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CHAPTERCHAPTER

Strategic Position: The External

and Internal Contexts

A

s we begin to analyze the idea of strategic position, it is important to
emphasize that strategy is an iterative process. The same topics may be
considered several times in different contexts before taking form in a writ-
ten document. In terms of chronological order, for example, the assessment of an
institution’s position in its environment might logically be done before a vision is
created. Without defining the institution’s external context, how can one project
its best possibilities? But it is equally true that the meaning of trends in the exter-
nal world can only be understood with reference to the organization’s identity,
mission, and vision. The tasks of external analysis and internal self-definition
stand in reciprocal relationship to one another. Thus, there should be continuous
connection among the different steps in a strategy process, especially when it is
driven by the integrative orientation of strategic leadership. Findings are subject
to revision and reformulation as the work proceeds. The image of a spiral rather
than a straight line best captures the process.

Strategic Leadership as a Discipline of Change

Echoing ideas presented in our earlier review of leadership, James MacGregor
Burns keeps us riveted on the centrality of change: “Of all the tasks on the work
agenda of leadership analysis, first and foremost is an understanding of human
change, because its nature is the key to the rest” (2003, 17). We find once again
that the leadership perspective takes us below the surface of events to seek their
deeper significance. Just as it is with narratives, values, and vision, so is leadership
also preoccupied with change. Each of these concepts provides a depth dimen-
sion to the strategy process that helps it to see human and social realities that are