The Role of Knowledge in Leadership Management

Strategic planning, an umbrella term used to include and summarize such activities as planning, performance measurement, program budgeting, and the like, has proven to be very useful but limited. It is a technical fix that gets at only part of the question of organizational effectiveness and only deals with some of the dilemmas organizations face. The efforts of public administrators to control organizational endeavours are essential, necessary, and aligned with current best practices. But the control mechanisms ultimately prove to be only part of the puzzle. In the face of such realities, the notion of strategic thinking emerges to fill the gaps and overcome the limitations that experience with strategic planning has proven to exhibit. This paper presents an integration of leadership ideas, strategic thinking and traditional planning activities in an effort to make important connections and important distinctions. The result is an outline of the foundations of strategic thinking. Key w ords: Leadership, Strategic Planning, Strategic Thinking, Organizational Philosophy, Management