Cultural, Strategic, Operational, Tactical, And Crisis Leadership

Front line supervisor
getty
Leadership is about inspiring, enabling and empowering others to do their absolute best together to realize a meaningful and rewarding shared purpose. Nesting within that, CEOs, senior leaders, middle managers, and frontline supervisors should focus on cultural, strategic, operational, and tactical leadership respectively, with all-in during a crisis.
Leadership modes
Bradt
Ultimately, culture is the only sustainable competitive advantage. It's the one thing CEOs can never delegate. All need to be clear on who we are and what we stand for as described in the organization's mission, vision and values.
This is what inspires others to be part of the organization and is enduring.
Strategic leadership is about choices – the creation and allocation of the right resources to the right place in the right way at the right time over time. This means there are wrong resources, wrong places, and wrong times. Michael Porter taught us that strategy is about choosing what not to do. Harry Kangis went one step further and taught us that choosing not to do a bad idea is easy. The hard choice is choosing not to do something that's a good idea for someone else.
Choices are theoretically elegant and practically useless unless they are backed with enabling resources. Strategic choices should play out over time and are the province of senior leaders. This is where the 6% in Don Hampton's framework comes in. As CEO he said others had to make 90% of the decisions. 4% were his alone. 6% were shared. Strategic choices must be shared by the senior leadership team, CEO, and board.
Operational leadership occupies the middle ground, where the matrix comes to life. It's part strategic and part tactical. It's mid-term. It's the realm of middle managers leading divisions or business units, functions, geographies, programs, or campaigns. These leaders often wear two hats, sitting on the executive leadership team with their influence spanning across the entire organization, and leading their own areas. Business units, functions, geographies and the like will have their own strategies, nested within the overall strategies.
The allies in World War II provide an illustrative example.
Marshall was empowered to make that choice and empowered Patton to run his campaign.
Strategic leadership flows from the Greek word 'strategos' – the art of the general. This is about arranging forces before the battle – planning where to play (and not play) and how to win.
Tactical leadership flows from the Greek word 'taktikos' – deploying forces in battle. This is about tactical capacity, a team's ability to translate strategies into tactical actions decisively, rapidly, and effectively, with high-quality responsiveness under difficult, changing conditions. As one leader puts it, 'Tactical leadership is about permanent agility and adaptation looking for solutions.'
This only works if senior and operational leaders empower tactical leaders to make choices different than they would make themselves, nested within the culture and strategic choices, and hold them accountable for their results.
These are more short-term choices and are the realm of frontline supervisors.
In an earlier article on critical learning about crisis management, I suggested three steps of disciplined iteration in line with an organization's overall purpose/culture:
Click here for a categorized list of my Forbes articles (of which this is #949)

