paradigms provide the conceptual framework for both the theory and the practice
of strategic leadership.
By shining this new conceptual light on the development of strategy, we are
able to see more clearly the tacit forms of leadership that are present in the work
of strategy in collegiate settings, such as in the shaping and articulation of a sense
of purpose and vision. Schools and universities are loosely organized or “coupled”
and do not have a uniform hierarchical structure of authority to define their pur-
poses. As a result, they need to have sensitive and effective ways to understand
and to tell their stories of identity, which is an important dimension of leadership
(H. Gardner 1995; Weick 1991, 2001). Sense making includes but goes beyond
the articulation of rational principles, the application of managerial systems, or
the development of empirical explanations and focuses on an understanding of
values and narratives as organizational enactments. So, the book’s argument moves
forward by analyzing information, connecting concepts, drawing out presupposi-
tions and paradigms, searching out values and narratives, and tracing the deeper
implications of practices in academic decision making. I try to make explicit the
way stories and commitments shape the ordinary flow of experience as well as
the formal decision-making systems of academic cultures. The argument I use to
perform these tasks is philosophical in form, though not technical in content. It
intends to avoid speculation but aims to provide a description of meanings that
are embedded in the work of strategy as both a tacit and conscious activity.
To understand fully the possibilities and the limits of strategic leadership, it is
essential to consider it at the intersection of theory and practice. The way we think
about the deeper meaning of strategy obviously affects the way we enact strategy.
Without a strong conceptual foundation, strategy remains a set of managerial
techniques that are unable to connect systematically with the larger demands of
leadership in academic communities. Conversely, without the defined steps of
an applied discipline and a process of implementation, leadership cannot consis-
tently shape the actual decisions of an organization. So, the reconceptualization
of strategy leads to its reformulation and the effort to redefine and to integrate a
number of its procedures, mechanisms, and processes. Although the work turns
on conceptual arguments, it never leaves for long the realities and procedures of
academic decision making. In many ways, the book is intended to be a conceptual
and practical guide to a new approach to strategy. We might think of it as rep-
resenting one aspect of another stage in the evolution of strategy that integrates
strategic planning and management with leadership.
The evidence to support this integrative argument comes in several forms.
Much of the work is analytical and draws conclusions, makes connections, and
offers interpretations of a variety of other works, some of which are empirical,
and others case based or interpretive. The adequacy and relevance of the analysis
is open to scrutiny, criticism, and correction. Other tests of the argument are
largely philosophical and concern its consistency and coherence. A related form
of evaluation involves checking the capacity of the ideas to represent and describe
personal and professional experience adequately and accurately. In particular, does
xiv Preface