LEADERSHIP STRA TEGIES

Heroic Leadership Roles

Create the Leadership Strategies & Tactics

» Guiding Questions for Leadership Teams

» Templates for Planning & Mid-Course Strategy Checks
» Templates for Adding Tactics to Strategies

QuickStart is designed to provide structure for fast application of the key

elements of heroic leadership. It is action focused. See Also:

» “I’m Just Curious” – an overview of the book

» The other QuickStart packets
» The Chapter Summaries & excerpts
» The download section for complete chapters

CenterForHeroicLeadership.org
 Heroic Leadership Roles
LEADERSHIP STRA TEGIES Create the Leadership Strategies & Tactics

» Guiding Questions
3 Introduction and Overview of the QuickStart

4 Guiding Questions for Leadership Teams

9 Where From Here?

» Assessment Templates

10 Template: Heroic Leadership Strategies :

Finding the Highest Leverage

11 Template: Mid-Course Check on Leadership Strategy Success

12 Template: Tactics for Change Leadership Strategies (templates)

» Assessment Templates
13 The Visionary Strategies

14 The Architect Strategies

15 The Catalyst Strategies

16 The Guide Strategies

17 The Builder Strategies

18 The Integrator Strategies

CenterForHeroicLeadership.org
 Heroic Leadership QuickStart
Packet
LEADERSHIP STRA TEGIES
QuickStart is designed to provide structure for fast application of the heroic
leadership roles and strategies. QuickStart complements “I’m Curious”,
which provides an overview of heroic leadership. QuickStart is the “put it
into action” part. “I’m Curious” should, however, be skimmed before going
very far with QuickStart as it addresses the foundation underlying effective
leadership action – what will be encountered on a journey of change, the
leadership webs required, the four forms of courage on which to draw and
the type of leadership commitment required.

There are four documents here to support you in starting quickly, but with
focus and discipline.

Guiding Questions for Leadership Teams

You can just walk a leadership team through these questions.

They are designed to stimulate the discussions that arrive at the
effective deployment of strategies for leading a journey of change
– from beginnings through completion.

Templates for Adding Specific Tactics to Each

Leadership Strategy

This is a set of simple templates for mapping specific

tactics for each leadership strategy. It also allows an
overview of strategies and their tactics.

Strategy Templates for Planning a Journey

This template lists the leadership strategies with sec-

tions for mapping leverage and determining next steps.

Strategy Templates for Assessing Mid-Course

Success

This template lists the leadership strategies with sec-

tions for determining the degree of success for each
strategy and next steps.

CenterForHeroicLeadership.org 
 Guiding Questions for
Leadership Teams
LEADERSHIP STRA TEGIES
These are the natural questions of each act in the heroic journey. They are
questions designed to guide the conversations of leadership teams. These
are the key discussions that result, not only in choices of actions, but also in
the effective alignment of leaders.
“These are the key
discussions that result,
Because these questions are natural to the heroic journey, which is the
not only in choices of
underlying story of the change process, leaders can have a high degree of
actions, but also in the
confidence that their choices of actions are wise choices. That is critical in
effective alignment of
going forth with confidence and inspiring confidence in those following.
leaders”
It is even more critical in supporting leadership in holding the course when
things get messy and confusing and doubts start to undermine leadership’s
confidence and will. Such undermining is to be expected as it is part of the
challenge, but following the guiding questions (and revisiting them periodi-
cally) will provide a solid foundation on which leaders can stand.

How to Use the Guiding Questions

Using the guiding questions is very simple. Although the outcomes may be
complex. Just get the leadership team(s) together and ask the questions.
“Because these questions
are natural to the Planning a Journey
heroic journey, which If you are at the beginning of a journey of change, follow the questions in
is the underlying story order. It is important to think through strategies for all six leadership roles.
of the change process, However, the first two to three roles will determine how successful you are
leaders can have a high in beginning the journey. Strong beginnings set up the rest of the journey for
degree of confidence success. (See the template Heroic Leadership Strategies for an easy work-
that their choices sheet.)
of actions are wise
choices” In the Midst of a Journey
This usually means you are somewhere in Act II - on the path. There are
two perspectives to use here. One is to look back at the earlier leadership
roles and strategies and assess how well you have executed them (See the
template Mid-Course Check on Leadership Strategy Success for an easy
worksheet for this assessment.). This is surprisingly effective, because some
leaderhip leverage has always been missed and can usually be captured by
looking back and determining how to close any gaps.