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Motor 1

10 minutes ago

• Motor 1

The 20 Most American-Made Cars of 2025

With tariffs still a hot talking point and prices expected to increase over the next few months, it could make a big difference where your next car is built. That's why the annual American-Made Index is an important tool to use when shopping for your next ride. The American-Made Index uses five different factors to determine just how "American" each car sold in the US is: Location of final assembly, percentage of US and Canadian parts, countries of origin for all engines, countries of origin for all transmissions, and US manufacturing workforce. This year, the study analyzed more than 400 vehicles and narrowed the final list down to 100 models. At the top of the list are the usual suspects: Tesla, Jeep, and even Honda. American brands like Chevrolet and Ford don't crack the top 10, and only one Chevy makes it in the top 20. You can read the full list at —but here's what the top 20 looks like: 20. Nissan Pathfinder 19. Chevrolet Colorado 18. Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid 17. Kia Sportage 16. Acura Integra 15. Honda Accord 14. Acura RDX 13. Jeep Wrangler 12. Honda Pilot 11. Acura MDX 10. Volkswagen ID.4 9. Honda Passport 8. Honda Odyssey 7. Honda Ridgeline 6. Kia EV6 5. Jeep Gladiator 4. Tesla Model X 3. Tesla Model S 2. Tesla Model Y 1. Tesla Model 3 Tesla Tops the Charts Tesla Model 3 Performance As expected, Tesla tops the list with four of its models taking the top four. The Model 3 earns the crown as the most American-made vehicle of 2025 (so far). All of Tesla's vehicles are produced at its Fremont Factory in Fremont, California, with the Gigafactory in Texas also producing Model Ys and Cybertrucks. The Gladiator takes fifth place and is the only Jeep in the top 20, while Kia takes sixth place with the electric EV6. The Kia Sportage also cracks the top 20 in 17th place; both Kia models are produced at the brand's West Point, Georgia, manufacturing facility. Honda has five vehicles in the top 20, with the Odyssey, Pilot, Ridgeline, and Passport all produced at the same manufacturing plant in Lincoln, Alabama. The Honda Accord, meanwhile, is built in Marysville, Ohio. Honda's luxury brand, Acura, also has three vehicles in the top 20: The RDX, MDX, and Integra. The Integra is built alongside the Accord in Marysville, while the RDX and MDX are produced nearby in East Liberty, Ohio. Where Are Chevy & Ford? Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison Photo by: Andrew Link | Motor1 While only one of Detroit's Big Three cracks the top 10 (Jeep), Chevy and Ford are nowhere to be found. Only one Chevy model—the Colorado pickup, at 19th—even cracks the top 20. It's produced at Chevy's Wentzville, Missouri, plant. The Ford F-150 Lightning comes in at 22nd, and the Explorer is 23rd. Meanwhile, the Bronco falls all the way to 47th, while the Mustang is even further still at 56th. Outside of the Colorado, the C8 Corvette is 29th, the Suburban is 38th, the Tahoe is 41st, and the Traverse SUV is 73rd. A few Cadillac and GMC models—like the Yukon at 39th and the CT5 at 44th—do at least crack the top 50. The Least-American Made Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid Photo by: Subaru On the opposite end of the spectrum, a handful of vehicles from American brands fall to the bottom of the list. The Jeep Wagoneer L is the 100th most American-made car of 2025. The Toyota RAV4 Hybrid is 99th, the Cadillac Lyriq is 98th, the Nissan Rogue is 97th, the Subaru Crosstrek is 96th, and the Genesis GV70 is 95th. Here's what the bottom 10 looks like: 100. Jeep Wagoneer L 99. Toyota RAV4 Hybrid 98. Cadillac Lyriq 97. Nissan Rogue 96. Subaru Crosstrek 95. Genesis GV70 94. Honda Civic Hybrid 93. Mercedes-Benz GLE350 92. Mercedes-Benz EQE 350+ 91. Mercedes-Benz GLS450 90. Mercedes-Benz GLE450e Some Cars Are More American Than You Think The Honda Ridgeline Is More American Than Your Ford or Chevy Truck Honda Ridgeline, Toyota Tundra More American-Made Than F-150, Silverado: Study Get the best news, reviews, columns, and more delivered straight to your inbox, daily. back Sign up For more information, read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . Source: Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )

Bloomberg

14 minutes ago

• Bloomberg

Fallout From the Fed Decision

Sonali Basak highlights the market-moving news you need to know. Today's guests: Columbia Threadneedle Global Rates Strategist Ed Al-Hussainy, Guggenheim Fixed Income CIO Steven Brown, BNP Paribas Head of US Credit Strategy Meghan Robson, and PIMCO Portfolio Manager of Multi-Sector Credit Sonali Pier. (Source: Bloomberg)

Bloomberg

14 minutes ago

• Bloomberg

Meta Launches $399 Oakley AI Glasses

Bloomberg Intelligence's Mandeep Singh discusses Meta's move to roll out new smart glasses models with Oakley. He joins Caroline Hyde on 'Bloomberg Tech.' (Source: Bloomberg)