VISION

Mar

2023

Five Tips to Help You Create Vision

Over the past couple of months I’ve had the opportunity to help some business leaders and non-profit organizations work on their business strategy. A big key to strategy is having a clear vision.

As a business leader, you are the one who helps define the vision for your team and encourages buy-in from everyone involved. Creating a vision can be a daunting task, but with the right approach, it can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Here are some tips to help you create a vision for your team:

Start with the End in Mind

Before you start trying to create a vision, think about what success looks like. What do you want your team to accomplish in the long run? Spend some time thinking about it, and then you can start to create a vision that will help your team achieve that success.

Get Input from Your Team

Once you’ve identified what success looks like, the next step is to get input from your team. Find out what they think success looks like, and then you can start to create a vision that incorporates everyone’s ideas. This is important because it helps create a sense of ownership and buy-in from everyone involved.

Make Sure your Vision is Achievable

A vision is only effective if it is achievable. The vision should be something that feels like it will require teamwork and effort, but realistic enough your team can see themselves accomplishing it. If your vision is to triple your income and the last few years you have only had a ten percent growth people will get discouraged because it won’t seem achievable. Scale it to be stretching and, with work, achievable.

Be Specific and Clear

Make sure that your vision is clear and specific. This will help your team understand what they need to do to achieve success. Put numbers or some type of metric with the vision to provide clarity. Creating a scoreboard that is visual can also help.

Communicate the Vision to Your Team

Vision leaks. People forget in the whirlwind of work and life what the big picture is. Once you have created a vision, communicate it to your team. . . often. Make sure that everyone understands the vision and is clear on their role in achieving the vision

Creating a vision for your team can be an incredibly rewarding experience, and can help to create a sense of buy-in from everyone involved. With the right approach, you can create a vision that will help your team achieve success. Need help thinking into your vision? Contact me for a thinking partner call to help you think into your personal and team vision. Lead Well!

Jul

2022

Keep Climbing

I recently returned from a trip out to Arizona. We started our journey with a private tour of part of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Words cannot describe the magnificence of that natural wonder.

The next part of our journey involved a visit to Sedona to hike among the beautiful red rocks. After our first day we had gone on a hike and my youngest son mentioned he wanted to hike to Devil’s Bridge. This is a natural bridge hundreds of feet above ground.

This required an early start so I said if he would get up at 5:30 we could hike the trail to the bridge. He agreed. As I look back on this two-and-a-half-hour experience with my eleven-year-old I thought of three leadership principles we can apply.

Know the Path

The day before we were on a trolley tour and I asked the guide to point out where we had to go to start the hike up to Devil’s Bridge. I had never been to Sedona so I needed to know where to start. Upon arriving at the site I had to find the signs pointing me to the trail. Once I knew the path, we started our hike.

Let’s be honest sometimes as a leader you have no clue what the path is. You know where you want to go but aren’t 100% sure on the path. That is leadership. Leaders go first and hopefully with good advisors around them decide on a course of action and adjust along the way. We look for the signs and keep moving and adjusting as we go.

Hold the Vision

We had been hiking for at least forty-five minutes by this point. I could not see the bridge anywhere. The trail signs we passed confirmed we were going the right direction. The sun was now fully in the sky and we felt the Arizona summer heat. As we continued down the path we were tempted to want to quit but knew the view would be amazing.

The last part before reaching the bridge required a slightly challenging vertical climb. We traversed the climb and arrived at our goal. What would have happened if we quit? We never would have seen the beautiful landscape.

As leaders we may feel like we are grinding away and getting nowhere. This is where we must hold onto the vision for what we are pursuing. Have the vision written down. Have a symbol that reminds you of what you are pursuing and why. When we hold the vision, it gives us the energy to keep going on the days we want to give up. Your vision matters. Hold it in front of you and keep sharing it with your team.

Take the Next Step

When we reached the final ascent the steps were not as easy on the previous parts of the hike. I wasn’t worried we would die, but I had to slow down and be more careful with my steps. Earlier in the hike I could move fast and look way ahead not worrying about my son keeping up. At this point I had to focus on the next step and take it and be sure he was able to take it too.

