Title:
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Authors:
Prof. Dr. Amel Abed Mohammed Ali, Ahmed Mohammed Haneef, Bilal Qutaiba Jawad Aqeel Ashour Mahdi, Iraq

Abstract:
The topic of the relationship between strategic leadership and sustainable development is a vital one that has received increasing attention in modern administrative literature, due to the significant role leadership plays in guiding organizations towards achieving long-term goals characterized by continuity and balance. This study aims to highlight the nature of the integrative relationship between strategic leadership and sustainable development, and to demonstrate how strategic leaders contribute to enhancing sustainability practices within organizations. The study proceeds from the hypothesis that strategic leadership represents a critical factor in achieving sustainable development through adopting future visions and flexible strategies that respond to environmental, economic, and social changes. It was concluded that strategic leadership directly contributes to integrating sustainability principles into organizational policies, and works to achieve a balance between profit generation, natural resource conservation, and social responsibility enhancement (Al-Janabi & Sultan, 2020). Results also showed that strategic leaders play a pivotal role in supporting innovation and moving towards the use of clean technologies, which positively reflects on the environmental performance of organizations (Hassan, 2021). Furthermore, the importance of leadership in building effective partnerships with stakeholders emerges, which enhances opportunities for achieving sustainable development on a broader scale. The study also confirmed that the presence of aware strategic leadership contributes to improving the competitiveness of organizations and increases their ability to face future challenges (Al-Siyabi, 2023). The study concludes that achieving sustainable development cannot be done in isolation from the presence of effective strategic leadership capable of directing resources and making sound decisions (Abdul Rahman, 2020). Therefore, adopting strategic leadership approaches is an urgent necessity to ensure the sustainability of institutional performance and achieve comprehensive development.