The Strategic Mindset of Leadership

To begin you will explore how the world and our environment have changed and build an understanding of how uncertain the business world is, and how this necessitates strategic leadership. Building on this, we will explore how to lead with a paradox mindset—balancing agility and consistency, global integration and local responsiveness. We will also explore what does it mean to foster organisational resilience not as a fixed trait, but as a dynamic capability that organisations can develop to weather disruption, including digital shocks and workforce transformation. The day will conclude with a chance to network with your cohort at a welcome dinner.

The day will begin with an in-depth exploration of adaptive leadership principles and challenges, focusing on how this leadership approach enables strategic leaders to navigate the discomfort and uncertainty inherent in transformational change, including digital transformation.

Building on this foundation, the programme will examine firm growth strategies through the lens of emerging Strategic Vulnerability Theory and systems-level leadership. Particular attention will be given to systems thinking as a means of enabling capability expansion, ecosystem positioning, and strategic adaptation in increasingly interconnected and uncertain environments.

One common misconception about strategy is that success depends solely on having a great idea. While ideas matter, they create value only when organisations possess the capabilities, resources, and execution capacity required to realise them effectively. In this session, participants will use a resource matrix to identify, map, and mobilise strategic resources in preparation for translating ambitious ideas into sustainable organisational outcomes.

Through a systems thinking perspective, the session will develop a deeper understanding of how leaders can manage interdependencies, navigate uncertainty, and design more resilient, adaptive, and strategically aligned organisational ecosystems capable of sustaining long-term value creation.

This day will help leaders examine how they make sense of ambiguity, how they frame strategic problems and how to turn a strategic choice into aligned action across functions and stakeholders.

We will explore leadership capabilities that will enable you to thrive in the world and look at how the new emerging theory of open strategy, can be applied to strategic leadership challenges, where we will challenge traditional notions of strategy formation by drawing on recent research and practice cases.

This session will explore how organisations can strategically engage external voices—customers, partners, and even competitors—in shaping future directions. It’s highly relevant given the shift toward platform thinking and digital ecosystems as part of broader digital transformation efforts.

After this session you will reevaluate your role as a strategic leader in an increasingly networked and transparent world. You will leverage open strategy tools and practices to foster innovation, alignment and agility.