224 Strategic Leadership
goals of the strategy as they read the president’s intentions. If the president is truly
committed to strategic leadership and strategic management, the strategy process
will be continuous and its goals will be in evidence in the way that conversa-
tions take place, speeches are given, priorities are set, resources are allocated, and
decisions are made. It will be equally clear if the president only pays it lip service
and prefers to handle issues politically or through a strict chain of managerial
control.
Commitment by the highest officer in each unit that undertakes the process
is also critical for successful implementation. The top officer can use the tools
of authority to embed the strategy in the everyday decisions of the organiza-
tion. Individuals in authority can command attention, control resources, reward
and punish, control systems of communication, and hold people to account even
in the world of autonomous knowledge professionals. These capacities are the
mechanisms of authority exercised by position. They provide a framework within
which the work of leadership as reciprocity can be given form and continuity.
To be sure, the tasks of implementation become far more difficult or impossible
if the members of the organization are not invested in the ideas and strategies of
the plan. Especially in the academic sphere, but throughout the organization,
there will be minimal compliance, grudging acceptance, or all the intricate tactics
of resistance, avoidance, and delay where commitment is lacking. Authority over
others has to be transformed into authority with and for others in the development
and implementation of a strategic plan.
Control Systems to Monitor Results
The commitment to strategic management will also become evident in the
way the president and other officers use and create control systems to monitor
the implementation of the strategy. Strategic goals take primacy over operational
objectives, which are gradually reorganized to implement the strategy. One basic
but effective way for the top administration, including the academic deans, to
achieve one aspect of this task is to construct the annual planning and operational
cycle explicitly around the goals of the strategy. As a result, each senior officer’s
and division head’s annual report and budget plan would give central emphasis
to the status of each strategic goal. Commentary on problems and successes in
reaching the goals would be expected, along with reports on steps to overcome
obstacles. If circumstances merit revisions in goals, the annual report is one of
the places to propose them. Since many of the vice presidents and their staff
will carry explicit responsibility for implementing goals, the report connects to
existing public expectations. The annual review can also be made a part of the
individual’s own performance evaluation and be one of the factors determining
compensation. In a strategic context, the annual report is not just paperwork, but
a tool of leadership that can link operations with strategy.
There is also merit in making an annual report to the campus on the institu-
tion’s progress in meeting the plan’s goals. The report can be presented orally in