I just came across this article by Gary Mayes. He has a leadership blog called “No Red Capes” and an interesting perspective on leadership. He tries to offer some tangible practices for those of us who are trying to lead towards a larger vision.
I found it very helpful in thinking through how I want to communicate new processes that I am coming up with with our leaders and think that applying these same strategies within our home groups could be very helpful.
Let me know what you think.
September 21, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I don’t think that’s IT in terms of a leader’s job, but as part of one of the responsibilities, and one that many leaders fail on, I think he’s spot on.
I see this play out at work — both on my own team and in others. I think the most effective groups are those that fully understand the grand vision, and more importantly, how their work is contributing.
However, I think it’s possible to create an effective team that doesn’t understand this. This works when there IS a clear leader with vision, and the team has a level of trust (almost certainly due to a past history with them and success in the past). In that case, they don’t have to understand, and they can still be effective. But when the leader leaves … everything falls apart. It isn’t a model with the same staying power.
So … I agree in the context of business, or even the general contexts where there are clear lines of authority and responsibility.
But does this still apply when we talk about “communities” of individuals where there is no clear authority structure and an equal right to deciding the vision?
September 22, 2008 at 1:18 pm
It seems to me that even when authority is ambiguous and groups are working together to decide on direction and vision that some one or a group of someones would be wise to consider how dots connect with one another. Those who do this will most like have more constructive influence.
If people can’t decide on a common vision or one is non existent, then that is probably a big problem for group functioning
One of the reasons that we are being more proactive about stating purposes and vision for our home groups is so that we can help leaders to pursue a common vision and be able to connect dots more effectively. When, as a community, we operate out of common values and common goals the potential for influence and leadership grows.
December 14, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Love the dialog about my article on “connecting the dots.” It is an endless leadership challenge.
and, if you’re interested, I just published another group of articles/resources on vision at noredcapes.com
–Gary