“Where there is no vision, there is no hope.” – George Washington Carver
Leaders who lead at a dynamic and high level understand the role of the triple bottom line — the people, the service, and the profit. This helps in focusing everyone’s energy on a competing vision for the future, while at the same time effectively and strategically managing in the short and long term. High-level leaders also develop high functioning leadership teams. There’s nothing more satisfying than working on collaborative teams that contribute to the highest potential of each individual. Here are some characteristics.
- People have deep trust in each other and in the team’s purpose.
- Everyone working towards the same goal.
- Team members have worked out the kinks on how to work together and how to accomplish tasks
- Everyone knows the group and individual goals and what is expected.
- Team members intentionally diffuse tension and friction.
- Everyone gets a chance to contribute
- Disagreement is not viewed as a bad thing, and conflicts are managed immediately and constructively.
- Decision making is shared when there is natural agreement
- Supreme respect for the team leader or CEO and communication is at a high level
- The leadership of the team shifts from time to time, as appropriate, to drive results in a particular area.
- The leadership team is more transformational and less transactional.
- Mental health is a strong component of team dynamics to reduce burnout.
A strong vision creates an organizational culture in which the atmosphere is aligned and the results create a committed workforce and profitable business. To be effective in this regard you need the following aligned forces that are synergized.
Captivating Vision — When everyone supports the organizational vision and its picture for the future it creates a highly focused culture that drives deliberate action that leads to the desired results.
Quality Assurance — A strong focus on improving capabilities through building human capital and increasing intellectual property through evaluation, best practices, and willingness to learn creates a culture of learning and higher quality.
World Class Service Delivery — Without question, this is number one priority; a relentless focus on the people you are serving. This is about passionately keeping the community, clients, and customers you are serving as the priority. Every decision you make is in relation to what is best for those who are receiving your services. This allows you to maintain the highest standards and provide world class services.
Cutting Edge Management Systems — All of your strategies to manage effectively should be aligned to support the company’s vision, and strategic direction. It should be user-friendly and helps ensure continuous improvement that produces the highest and best results.
Shared Vision and Involvement — Oftentimes, as the leader, people have the misnomer that all of the answers flow from the top. I strongly believe in the bottom up approach. This approach takes more time but creates ownership and empowerment throughout your organization. While it is expected any leader will have the ability to think strategically, but more importantly, the leader’s job is to create an environment where leadership is promoted at all levels of the organization. Power and decision making should be shared throughout the company, and not just at the top of the hierarchy. Powerful things happen when people are empowered to help solve problems. It’s about having the best thinking at the table.
Once the leader has developed a shared vision, the focus can now shift to serving and being responsive to the needs of the people. When you understand the role of leadership, you understand that role is to remove barriers and help people take ownership and achieve the vision. The greatest leaders coalesce people around a shared vision and help them executive life-changing results.
Throughout my career, it was always important to help the Board of Directors, senior leadership, management, and all stakeholders think ahead because that was required in order to have the sustainable turnaround that was necessary and experience exponential success on all levels. As a leader, my job was to articulate the vision, and show how every entity plays a role in actualizing that vision. It was clear the triple bottom line had to be activated and implemented, but that couldn’t happen without understanding where the company was going. Our vision was our source of strength, direction, and a focus on what was possible.
“Incredible turnarounds and sustainable business models all understand the most important thing needed is a vision — a shared vision.”
Book Recommendation: “Leading At A Higher Level” by Ken Blanchard
CEO Your Life NOW coming soon!!