the relationship between organizational learning culture, strategic leadership,
and business performance. The authors revealed that strategic leadership correlates to
business performance directly and indirectly to organizational learning culture in Indian
based IT industries. The research highlight limitations concerns related to only studying
the IT industry. The authors would like to employ longitudinal methods of data collection
to enhance their understanding of the relationship between strategic leadership and
business performance. The study did not factor in organizational size, structure, company
history, or the socioeconomic demographics of sample group. The character traits of
individuals who work in the IT industry should be accounted for as well. Individuals that
APA WRITING EXERCISE 9
work in IT have competitive character traits which could skew data related to whether
strategic leadership is effective. The empirical research regarding Strategic Leadership
implies that when companies execute their plans well, they will thrive in turbulent times
if they maintain flexibility and vision.
Luciano, M. M., Nahrgang, J. D., & Shropshire, C. (2020). Strategic Leadership Systems:
Viewing Top Management Teams and Boards of Directors from A Multiteam Systems
Perspective. The Academy of Management Review., 45(3), 675–701.
https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2017.0485
The peer reviewed article was published by the Academy of Management Review
(AMR). The scholarly journal strives to enhance knowledge of management and
organizations globally. The journal prides itself on publishing articles grounded in
"normal science disciplines". The authors of the article are Margaret M. Luciano an
assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at Arizona State University.
Margaret Lucianos scholarly research focus varies from leading change to team
dynamics, she holds a PhD. The author Jennifer D. Nahrgang is a professor of
management and entrepreneurship at Arizona State University as well. Jennifer has a
PhD in organizational behavior, she studies organizational development and the future
world of work. Lastly, Christine Shropshire is an associate professor of management and
entrepreneurship at Arizona State University with a PhD. Christine focuses on corporate
governance and diversity in upper leadership in large scale organizations. The article
examines Top management teams and boards of directors that are face stress and
dynamic environments as they strategically lead organizations toward high performance
and success. The authors have a theory that strategic leadership utilizes a multifaceted
APA WRITING EXERCISE 10
approach involving creating systems, coordination, communication, and task
performance. In the future the researchers will aspire to use empirical testing and case
study’s to examine strategic leadership as it relates to effectiveness in a organization or
firm. The researchers did not deeply examine their limitations however, they stated that
assumptions that the board or top managers have the key knowledge, skills, and abilities
to fulfill their roles as strategic leaders need to be further researched.
Ucar, R., & Dalgic, S. (2021). Relationship between School Principals’ Strategic Leadership
Characteristics and School Teachers’ Organizational Commitment Levels.KEurasian
Journal of Educational Research,K91, 105–126.
The peer reviewed article was published in the Eurasian Journal of Educational Research
(EJER). The international journal is commonly used by educational institutions,
administrators, and educators. The prestigious journal is committed to improving
educational outcomes and processes. The article was written by Turkey based scholars
Rezzan Ucar, and Servet Dalgic. The primary purpose of the study is to evaluate the
connection between strategic leadership characteristics, principals and organizational
commitment to educators. The stratified sampling method was used to identify the pool
of educators. The researchers evaluated a pool of 3648 teachers employed by secondary
education institutions. The research took place during the 2017 to 2018 academic year.
Research findings suggest that teachers believe that school principals display strategic
leadership. The test group believed that principals are ethical, political, transformational,
and managerial in nature. Findings from this study imply that school principals that
display servant leadership are likely to develop teachers within their organization leading
to empowerment, organizational commitment, and more fulfilled educators. Researchers
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stated that their limitations are they were limited to a small locality and demographic
pool. The authors described a strategic leader as an individual who can facilitate strategic
change as needed. This person will need the skills to foresee future issues, create plans,
possess flexibility, and foster growth. The researchers state that a strategic leader must
use his or her vision to implement organizational change. Organizational change and
organizational commitment are used throughout the research as a tool to measure the
effect that the principals strategic leadership has on teachers.
