ORUM
SPECIAL ISSUE: Focus on Leadership
The Quality Management
Winter 2004
Volume 30, Number 1
www.asq-qmd.org
A Pe e r - R e v i e w e d Pu b l i c a t i o n o f t h e Q u a l i t y M a n a g e m e n t D i v i s i o n o f t h e Am e r i c a n S o c i e t y f o r Q u a l i t y
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
From the Chairman . . . . . . . 2
Leadership Characteristics for Quality Performance . . . . 3
Why certify? . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Quality Leadership,
Situational Style . . . . . . . . . 8
The Physics of
Change Leadership. . . . . . . 12
The Whole Leader: Two
Approaches to Integrity . . . 16
Leadership Vision and Strategic Direction
By Don Brecken
Creating a compelling vision and developing a strategy to achieve it, is one of leadership’s primary functions. Historically, only top leaders understood the vision well enough to organize human and material resources to achieve it. Today, however, leaders at every level of the organization must understand the vision.
This article provides an overview of the leader’s role in creating the organization’s future. It examines leadership vision, the underlying themes common to effective vision, and how vision works on many levels. It will also examine how leaders formulate vision and strategy. Finally, this article will discuss the leader’s contribution to achieving the vision.
Strategic Leadership
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Excellence in organizational performance does not come about by accident. It is a conscious choice made by organizational leaders. Top leaders know their organization’s environment, have a five- or ten-year vision for the organization, and set believable plans to achieve their vision. However, in this complex and ever-changing world, anticipating the future can be very difficult. The authors of “Leaders: The Strategies for Taking
References: 1 Bennis, Warren, and Burt Nanus, “Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge,” New York: Harper & Row, 1985. 2 Daft, Richard L., “Leadership: Theory and Practice,” Orlando: Dryden Press, 1999 3 DePree, Max, “Leadership is an Art,” New York: Doubleday, 1989. 4 Hays, Richard, “Internal Service Excellence,” Sarasota: Summit Executive Press, 1996. 5 Peters, Tom, “Thriving on Chaos: Handbook for a Management Revolutions,” New York: Harper & Row, 1987. Manager Handbook,” Milwaukee: ASQ Quality Press, 2001.