Leaders see more before and can often see multiple steps ahead. Because of that vision we can be tempted to rush ahead or get frustrated because we aren’t moving as fast as we want. Sometimes in our leadership journey we must slow down to take the next step and wait long enough for our team to keep climbing with us. We may want to go faster, but in doing that are we entering an unnecessary risk for ourselves and our team? Take the next step and keep climbing.

Which of these areas do you need to grow in? Are you in a stage where the path is unclear for you? Contact me for a no cost thinking partner session and allow me to come alongside you to help you think into your vision and the next step. In the meantime, keep climbing and lead well!

Oct

2021

Implementing vs. Creating Vision

A while ago I was on a call listening to one of my mentors through the John Maxwell Team. During the call he was discussing the tension between creating vision and implementation. After listening to his wisdom, I dove deeper into this idea of execution.

As leaders we must see before others. As John Maxwell states: “leaders see more before.” What does this mean? Leaders create the time and space to see the future. Let me illustrate.

Have you ever noticed the huge play sheets that professional football coaches hold in their hand during a game? They have invested hours watching film and thinking into a plan of every possibility to outmaneuver their opponent. This huge plan represents the coach’s vision of where he would like to see the game go. All week the team practices to learn the vision and fulfill the vision of winning.

Vision is one thing, but it only takes us so far. We must be able to execute to get results. What does this look like? Allow me to draw out a few key ideas on execution from references listed at the end of this post which are all great books to dive deeper into.

It’s the Leader’s Job

Bossidy and Charan point out in Execution

“The leader of the organization must be deeply engaged in [execution]. He cannot delegate its substance.”

There are many areas a leader can and should delegate to others because they can prevent functioning at the highest level and distract them from focusing on organizational vision and direction. If the leader delegates execution though, he or she risks becoming out of touch with what is really occurring with the team/organization. This would be like a football coach who writes up the game plan on Monday and then sits in his office all week entrusting his staff to implement the plan at practice.

Sunday afternoon comes and the coach is on the sideline calling plays, but has not experienced the adjustments and challenges that occurred throughout the week in practice. He may call a new play they only practiced a couple times and when the execution is poor he’s confused. As leaders we must be involved enough in the execution that we can make appropriate adjustments to the vision and plan along the way.

Execution is Part of Culture

Bossidy and Charan provide three key points to remember to understand execution.

Execution is a discipline
Execution is the major job of the business leader
Execution must be a core element of an organization’s culture

As leaders we influence the culture. Maybe you have heard the phrase “inspect what you expect.” This is where the leader most influences culture. If the leader has cast a vision to increase sales that requires increased call volume and there is nothing in place to inspect this metric, it likely will not succeed.

Leaders must work alongside their teams to establish standards, expectations, and systems to hold their team accountable for implementing the strategy and moving ahead to accomplish the vision. McChesney, Covey and all discuss practical strategies on how to implement a scoreboard in their book 4 Disciplines of Execution. The creation of a simple, visible, and easily understood scoreboard will be a tool to create a culture of accountability.

Visionary vs. Integrator

Gino Wickman provides a simple structure for organizations to create systems to scale which he discusses in his book Traction. He discusses multiple ideas which complement the ideas in Covey’s book mentioned above. One key idea are specific roles of the top leaders: visionary and integrator.

If you are the team then this is a matter of switching hats, otherwise they are two different individuals. The visionary is the idea person while the integrator helps the visionary determine the plans to implement the vision. I have fulfilled the second role often alongside leaders. As a business leader determine which of these roles come more natural and then find someone whose strength is where yours is not.

When a visionary and integrator collaborate to implement a clear vision and create a system of implementation and accountability such as either Covey or Wickman suggest they will begin to see increased results.

Business success happens through effective leadership with a clear vision and effective execution. How are you doing in each of these areas. Do you need help thinking into your leadership? Contact me for a thinking partner session to help you think into your vision or execution so you can reach the next level. Lead Well.

