The book substantiates the key role of strategic management and provides a brief description of the state of foreign and domestic strategic thought. The determining role of the leader's psyche in the development of strategy is shown, its influence on the quality of strategic management and the boundaries of the strategist's picture of the world are revealed. The applied core of the work is the author's concept of an optimized strategic management cycle. It includes four private cycles: justification, adoption, implementation of strategy, generalization of strategic management experience. An attempt is made to analyze the global problems of Soviet and Russian strategists of the 20th and 21st centuries, and current and applied problems of strategic management are revealed. An analysis of the problems of risk, surprise and non-standard solutions in strategic management is given. Recommendations are offered for leaders to relieve stress and develop strategic thinking.