Becoming a strategic leader: Lessons from the UK public sector

This paper explores the processes through which the practice of strategizing is learnt. Drawing on data collected through in-depth interviews with over 30 strategic leaders in 10 UK public sector institutions, informal experience, rather than formally organized development, was identified as a major underlying influence in the learning and relearning of how to operate strategically. Although the importance of experience was a recurring theme, no one dominant form of informal experience was identified; rather different types of experience were highlighted. The paper concludes by suggesting that the formalisation of informal learning appears to be a most significant intervention for the development of strategic leadership in the learning and skills sector.