The other perpective is looking at how to design and execute the leadership
strategies that are more current. This is the more obvious perspective, but it
will benefit from also looking back.

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 ACT I
Leadership in the Beginning of the Journey
LEADERSHIP STRA TEGIES
“How Do We Start Strong and Gain Commitment?”

Visionary
Strategy #1
Guiding Questions
Why are we embarking on » What’s precipitating the journey? Internal forces? External forces?
this Journey? » What are the opportunities if we are successful in changing?
» What are thee threats we face if we refuse to change or are unsuccessful on
our journey?
Strategy #2
Guiding Questions
Where are we going? » What’s the big picture vision of the desired state at the end of our journey?
» What’s the likely impact on various key stakeholders of the changes and
challenges involved?
Strategy #3
Guiding Questions
How will we lead this » What leadership behaviors will our followers see in us?
journey? » What behaviors will our followers not see in us (equally important)?
» What behaviors will we be asking of those following us?

Architect
Strategy #4
Guiding Questions
What kind of organization » “Things” - structure, processes, technologies, policies, etc?
willbe required to achieve » “People” - roles, relationships, behaviors, values, etc.
the vision? » Which of these elements will be changing significantly and, equally
important, which will not be changing significantly?
Strategy #5
Guiding Questions
What will our plan for the » What are our goals and objectives and their timing?
Journey look like? » What quick wins can we build in to build confidence and momentum?
» What resources will be required?
» Which teams and/or individuals will be responsible for the goals and
objectives and the allocation of resources?
Strategy #6
Guiding Questions
How will we build the web » Who will be part of the Core Leadership Team (this must be a high performing
of leaders required for team that is clearly up to the challenge in the eyes of followers?
success? » As we look out into the organization, who else will need to be brought into
the web and aligned with the Core Team?
» Note: Members of the leadership web can be individuals or groups/teams.

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LEADERSHIP STRA TEGIES
Catalyst
Strategy #7
How do we bring enough
people into the Leadership
Web to build the power,
reach into the organization
and the resiliency we will
need?
Strategy #8
How will we engage people
in adding the operational
detail to the vision?
Strategy #9
How will we prepare people
for success on the journey?
Guide
Strategy #10
What kind of communication
system will we need?
Strategy #11
How do we help people deal
with the emotional challeng-
es of the journey?
Strategy #12
How can we hold ourselves
accountable in a way that
people will not resist?
ACT II
Leadership “On the Path”
“How Do We Stay On the Path, Meet the Challenges,
and Stay Healthy?”
Guiding Questions
» Who do we want to bring into the leadership web, with what roles and when?
» How will we build the teams involved and how will we align people with the
Core Team?
Guiding Questions
» Which individuals and groups do we want to engage and when?
» What process will we use, including guidelines and faciliation of the process?
» How will we use their work to reality-check our “big picture” vision (how does
the vision work on a daily basis in the units)?
Guiding Questions
» How ready are the people and units of the organization for the journey?
» How will we prepare people? Intellectually? Emotionally? Physically?
» How will we prepare those in the leadership web to lead effectively?
Guiding Questions
» Communications out to people (types of messages, methods...)
» Feedback in to us (increasingly important as the journey progresses)
» Dialogue among people (to help self-manage and support each other)
Guiding Questions
» How do we help people let go of things, the things that must end in order to
move forward (from relationships and ways of doing things to self-image...)
» How do we help people deal with the dynamic tensions that characterize the
land in between endings and beginning - sense of place vs. displacement,
order vs. disorder, excitement vs. anxiety, etc?
Guiding Questions
» How will we measure our progress and performance - valuing metrics without
being blinded by them?
» How can we celebrate interim achievements and worthy efforts that didn’t
meet expectations (protecting people’s willingness to take risks)?
» How will we learn from the experience to increase our capabilities and
determine the next “right actions”?
» What kind of positive and negative consequences can we deliver based on
these outcomes?
CenterForHeroicLeadership.org 
 ACT II
Leadership “On the Path”
LLEEA
ADDEER
RSSH
HIIPP S
STTR
RAA TTEEG
GIIEES
S
“How Do We Stay On the Path, Meet the Challenges,
and Stay Healthy?”
Builder
Strategy #13
Guiding Questions
How do we maintain the » Which new people neeed to be brought into the web as the leadership needs
Leadership web? of the journey become more clear?
» What processes can we use to monitor the energy of people and groups as the
journey progresses and respond to renew energy when necessary?