References:

Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

Gino Wickman Traction

Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling 4 Disciplines of Execution

Apr

2021

Baseball Leadership

As I write this I am gearing up for my son’s baseball season. I volunteered to be an assistant coach, but ended up becoming the head coach. Fortunately these are nine and ten year old kids who I can’t mess up too bad. (My baseball career was not very long as a child)

Quite honestly my greatest concern is teaching them how to pitch which is not my area of expertise. As I think about baseball I see a parallel to leadership. Those more familiar with baseball may see many more than these I mention.

Catching

When I helped my sons learn how to catch a ball I would be excited if they caught one. The real challenge was when they threw the ball back to me. I had to move all over the place to catch what they were throwing.

As leaders we are in catching mode. Our door is open and an employee enters with a new challenge. We check our e-mail at the end of the day to see we must deal with an unexpected issue before heading home. Similar to chasing a five-year old’s throws, we have to adjust rapidly to catch the problems that come our way.

This is part of leadership, but if we are not careful we end up only catching and reacting. We can fall into squeaky wheel leadership if we are not wise. What can we do to counteract this?

Throwing

Just like catching a five-year old’s throw can be an adventure so can teaching him or her to throw. I remember teaching a three-step process: scarecrow, step, throw. This was a very intentional directed plan. When they followed it the ball was on target otherwise . . watch out!

The biggest determinant of accuracy throwing was where they focused their eyes. Leadership is no different. As the day, week, or month begins are you aiming at a clear target? Do you have a plan for how you will be proactive and get ahead of problems?

As leaders we initiate the “throw” to keep the ball moving in the direction of our goal. The first step in accurate leadership throwing is knowing where you want to go. Just as the eyes direct the throw, our vision directs the organization or team we lead. Do you have a clear vision so you can make accurate throws?

Fielding

This is beyond my baseball coaching expertise, but there are times we shift the players in the field. Maybe there is a left-handed batter so we have to shift the outfielders and possibly some infielders. As a leader fielding is strategy.

Challenges come that we catch and deal with. Vision guides our offensive direction of the organization or team. Fielding is when we reorganize our team or adjust our strategy to the unforeseen. This is how we position ourselves to catch and throw in a way that keeps us on top.

How are you doing as a leader in these three areas? Do you have a clear vision? Are you positioned well to proactively address problems? Maybe you need someone to help you think into your vision or strategy as an individual or with your team. If so, contact me for a thirty-minute thinking partner session at no cost to you. Keep playing the game well and lead well.

Jan

2021

Learning from Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Part II

Last year I shared a blog with a few leadership lessons I learned from Donald T. Phillips’ book Martin Luther King Jr. On Leadership. I am doing the same again this year and sharing a few more principles he highlighted on how to lead.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a man of vision who peacefully championed change in a very turbulent time. This is what leaders often must do. Phillips put it this way:

“[H]e was not only an optimistic individual (as great leaders are), he was also persistent, determined, and had an eye focused on the future. Even more important. . . . Martin was a lifelong continuous learner.”

In this one statement I see four traits we can all develop to increase our leadership effectiveness.

Optimistic

In their fight against the oppression of the day specifically at one point in Albany “5 percent of the Negro population” went to jail. Instead of being angry, King’s optimism shone through. He said how extraordinary the response was that five percent would willingly go to jail for a just cause. As leaders we must be realistic and accept the difficulties that come, but what is the positive in the situation?

During a pandemic many may paint a bleak picture, but the optimistic people have seen opportunities and capitalized on them. They provide new services, create new businesses, form new service organizations and meet needs that were not previously present. King saw the willingness of people to go to jail for a just cause as positive momentum in the movement.

Persistent

I shared in one of my weekly videos an example of my son’s persistence in pursuing something he really wanted. I’ve heard leadership expert John Maxwell say “everything worth having is uphill.” I find this is true. Whether it be a personal or professional goal there will be an uphill climb to reach it and leaders must have the determination to persist.

