Making it Happen: Leadership and the Practice of Strategy

Paper in proceeding, 2008

This paper deals with how CEOs of top performing global firms act to create strategic change in their organizations. Research on top management leadership has been more concentrated on values, attitudes and traits than on what they do. Studies that describe leadership practices, often focus on everyday action. The focus in this paper is top leaders action to make strategy happen. In-depth interviews with 25 CEOs were made to understand the practices that these CEOs try to apply. The leaders seem to act through a paradoxical combination of trying to be “omnipresent” and at the same time stay away as much as possible to empower lower level leaders and employees. The paper informs the academic discussion on leadership and on strategizing in organizations.