Strategy #14 Guiding Questions

How will we “muscle build”
to develop the capabilities
required?
» What kind of individual competencies need to be developed and how will we
develop them?
» What kind of group/team competencies need to be developed and how will we
develop them?
» What kind of organizational or systemic competencies need to be developed
and how will we develop them?
» And how will we keep the focus on building capabilities when it is so easy to
lose that focus or starve the effort of resources?

Strategy #15 Guiding Questions

The process of mastery is » How do we help people deal with the plateaus that happeen when progress
the deceptively difficult flattens out and people get disheartened?
challenge. How will we guide » How will we manage the inevitable performance dips that happen before
people through that process? performance goes up – shortening duration and minimizing degree of dip?

CenterForHeroicLeadership.org 

LEADERSHIP STRA TEGIES
Integrator
Strategy #16
How will we manage the
ripple effects of our change?
Strategy #17
What do we need to do in
order to ensure that all the
“things” of the organization
are aligned with each other?
Strategy #18
How can attune the people of
the organization?
ACT III
Completion of the Journey
“How Do We Embed and Protect the Change?”
Guiding Questions
» Who is likely to be affected?
» How might they be affected and what complementary changes will we desire
of them to fit with our changes?
» How can we help them make those changes?
Guiding Questions
» How can we assess the degree of alignment and where we need to act?
» Are we willing to redesign structure or processes or technologies to ensure
alignment?
» Where must we make changes and where can we “leave well enough alone”
and tolerate some lack of alignment?
Guiding Questions
» How do we develop common ground of values, behaviors, leadership and
management styles, relationship norms, etc?
» How will we identify the new leaders as well as new capacities and ensure that
they are deployed effectively in the organization?
» How do we maintain our leadership discipline and focus on attunement for an
extended period of time (much longer than alignment)?
CenterForHeroicLeadership.org 
 Where From Here?

LEADERSHIP STRA TEGIES

Templates for Application:
Leadership Strategies and Their Tactics
There are three types of templates in the following pages, each designed to
help determine the highlest leverage actions you can take in leading a specific
journey of change. Each is designed to guide and support the discussions of a
leadership team.
Heroic Leadership
Strategies Finding the Highest Leverage. This template lays out all of the leadership
strategies and has a place for identifying which would be highest leverage for
a particular journey as well as next steps. It is intended for those planning a
Mid-Course Check on journey or just beginning.
Leadership Strategy
Success This template supports a leadership team in the midst of a journey in
determining which leadership strategies have been most or least successful as
well as which offer the greatest leverage. Choosing next steps becomes
relatively easy as the team compares leverage and success to date.
Tactics for Change
Leadership Strategies This template lays out all the strategies with space for identifying the most
important tactic for executing each strategy. When filled out by a leadership
team, a very clear picture of the required leadership actions is presented.
That is a base for both aligned action as well as healthy accountability.

I’m Curious
The “I’m Curious” section provides an overview of the heroic leadership that
highlights the required leadership roles and their strategies – as well as the
foundation on which leadership action rests. The foundation for action has four
main building blocks.

» Committing to lead (“Answering The Call”)

» Understanding what will be faced by leaders and followers

» The web of leaders and followers what will need to be built

» The four forms of courage on which to draw

Sustained leadership success depends on this foundation. “I’m Curious” com-

bined with QuickStart is a great introduction to Heroic Leadership – a combina-
tion of theory and action.

CenterForHeroicLeadership.org 
 Heroic Leadership Strategies
LEADERSHIP STRA TEGIES Finding the Highest Leverage

Leadership Strategy *Leverage Next Steps

Role 1/2/3

Visionary #1 Build the Business Case

#2 Create the Vision

#3 Establish the
ACT I

Leadership Commitment

#4 Create the
Architect
Organization Design

#5 Build the Journey Plan

#6 Create the Leadership Web

Catalyst #7 Extend the Web

#8 Operationalize the Vision

#9 Prep the People

& Organization

#10 Create a System

Guide
for Communications
ACT II

#11 Support People in

Letting Go & Inbetweenity

#12 Establish a System of

Accountability

Builder #13 Maintain the Web

#14 Build Competency

#15 Support People in

the Mastery Process

Integrator #16 Manage the Ripple Effect

ACT III

#17 Align the Organization

#18 Attune the People

*Leverage

1 = High Leverage
2 = Moderate Leverage
3 = Low Leverage

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 Mid-Course Check on
LEADERSHIP STRA TEGIES Leadership Strategy Success
Leadership Strategy *Leverage *Success Next Steps
Role 1/2/3 A/B/C

