Forum Column Vision Is The Thing
- 1. Vision Is The Thing<br />In combing the leadership journals and other periodicals, including the GAMA Foundation’s Building High Performance Leadership Teams, the conclusion is obvious: the core leadership role to create and share a compelling vision is the catalyst for success. What means do you use to “rally the troops” when times are tough or use to help celebrate the small and big wins your organization faces? In these more cynical times, thinking that people will not respond with purpose to your vision is a red herring. What’s needed is the leader who demonstrates his or her own commitment to realizing the vision and empowering those in the organization to achieve it.<br />This can only occur if the self, the team and the formal and informal networks that form the circle of relationships in your environment are fully trusting. And the greatest amount of trust must be invested in you by your colleagues to actually lead them through and to realizing that vision.<br />Building High Performance Leadership Teams identifies four key components for organizational success:<br />Performance, including the organization’s mission, goals and objectives and performance measures, personal accountability, the ability of the team to analyze and solve problems together, as well as a focus on revenue producing act ivies at all levels, the employment of balanced work week schedules and a commitment to health and fitness.<br />Harmony which includes a culture of continuous learning, high impact formal and informal communication to build camaraderie, an organizational climate established on non-negotiable values, norms and standards, a collaborative mindset, behaviors and actions and a blend of leadership styles that match the moment. Be it authoritative, affinitive, democratic or coaching. The team must have purpose and individuals made to feel as if they have influence in the decisions and directions being given. Again, concrete goals and objectives should exist for everyone to help to keep people informed and focused on what’s important (and what’s not).<br />Alignment is the glue that holds performance and harmony in balance. Are processes, policies and procedures up to date, documented and applied with discipline? Are there tools and systems in place to help drive and monitor performance? Is communication intentional to drive culture deep into the organization? And is all work vision-driven? Finally, is the leadership team walking the talk and talking the walk?<br />Finally, trust. It’s a combination of candor and compassion when consistently applied creates the bonds of meaningful relationships.<br />Equally important to the team are the networks of other stakeholders who play a role in our success. These may be vendors, home office associates, professional associations, study group members and others who can help us on our way through the division or efficiency of labor, provide scalable resources, and offer a boost through interpersonal interdependence. Again, however, these elements can only be accomplished through trust. And for leadership we are talking consistency, competence and character as the measuring stick.<br />We are all faced with competing resources and finite capital, so how do we stay focused on the prize—the future, the vision? One way is to shed some of those things that we’ve always done, for in stepping back they will have no value in the next 3-5 years. And while some things we do have temporary value in transition, we must be focused on the innovative idea that creates more value for colleagues and customers alike. The only way to achieve that capacity is to off-load some of the things that got you to this point, but will not carry you forward to the next plateau of achievement or toward realizing your vision. This may include some of the jobs you are presently doing that can be delegated to others in your organization who will view them as exciting challenges, not just more work to do.<br />So, in the coming weeks, step back and challenge your leadership team by evaluating and possibly reshaping your vision. Assess to what extent your systems to drive performance, create harmony and align people, process and systems and build trust are in excellent working order. You may find a fresh and exciting way to energize your organization and to charge your leadership team with a greater purpose of its own.<br />Building High Performance Leadership Teams, The GAMA Foundation<br />Are You a Good Boss-Or a Great One? Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback, HBR Jan-Feb 2011, <br />The CEO’s Role in Business Model Reinvention Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble, HBR Jan-Feb 2011<br />The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies Fast Company March 2011<br />