Every business leader has to understand what strategic thinking is in order to develop strategy and implement it. The word ‘leader’ comes from the Old English word lædere, meaning “one who guides”, that is one who goes before. So tactics are always given priority over strategy, and the speed of response is given priority over thinking out a strategy. Many leaders tend to talk about strategy but, in actual fact, they would be looking for immediate actions, tactics. Everyone is eager to jump on the bandwagon of a winning strategy, but few are willing to do the thinking to create that strategy, to lead from the front.