The purpose of this project is to explore what is required to transition into and work effectively in the role of junior strategic leader in the Royal Australian Navy (Navy). We undertook semi-structured interviews with senior officers who have effectively operated in a junior strategic leadership role in the past. We were interested to explore what effective senior officers identify as the requirements needed to transition from a senior operational role to a junior strategic leadership role. We also held focus groups sessions with officers in senior operational levels who could transition into a junior strategic leadership role in the future and with officers currently in a junior strategic leadership role. Our research found that the transition from operational to strategic roles requires more than a ‘standard’ training program, and that this transition needs to be reconsidered along with what organisations need to do to support this transfer.