Visionary #1 Build the Business Case

#2 Create the Vision

#3 Establish the
ACT I

Leadership Commitment

#4 Create the
Architect
Organization Design

#5 Build the Journey Plan

#6 Create the Leadership Web

Catalyst #7 Extend the Web

#8 Operationalize the Vision

#9 Prep the People

& Organization

#10 Create a System

Guide
for Communications
ACT II

#11 Support People in

Letting Go & Inbetweenity

#12 Establish a System of

Accountability

Builder #13 Maintain the Web

#14 Build Competency

#15 Support People in

the Mastery Process

Integrator #16 Manage the Ripple Effect

ACT III

#17 Align the Organization

#18 Attune the People

*Leverage *Success

1 = High Leverage A = Highly Successful

2 = Moderate Leverage B = Moderately Successful
3 = Low Leverage C = Not Successful

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Tactics for Change Leadership Strategies
ACT I: Beginnings
For Each Strategy:
The Visionary Role Simply identify the three tactics that will provide the greatest benefit in pursuing that strategy.
This format is useful in structuring the conversations of leadership groups – conversations that lead
to the most effective actions. It also helps assure that leadership is aligned right at the beginning.

Tactic:

Strategy #1 Tactic:
Build the Business Case for Change

Tactic:

Tactic:

Strategy #2 Tactic:
Create the Vision of the Desired State

Tactic:

Tactic:

Strategy #3 Tactic:
Establish the Leadership Commitment

Tactic:

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Tactics for Change Leadership Strategies
ACT I: Beginnings
For Each Strategy:
The Architect Role Simply identify the three tactics that will provide the greatest benefit in pursuing that strategy.
This format is useful in structuring the conversations of leadership groups – conversations that lead
to the most effective actions. It also helps assure that leadership is aligned right at the beginning.

Tactic:

Strategy #4 Tactic:
Create the Organization Design

Tactic:

Tactic:

Strategy #5
Tactic:
Build the Plan for the Journey

Tactic:

Tactic:

Strategy #6
Tactic:
Create the Leadership Web

Tactic:

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Tactics for Change Leadership Strategies
ACT II: On The Path
For Each Strategy:
The Catalyst Role Simply identify the three tactics that will provide the greatest benefit in pursuing that strategy.
This format is useful in structuring the conversations of leadership groups – conversations that lead
to the most effective actions. It also helps assure that leadership is aligned right at the beginning.

Tactic:

Strategy #7 Tactic:
Extend the Leadership Web

Tactic:

Tactic:

Strategy #8
Tactic:
Add Operational Detail to the Vision

Tactic:

Tactic:

Strategy #9
Prepare the People & Organization Tactic:
for the Journey

Tactic:

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Tactics for Change Leadership Strategies
ACT II: On The Path
For Each Strategy:
The Guide Role Simply identify the three tactics that will provide the greatest benefit in pursuing that strategy.
This format is useful in structuring the conversations of leadership groups – conversations that lead
to the most effective actions. It also helps assure that leadership is aligned right at the beginning.

Tactic:

Strategy #10 Tactic:

Create a System for Communications

Tactic:

Tactic:

Strategy #11
Support People in Letting Go & Tactic:
“Inbetweenity”

Tactic:

Tactic:

Strategy #12
Establish a System of Accountability Tactic:

Tactic:

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Tactics for Change Leadership Strategies
ACT II: On The Path
For Each Strategy:
The Builder Role Simply identify the three tactics that will provide the greatest benefit in pursuing that strategy.
This format is useful in structuring the conversations of leadership groups – conversations that lead
to the most effective actions. It also helps assure that leadership is aligned right at the beginning.

Tactic:

Strategy #13 Tactic:

Maintain The Web

Tactic:

Tactic:

Strategy #14
Build Competency Tactic:

Tactic:

Tactic:

Strategy #15
Support People in The Mastery Process Tactic:

Tactic:

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Tactics for Change Leadership Strategies
ACT III: Completion of the Journey
For Each Strategy:
The Integrator Role Simply identify the three tactics that will provide the greatest benefit in pursuing that strategy.
This format is useful in structuring the conversations of leadership groups – conversations that lead
to the most effective actions. It also helps assure that leadership is aligned right at the beginning.

Tactic:

Strategy #16 Tactic:

Manage the Ripple Effect

Tactic:

Tactic:

Strategy #17
Align the Organization Tactic:

Tactic:

Tactic:

Strategy #18
Attune the People Tactic:

Tactic:

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