DB1.1

Reflect on how issues of gender, culture, and diversity might impact you in your leadership strategy.  How could these issues impact your ability to set goals for an organization?  What additional skills do you think you will need to build in order to effectively implement organizational strategies?

DB1.2

Take the “You Strategy Style” Assessment on page 265 (Chapter 7, table 7..3)  of the Leadership Experience textbook.. Is there anything about the results of this test that is a surprise to you?  Discuss your findings and thoughts about your result with your peers specifically as they relate to your ability to create a clear vision and strategy for an organization. 

Daft, R. (2023) The Leadership Experience (8th ed.) Cengage Publishers

• This chapter      focuses on the leader’s role in creating a strategy and and vision for the      organization.
  • Chapter 7:       Creating Vision and Purpose

Instructions: Think about how you handle challenges and issues in your current or a recent job. Then circle A or B for each of the following items, depending on which is generally more descriptive of your behavior. There are no right or wrong answers. Respond to each item as it best describes how you respond to work situations.

When keeping records, I tend to

be very careful about documentation.

be more haphazard about documentation.

If I run a group or a project, I

have the general idea and let others figure out how to do the tasks.

try to figure out specific goals, timelines, and expected outcomes.

My thinking style could be more accurately described as

linear thinker, going from A to B to C.

thinking like a grasshopper, hopping from one idea to another.

In my office or home, things are

here and there in various piles.

laid out neatly or at least in reasonable order.

I take pride in developing

ways to overcome a barrier to a solution.

new hypotheses about the underlying cause of a problem.

I can best help strategy by making sure there is

openness to a wide range of assumptions and ideas.

thoroughness when implementing new ideas.

One of my strengths is

commitment to making things work.

commitment to a dream for the future.

For me to work at my best, it is more important to have

autonomy.

certainty.

I work best when

I plan my work ahead of time.

I am free to respond to unplanned situations.

I am most effective when I emphasize

inventing original solutions.

making practical improvements.

Scoring and Interpretation

For Strategic Innovator style, score one point for each A answer circled for questions 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 and for each B answer circled for questions 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. For Strategic Adaptor style, score one point for each B answer circled for questions 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10, and for each A answer circled for questions 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. Which of your two scores is higher and by how much? The higher score indicates your strategy style.

Strategic Innovator and Strategic Adaptor are two important ways leaders bring creativity to strategic management. Leaders with an adaptor style tend to work within the situation as it is given and improve it by making it more efficient and reliable. They succeed by building on what they know is true and proven. Leaders with the innovator style push toward a new paradigm and want to find a new way to do something. Innovators like to explore uncharted territory, seek dramatic breakthroughs, and may have difficulty accepting an ongoing strategy. Both innovator and adaptor styles are essential to strategic management, but with different approaches. The Strategic Adaptor asks, “How can I make this better?” The Strategic Innovator asks, “How can I make this different?” Strategic Innovators often use their skills in the formulation of whole new strategies. Strategic Adaptors are often associated with incremental strategic improvements along with strategy execution.

If the difference between the two scores is 2 or less, you have a mid-adaptor/innovator style, and work well in both areas. If the difference is 4–6, you have a moderately strong style and probably work best in the area of your strength. And if the difference is 8–10, you have a strong style and almost certainly would want to work in the area of your strength rather than in the opposite domain.

Sources: Adapted from Dorothy Marcic and Joe Seltzer, Organizational Behavior: Experiences and Cases (Cincinnati: South-Western, 1998), pp. 284–287; and William Miller, Innovation Styles (Dallas, Tx: Global