Executive leadership is the directing of activities toward the accomplishment of corporate
objectives. Executive leadership is important because it sets the tone for the entire corpora-
tion. A strategic vision is a description of what the company is capable of becoming. It is of-
ten communicated in the company’s mission and vision statements (as described in Chapter 1).
People in an organization want to have a sense of mission, but only top management is in the
position to specify and communicate this strategic vision to the general workforce. Top man-
agement’s enthusiasm (or lack of it) about the corporation tends to be contagious. The impor-
tance of executive leadership is illustrated by Steve Reinemund, past-CEO of PepsiCo:
“A leader’s job is to define overall direction and motivate others to get there.”100