What is tactical leadership?
Tactical leaders complement strategic leaders. Tactical leaders (from the Greek word taktike, meaning organize) are those leaders skilled in the art of organizing, historically of an army. Such leaders are exact, accurate and specific. They lead the forces after the battle begins. They focus on allocation, analysis, planning, evaluation and adjustment once the strategic leaders set the direction. Tactical leaders in the military are customarily colonels in rank.
In architecture
Returning for a moment to our architectural metaphor, the tactical leader is like a civil engineer.[xv] He or she may receive a general idea of the architectural form from the homeowner or architect. But the tactical leader must compute the number of board-feet required, the utility needs and the component costs associated with every element of the endeavor. It is the engineer that puts together an infrastructure to undergird the artistic image the strategic leader has pictured.
In the military
In the World War II invasions of North Africa, Sicily, Italy and France it would have been a mistake to micro-manage the invasion by generals far from the front. Instead, planning, adaptive tactics, evaluation, allocation, personnel deployment and adjustments for winning the evasion are the responsibility of the tactical leaders once the battle had begun.
In the Church
Tactical leaders receive their long-term goals from strategic leaders [xvi]. But tactical leaders contribute the critical and decisive tasks of planning, allocating, adjusting and analyzing that brings about the future envisioned by a strategic leader. And, tactical leadership fits these future plans into the ongoing life, tasks and rhythms of what the church is doing presently. It has been said that tactical leadership “means fitting together of ongoing activities into a meaningful whole.”[xvii]
This leadership makes the future, as seen by the strategic leader, happen in a unified manner. Management scholar Russell Ackoff’s definition describes the role of tactical leaders where “planning is the design of a desired future and of effective ways of bringing it about”[xviii].
In the change process
Thus a critical contribution that is often missing in our churches is the tactical leader who makes change happen—in a unifying way.
Leaders do not succeed at change because a critical link in making change happen is often missing: the tactical leader. Change does not succeed in its outcome because the necessary tactically skilled leaders that can implement unifying change are not involved. We must integrate tactical leaders into the processes of change or changes we seek will not make things better—only less unified.
Characteristics
Tactical leadership is an integrated skill. The tactical leader weds the past, the present and the future to move the church ahead. The tactical leader grasps the strategic leader’s vision of the future, but the tactical leader enjoys integrating these future plans into the ongoing and present life of the church. Tactical leaders also relish the planning process. They set timelines and allocate duties. They are delegators in the truest sense of the word. They should not be confused with relational leaders who do the work themselves. The tactical leader delegates fully, but then carefully evaluates the results.
Thus, tactical leaders are often administrative types, who make copious notes as the strategic leader expounds upon the future. Tactical leaders create spreadsheets, flowcharts and diagrams, and they designate work teams. They know how to bring big long-term projects down into easy, doable steps.
These leaders are the needed go-betweens to connect strategic leaders who grasp the big picture and relational leaders who get things done. Everyone appreciates tactical leaders, but regrettably, they are usually outnumbered in our churches by strategic leaders and relational leaders. Thus, the organization suffers.
Other names for tactical leaders:
1. Administrators (Phil Miglioratti[xix]).
2. Role Two Leaders (Phil Miglioratti [xx]).
3. Middle-level management (Martin Butler and Robert Herman[xxi]).
4. “Middle management” (John Wimber/Eddie Gibbs[xxii] and John Kotter[xxiii]).
5. “Enables others to achieve goals” (Richard Hutcheson[xxiv]).
6. Problem solvers (Gary Yukl[xxv]).
7. Modality leadership, which is described as “enabler, team builder, ally, implementer” (Ralph Winter).[xxvi]
This is the third article in a series of articles on 3-STRand Leadership. Check out the second, “Who are the strategic leaders?” by Bob Whitesel. Click here for footnotes.
Excerpted from Preparing for Change Reaction: How to Introduce Change in Your Church by Bob Whitesel (Indianapolis: Wesleyan Publishing House, 2007).
Photo source: istock
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Bob Whitesel (D.Min., Ph.D.) is a foresight coach, professor, and award-winning author of 14 books. For over 30 years, he has guided leaders and churches to pivot and engage what’s next. He holds two earned doctorates from Fuller Theological Seminary and teaches on leadership foresight, church health, and organizational change. His website is www.ChurchForesight.com. Learn More » |
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