There are two faces of leadership.
One face looks forward – because leadership is about going somewhere.
That face of leadership focuses on questions like:
1. Where are we going?
2. Why? What is the purpose?
3. How will we get there? What are our key strategies?
4. What will guide our journey? What values will guide behavior and decision-making?
The other face of leadership looks back at who’s following – at building organizational capacity and ensuring people have what they need to move forward easily.
That face of leadership focuses on questions like:
1. What skills do people need and how can we support development?
2. What resources do people need? (e.g. . . . → Read More: The Two Faces of Leadership
Today begins my last week as executive director of the Berrett-Koehler Foundation. This is the second time I’ve done this with an organization—served as executive director during the startup phase—and I’ve learned many lessons along the way.
My involvement began two years ago when Steve Piersanti, president of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, asked me to help create a new organization that would further their mission of helping to create a world that works for all in a way that went beyond what Berrett-Koehler could do as a publisher.
I began by facilitating a design team. After research and serious consideration, we determined the focus would be to support the next generation of leaders in putting into practice the systems-changing ideas and tools that authors were writing about.
. . . → Read More: My Leadership Lessons as Executive Director
The team was excited and energized. They had created a vision that would lead to the breakthrough they had been looking for.
They set goals and identified next steps, roles and communications. They had a great plan and the means to achieve it.
All set, right?
They fell victim to “creative tension.”
Working toward the vision was not as exciting as the process of creating it. At times it was downright mundane.
It was harder than they had anticipated. It required more work, making adjustments to plans, communications and coordination was more difficult.
Some people began to say the vision wasn’t practical. Others decided they really didn’t want the vision after all.
Soon things on the team returned to normal, and life returned to . . . → Read More: Prepare for Creative Tension or It May Cloud Your Vision
“It was so much easier this year to set our team goals, now that we have a shared vision,” Chris remarked, reflecting on the visioning process they had recently completed. “We are way ahead of the curve this year!”
Was he right? Maybe …. It depends on whether his team’s systems and practices support their vision.
Do their policies and procedures make getting the job done easier or harder?
A team might start off aligned around a shared vision, but unaligned systems and practices can quickly derail them.
Are team members dependent on each other in order to accomplish certain goals? . . . If so, what communication processes are in place so they can effectively coordinate their efforts?
Do any of the . . . → Read More: How to Keep Your Team Goals on Track
“Vision is a clearly articulated, results-oriented picture of a future you intend to create. It is a dream with direction.” In short, vision is a combination of three basic elements: 1) a significant purpose, reason for existence, 2) a clear picture of the future, and 3) the underlying core values.
In my last two posts, I discussed the elements of purpose and picture of the future. This post focuses on the third element – values.
Our values are our deeply held beliefs about what is right and good, evoking standards that we care deeply about. They drive our behaviors and decisions, trigger our emotions, and can fuel a passion that drives commitment, even in the face of obstacles and change.
An engaging vision, one . . . → Read More: To Create an Enduring Vision, Values Must Support Purpose
There are three elements of a compelling vision. In my last blog post, I discussed the first element – having a significant purpose. The second element of a compelling vision is a clear picture of the future.
There is tremendous power in holding a picture in your mind of what you intend to create.
I first became aware of the power of holding a picture of what you want to create after the 1976 Olympics. The Russians walked away with almost all of the gold medals, and people were wondering how they did it. We discovered that they were using a technique called “mental rehearsal” where they imagined practicing the race. I was very curious about this and . . . → Read More: Create a Vision With Staying Power – Part 2
An Effective Vision Does More Than Simply Show Where You’re Going
“Vision” is one of the most commonly used and most widely misunderstood terms. There’s a tremendous amount of power in a vision. But unfortunately when the term is not used or understood correctly, we lose out on the opportunity to access the power.
Consider the Apollo Moon Project. It was amazing. They overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles. When President Kennedy articulated the vision to put a man on the moon by 1969, the technology to accomplish it had not even been invented. An exciting decade of focused, Herculean efforts ended in 1969 when two men walked on the moon and returned safely home. It was amazing! …and then it was . . . → Read More: Create a Vision With Staying Power
I once heard that in order to reach the moon, NASA made over a thousand mid-course corrections.
At first I was surprised. If you know where you’re going, why not just plot the course, like they do on Star Trek?
But then I realized it’s a perfect metaphor for a trap we often fall into when goal-setting.
This 2 minute video explains the trap and how to avoid it:
Your vision will expand and become more clear the closer you get to it, but its fundamental essence will not change. Your goals, however, are your steps along the path. As your path is revealed, your goals may need to change.
Waiting for a yearly review of goals does . . . → Read More: 1001 Mid-Course Corrections
When you have a vision, you know where you want to go and you can see your next steps – but you won’t be able to see the entire path.
Vision is not about the path, it’s about the destination. As you take each step, the next step becomes clear as long as you stay focused on your vision.
You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. ..~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Goals are important.
Goals quantify and define the steps you must take. They are the signposts that let you know you are moving in the right direction. They are measurable and answer questions like When? and How much? (rather than Why? which is addressed by . . . → Read More: A Big Goal Is Not The Same As a Vision