King must have realized this as he faced resistance to the idea of peacefully fighting for civil rights. Whether it was within or outside of public view King persistently championed the cause as all leaders must do.

Vision

What keeps one fighting and pressing forward amidst such adversity? Keeping an eye focused on the future. King had a dream of what the world would be like one day and that dream must have remained constantly at the forefront of his mind. If you are in a position of leadership or are championing a cause this focus on the future must remain. Leaders who lose this focus quit because the climb becomes unbearable.

Lifelong Learner

“Not all readers can be leaders. But all leaders must be readers.”

Harry Truman

What makes the above statement and Phillip’s statement about King’s lifelong learning being more important so true? An effective leader sees situations from multiple perspectives in order to make the best decision for all. This requires a learner’s mindset. Listening to multiple voices and reading multiple sources can inform a leader so he or she has more insight before making decisions.

Maybe you have heard the statement “experience is the best teacher.” Experience teaches, but only when we evaluate and learn from it. King continually sought to learn from both successes and failures to grow and move himself and the cause forward.

These are only a few lessons learned from this legendary leader. How are you doing in these areas? Is there one of these areas you need to intentionally grow in? Want an objective evaluation of your team and leadership? Contact me to discuss a facilitation of The Leadership Game to open communication and grow your team and leaders in your organization. Lead Well.

May

2020

Giving Vision to Those Without It

I was sitting in the office across from a woman with calm, quiet confidence, and strength. This woman had spent part of her career in various hospital systems and then pivoted to non-profit fundraising. Arvetta Jideonwo’s present role is the Executive Director of the Bosma Visionary Opportunities Foundation.

I met Arvetta at a fundraising breakfast where I was able to see firsthand the amazing work of Bosma Enterprises to meet its mission of creating opportunities for people who are blind or visually impaired. During our time together she shared with me a few of the principles she applies in her leadership.

Lead from a Team

Arvetta may have the title and the position of leader, but she is fully aware success is based on the team’s efforts. She wants to be “in the dirt with them”, but not in the weeds. What does this mean?

As the leader her role is to encourage her team members and by helping them know she is with them on this journey. Taking time to understand their needs and situation helps her to create an encouraging atmosphere. Finally, she asks a question that helps her team know she is with them, but will not get in the “weeds” and do the work for them.

“How can I help to support you in reaching the goal.”

Create a Safe Environment

This leader strives to create a safe environment for communication and constructive feedback. In order to learn more, she provided some of the strategies she has found helps create this.

After action meeting – the post event debrief to determine what was good and what needs improvement
Survey attendees – this layers on top of the first step and provides an objective method for gaining feedback
Asking for feedback – when a decision needs to be made or strategy is be determined Arvetta will gather feedback from her team and compile that feedback to share to those who lead her
Honesty – instead of creating mental stories which lead to unfounded rumors she strives to maintain a culture where people can provide unsolicited feedback without fear

These practical steps help create a culture of safe and open communication in her organization.

Servant Leadership

You may be familiar with this concept, but I asked for her definition. She described it as “willing to lead and willing to follow.” Many leaders face the challenge of knowing when and how much control to let go of and trust others with. Some leaders fail to figure out how to navigate this tightrope and it ultimately negatively impacts them and their organization or team.

Arvetta wants to get out of the way and “let her staff shine.” I would suggest this creates an atmosphere to multiply leaders and not just add followers as John Maxwell discusses in his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Not only does this develop leaders, but it frees her up to think strategically and set the vision for the organization’s growth.

Arvetta is not a woman who sits behind the desk and gives orders. She is among her people leading through serving. One of her biggest principles that she strives to implement is creating a safe environment for continuous improvement where healthy conflict and failure are permitted in the context of learning and growth.

So how are you leading in these areas? What can you do today to come alongside and serve your team as the leader and create a safe environment for communication? Need help with that? Contact me so we can discover any way I may be able to help. In the meantime, lead well.