CULLED FROM THE CAPITALIST DIGITAL MAGAZINE
“Action springs not from thought but from a readiness for responsibility.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It is a big risk when the leaders are the only people that understand the vision of an organization. There is yet a bigger risk when they chose to run with the vision alone. Developing the vision is the first step, the second and most important step is running with the vision. The two pertinent questions to ask are:
(1) Who owns the vision of an organization?
(2) Who runs with the vision?
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The CEO and management board is expected to develop the vision of any organization. The vision helps them to know where they are heading to and what their end result will look like. That does not mean that the CEO or management board owns the vision. As soon as any vision is being developed, it ceases to be the CEO’s property, everyone in the organization become joint owners of the vision.
CORE STRATEGIES
Running with the vision is akin to implementing core strategies that will help an organization achieve their end state. The CEO’s job is not to implement the core strategies, his primary roles are planning and change.Employees implement the change, this means that they run with the vision. I am disturbed.
Why is it that only the senior management sees the organizational BIG PICTURE in most organizations? These people constitute 20 -30 percent population of the organization. What happens to the remaining 70 percent who are middle officers? These group of people in one way or the other are expected to run with the vision. Can you see why I am disturbed? The answer is because the senior management are being taken for a Helicopter ride and from 5000 feet above the ground level they see the big picture. The CEO must ensure that everyone in the organization sees and knows where the organization is going to. Whenever I am teaching strategic thinking to organizations, I always include a slide titled “Danger”. There is a big danger when the CEO or senior management thinks his/her idea is the best. Nobody has the monopoly of best ideas.
When the ideas of some group of people are disregarded, it negates the true fact that people support what they help create. When this happens, the people involve might not put in 100% dedication.
POINTS TO PONDER
For a CEO to achieve the organization’s vision, everyone in the organization must begin to see the BIG PICTURE. Mildly speaking, some employees do not know what their vision statement and core values signify, so what guides them and what have they been doing? Leaders and managers must avoid DAD (deciding-announcing-defending) APPROACH when running the affairs of the entire organization rather, enforce the PIP (parallel-involvement-process) where the views of employees are valued. Being a leader does not confer us the right to use veto powers on subordinate. Remember, people support what they help create.
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FINAL POINT
Having a vision is not enough, processes and structures should be in place that will help us achieve the vision. Remember, structures influences behavior. The roles of leaders are to lead and navigate change in a way that will yield sustainable results. These results are achieved collectively. Senior management and the collective workforce should not focus on their personal goals but rather on the goals of the organization. It is much easier to achieve one’s personal goal(s) after helping the organization achieve its goal first.
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