Description
Key Chapters:
1. Strategic Thinking: An Urgent Necessity:
• Defining Strategic Thinking: Dr. Manafikhi defines strategic thinking as a leader’s ability to understand complex systems and make critical decisions that contribute to achieving the organization’s long-term goals.
• The Purpose of Strategic Thinking: Strategic thinking aims to empower leaders to:
o Analyze situations accurately and understand the influencing factors.
o Anticipate future challenges and opportunities.
o Develop effective plans to achieve goals.
o Lead teams towards success.
• Understanding Systems and Acquiring Skills: Dr. Manafikhi emphasizes the importance of leaders understanding their work system and the surrounding systems, in addition to the need to develop their skills in the areas of analysis, planning, problem-solving, communication, and leadership.
2. Strategic Thinking and the Strategic Thinker:
• Strategic Analysis and Its Impact on Strategic Thinking: Dr. Manafikhi explains the role of strategic analysis in the strategic thinking process, as it helps leaders assess strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and understand the organization’s internal and external environment.
• Distinguishing between Strategic Planning and Strategic Thinking: Dr. Manafikhi differentiates between strategic planning and strategic thinking. Strategic planning is the process of developing a specific plan to achieve certain goals, while strategic thinking is an ongoing skill that helps leaders adapt their plans to changing circumstances.
3. Skills for Developing Strategic Thinking:
• Suggestions for Development: Dr. Manafikhi offers a range of suggestions for developing strategic thinking skills, including:
o Continuous reading in the fields of business administration, leadership, and strategic analysis.
o Attending specialized training courses and workshops.
o Learning from experiences and learning from mistakes.
o Networking with inspiring leaders and sharing experiences with them.
• The Phenomenon Reframing Model: Dr. Manafikhi defines the phenomenon reframing model as a tool that helps leaders view situations from different perspectives, contributing to finding creative solutions to problems.
4. Essentials for Successful Strategic Thinking:
• And Thought Tools to Expand Awareness: Dr. Manafikhi emphasizes the importance of using thought tools to expand a leader’s awareness, such as:
o Mind maps.
o SWOT analysis.
o Scenario analysis.
• Critical Thinking Skills: Dr. Manafikhi stresses the need for leaders to possess critical thinking skills, which help them evaluate and analyze information accurately before making decisions.
5. Leadership Skills in Asking Smart Questions:
The Importance of Asking Smart Questions:
• Understanding team needs better: Smart questions help leaders understand the needs of their team members better, enabling them to provide appropriate support and guidance.
• Encouraging creativity and new ideas: Smart questions encourage team members to think creatively and come up with new and innovative ideas.
• Solving problems effectively: Smart questions help leaders analyze problems accurately and identify their roots, enabling them to find effective solutions.
Types of Smart Questions:
• Open-ended questions: These questions allow for diverse answers and encourage dialogue and discussion.
• Exploratory questions: These questions help to understand different perspectives and deepen the discussion.
• Analytical questions: These questions help to analyze information and identify relationships between them.
• Tough questions: These questions help to test our assumptions and challenge conventional thinking.
How to Use Smart Questions Effectively:
• Ask questions at the right time: Questions should be asked at the right time, when team members are ready to participate and answer.
• Listen attentively: It is important to listen attentively to team members’ answers and show appreciation for their opinions.
• Ask follow-up questions: Follow-up questions help to deepen the discussion and better understand the perspectives of team members.
• Avoid asking leading questions: Avoid asking leading questions that suggest the leader’s preferred answer.
Chapter Six: Worksheet and Analysis According to Strategic Thinking Skills
In this chapter, Dr. Manafikhi provides a worksheet that helps leaders assess and analyze their strategic thinking skills. The worksheet includes a set of questions that address different aspects of strategic thinking, such as:
• The leader’s ability to understand complex systems.
• The leader’s analytical and planning skills.
• The leader’s ability to make strategic decisions.
• The leader’s communication and leadership skills.
By analyzing their answers to the questions, leaders can identify their strengths and weaknesses in strategic thinking, which can help them develop a plan to improve their skills in this area.
Applying Institutional Leadership Thinking:
Dr. Manafikhi emphasizes the importance of applying leadership thinking at the institutional level, as this can create a culture that encourages creativity and innovation, and achieves long-term success.
Conclusion:
Dr. Yousef Manafikhi’s book “Strategic Leadership Thinking” is a valuable resource for administrative leaders who are seeking to develop their skills and achieve success in various fields. The book offers a set of useful tools and techniques, as well as real-world examples from the business world.
Customer Reviews
There are no reviews yet.