The Importance of Vision

Having just joined yet another non-profit board of directors, I am amazed at how many organizations have no vision. How do they hope to prosper and grow without one? When I met with the President of this board and our Executive Director, I asked several questions. First, what is the organization all about -- why do we exist and what do we do? That, of course, is the mission of the organization. I had read the mission statement only by going to the web site and doing so. Our board "planning retreat" made no mention of it. Nonetheless, I was already familiar with the mission. But my second question was more pointed: where do we want to go? Already a member of three other boards, I have neither the time nor the desire to attend more meetings that will ultimately result in the status quo. The bottom line is that the organization has no stated vision and is, therefore, going nowhere definite.

Further discussion with these two intelligent, dedicated ladies convinced me to stay with the board -- at least for now -- to try to help alleviate this lack of direction. And the Executive Director promised to send me a copy of the organization's Strategic Action Plan, which I did not know existed and am willing to bet the other 20 or so members of the board do not, either. After receiving the plan and reading it carefully, I believe someone put much effort into the document but that it remains just that -- a slick but lifeless document -- not the dynamic, "living" strategic plan I believe is needed.

So why the title of this blog? My experience illustrates that many organizations and the people in them simply fail to understand the power and importance of vision. Many people in this world are leaders and even more are followers. Being either is quite acceptable. Followers become dedicated followers, however, when they are inspired by leaders and become committed to achieving a worthwhile vision. While there are certainly people happy with status quo and relative "sameness," most people love the challenge and adventure of growing and achieving higher goals. Without a clear vision, leaders deprive their followers of this inspiration. In short, people -- whether leaders or followers, like to win. But they have to know where the game is going and what the plan of action is in order to achieve the victory.

As a leader, please don't deprive your followers of the vision they need to succeed and grow.

Seeing the whole picture

Although I am not a particularly political person, our new administration provides an excellent example of leadership in action. Therefore, I will continue to use President Obama and the national leadership as such for a while. After all, one of the privileges of living in this country is that we get to speak freely about our leaders, whether those comments are laudatory or critical.

I have to say that I am fairly impressed with the actions the President has taken to date. He seems to be diligent in following through on some key campaign promises and consistent in providing the change he espoused during the campaign. I see that as a good thing -- it indicates integrity and courage. Concurrently, however, he is also making some mistakes, as we should expect from any human.

Let's talk about cabinet appointments. So far, several key appointees have ultimately withdrawn their names from consideration for the posts for which they had been chosen. Why? In at least two instances, because of tax issues. This situation brings up a couple questions in my mind. First, did the President's aides not check on these individuals' tax compliance during the vetting process? Didn't someone take the time to ask Tom Daschle if he had any skeletons in that particular closet? I would expect that issue to come up in the process, especially after the first occurrence. It seems to me that one embarrassment for the administration would serve to learn that lesson, preventing the situation from recurring. But no, we have to go through it again! Learning lessons is a critical element of leadership. Is no one paying attention?

Now let's look at whether or not the focus is correct. Maybe the President is looking at the wrong problem. If so, no solution will be found. We can concentrate all our efforts on solving problems, but if we, as leaders, are not focusing on the correct problems, the solutions will fail to provide the desired results. Is it possible that we are seeing such a situation now? President Obama is focusing on staffing his cabinet, which I understand must be accomplished, but is the problem that he keeps choosing inappropriate personnel or that our nation's tax laws and regulations are so complex that no one truly understands them? While I do not even pretend to have the answer to this question, the recurring situation does make me believe that some intelligent people are trying to solve the wrong problem.

This tendency to focus on seemingly obvious solutions to complex problems is quite widespread. In many cases, I have been requested to provide training solutions to issues that were not training problems. As good as the training might be and as thorough as I am in delivering it, the problem will still exist. (In my own defense, I have to say that I try very hard to avoid these situations, preferring to help my clients to see they can solve whatever the issue is more effectively through other means.) As leaders, we must engage in some root-cause analysis to make sure we are not spending resources on solving the wrong problems, and help others in the organization do the same.