Posts

Organizational History — Intentional Leadership — W2, Day 4 (M1) — Vision

It’s Thursday already — Wow! Time for a little reflection.

As you’ve taken some time this week to consider your organization’s history and vision, and to talk with and listen to your employees’ thoughts about the history, its significance, and how it relates to your vision, what did you learn?

Do you see any gaps or inconsistencies?

Did you hear something that left you questioning commitment levels to your organization’s vision?

What could you be doing to encourage higher levels of engagement and commitment among your employees?

How could you help them to see and understand the organization’s vision more clearly?

What do you think it would take for them to take greater ownership?

After you’ve spent some time on these questions and their answers, spend some time considering the vision you have for your team.

Have you articulated it clearly to them?

How committed to it do you think they are?

If you think there’s a gap in their commitment to your vision — either for your organization or your team — keep this in mind: They have to buy-in to you first, before they will buy-in to your vision.

Plainly speaking, have you established yourself as a true leader — are you:

  • Mature — knowing it’s not about you.
  • Intentional — your service to them is thoughtful, not an accident!
  • Consistent — you’ve demonstrated over time that people can count on you and know what to expect from you.

In short, you have demonstrated yourself to be a person of integrity. If you’ve done this, and your vision is intriguing to them, they are all the more likely to commit to helping you achieve it.

/2 Comments/by

Organizational History — Intentional Leadership — W2, Day 3 (M1) — Vision

Now that you’ve given some thought to the history and values of your organization, and what value they offer in terms of your vision, it’s important to know what your peers and employees know about your history and values. Not only what they know, but also how they interpret the history and values; as you are surely aware, “one size does not fit all” in terms of perception of things.

Before you can make progress towards your vision, you will need to assess the level of commitment your employees have to your organization. To do this, you may ask a few simple questions:

What historical facts do you know about the company?

How would you define our organization’s values?

What is our vision — what are we trying to achieve?

What is it about our vision that draws you to the organization?

What role do you play in achieving our vision?

How does the organization keep you connected to our vision and values?

The key here is to truly listen and make note of the things they tell you, especially if what they say is unexpected or counter to your beliefs and understandings.

I suspect some of the answers may surprise you. Pay close attention, though, as you may gain some invaluable insight into the collective mind of your employees that can help guide you in what you need to do next.

More tomorrow!

/by

Organizational History — Intentional Leadership — W2, Day 2 (M1) Vision

Happy Tuesday! Today we focus on organizational history and its role in achieving your vision.

There are some schools of thought that say when it’s time for an organizational transformation, you should let go of history and move forward with a fresh start. It sounds good, but is not so easily done. And may not be a great idea, anyway.

After all, there is some legacy in history, there is wisdom to be gleaned, and there are probably pieces of history that will provide invaluable context for your future. In fact, your organization’s values and culture are deeply rooted in history. The important point is that your organization’s history need not define its future.

If you study business history, you will find numerous stories of companies that had a well-defined vision and were quite successful in making progress in that direction. Then, as is inevitable, the market changes and companies adjust what they are doing to keep up with the market. This is fine to a point, but when you have changed what you offer so many times just to keep up with change, you will dilute your original purpose. The end result, a company that is moderately good at doing a few things, but is not the best in any of its markets.

In these situations, history will prove invaluable in helping the organization to refocus on its original purpose and concentrate on the things it does best. After all, we know that a person cannot be everything for everybody, nor can an organization.

Take a few minutes today to consider your organization’s history and vision. What lessons are there to be learned?

As you do this, it might serve you well to rate these areas. 1 = weak and 10 = strong.

How well versed are you in your organization’s history?

WEAK  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  STRONG

How well versed in the history and values are your employees?

WEAK  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  STRONG

Is the vision of the organization compelling and easily communicated?

WEAK  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  STRONG

Are you and your employees committed to your organization’s vision?

WEAK  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  STRONG

Can you and your employees build upon the vision of the organization?

WEAK  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  STRONG

For more insight and great case studies with respect to the power of vision and history in your organization, pick up Practically Radical by William C. Taylor. It’s an interesting and informative read.

“See” you tomorrow!

/by