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May 2005

Leadership Requires Clear Directions For Achieving Vision

I was late. I was lost. I was flustered. Driving in a rural
area, I was trying to get to a tennis match for my son’s high school team. I’d never been to this high school before, so I had obtained the directions from the school’s website.

Those directions said to turn left on Cape May Court
House-Dennisville Road. After driving for a long time, and not seeing a sign for that road, I stopped at a local business.

The only person there was a guy who looked to be 18 or 19, and I asked where Cape May Court House-Dennisville Road was. “I dunno. Never heard of it.” I tried to be calm, and told him I was trying to get to Middle Township High School.

His face brightened, and he said excitedly, “I graduated from there last year!” Now it was my turn to be excited. “Great,” I said, “How do I get there?” His face fell. “I dunno. I wouldn’t know how to get there from here.”

A customer arrived on the scene, and took pity on me: “Follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you.” Thanks to that person, I was only a little late for my son’s match. And on the way I found out why I had gotten lost.

The road in question had a sign that said County Road 657, not Cape May Court House-Dennisville Road. Of course, the stranger told me, most people know it as 657, and many know that 657 and Cape May Court House-Dennisville Road are one and the same.

As is usually the case, I find a leadership lesson in this
scenario. You might remember that I talked recently about the importance of having a compelling vision for where you, as a leader, want to take the organization.

Equally important is having a clear idea of how to get there, and making sure that others in your organization, starting with those on your management team, understand your directions, your road map for achieving that vision.

Obviously, the person who wrote the directions for the high school had a clear idea of what they meant. So did some of the locals. But for people like me, those directions were anything but clear.

And the first person I contacted? He knew the destination, but not how to get there from his current location.

I’ve found the same is true with leaders in organizations, and those leaders’ “directions” for achieving the vision. First, you have to thoroughly understand your current position, before you can chart the course to your vision.

Then, just because you as a leader have expressed the vision, and have described your plan for achieving the vision, doesn’t mean everyone else clearly understands your destination, or your chosen path for getting there.

That’s why you have to take special care to make sure that the rest of the organization, starting with your management team, thoroughly understands your directions.

If they don’t, you’ll find that people are wandering off in
different directions, floundering around doing things that
really aren’t getting you closer to the achievement of that vision.

Unwittingly, they might even be doing things that go against where you want to take the organization.

So, an effective leader finds out whether people really are pulling in the same direction, whether they really understand the vision, and the directions for getting there.

I use a survey instrument called the Strategic Alignment Survey to determine alignment with vision, purpose, goals, etc.

Other surveys exist, or you can devise your own. But somehow you need to make sure that everyone understands where you are going, and how you will get there.

What are you doing to articulate your vision, and the
“directions” for the rest of the organization to get there? And, how are you determining that your team is clear on the directions, so that they’ll bring the rest of the organization along?

Know where you are, and make sure your directions for achieving the vision are clear, or your organization will wind up late, lost, and flustered. Or out of business altogether.

Until next edition, keep leading the way!

Copyright (C) 2005 by Terry Wall

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