Abstract—Strategic leadership competencies is distinct from the general notion of leadership. Strategic leadership is about leadership activities at higher levels of a firm. Strategic leaders require strategic thinking skills. There is considerable agreement on the nature of strategic thinking. It is about thinking creatively about strategic options and alternative ways to compete. However, not much has been discussed on what it takes to become a strategic thinker. In addition, the strategic leadership role often requires that leaders negotiate and manage internal politics. Strategizing is not always a simple and rational process. Strategic leaders also often find themselves having to initiate change to adapt to the lessons learned about discontinuities in the environment. This paper proposes that strategic leaders need to have a certain personality predisposition and develop 3 key competencies to be effective in their role. These competencies are strategic thinking, managing politics and change management.

Index Terms—competencies, strategic leadership, change management skills, need for cognition, need for leadership

Cite: Zumalia Norzailan, Shazlinda Md Yusof, and Rozhan Othman, "Developing Strategic Leadership Competencies," Journal of Advanced Management Science, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 66-71, January 2016. doi: 10.12720/joams.4.1.66-71