“Vision is knowing who you are, where you’re going, and what will guide the journey.” - Ken Blanchard and Jesse Lyn Stoner

A much earlier definition I wrote is quoted by Zig Ziglar in  Over the Top:

. . . → Read More: Characteristics of an Effective Vision: Create a DRIVING Vision]]>

In Full Steam Ahead! Unleash the Power of Vision, we provide this definition of vision:

“Vision is knowing who you are, where you’re going, and what will guide the journey.” - Ken Blanchard and Jesse Lyn Stoner

A much earlier definition I wrote is quoted by Zig Ziglar in  Over the Top:

“A vision is a clearly-articulated, results-oriented picture of a future you intend to create. It is a dream with direction.”             - Jesse Stoner-Zemel

Both definitions are accurate, but to more fully explain the characteristics of an effective vision – a vision that drives commitment and direction – I use the acronym DRIVING. It helps avoid ending up with something that is so vague or lofty, it has no meaning. Use this to evaluate your current vision or to help in creating one.

D – Demanding purpose.  The invitation and opportunity to achieve greatness excites and enlivens us. A noble purpose that challenges us to rise to our potential is inspiring and appeals to our natural human instincts. It helps us understand the importance of our work and gives meaning to our daily activities.

R – Results-oriented. A vision describes a clear picture of what the future will look like – something you can actually see in your imagination. It is a picture of the end-result – what it looks like when you are fulfilling your purpose. It does not include the process to get there. The vision is the target. The effectiveness of the strategies and goals you set will be tested by how well they move you toward your vision, and often requires adjustment.

I – Illuminating values. It is easier to stay focused and motivated when the vision connects with what we care deeply about – our values. And when the vision has been taken into the minds and hearts of the people, it endures beyond the tenure of the leader who articulated it. Values are implicit in driving visions. (eg. The values in Martin Luther King, Jrs “Dream” are clearly implied: brotherhood, freedom, and dignity.) And the values are fundamentally connected with the organization’s purpose. We would expect a vision of a financial services organization to describe accuracy, reliability and dependability and a vision for an amusement park to describe fun and safety. It’s impossible to create an inspiring vision that does not illuminate underlying values.

V –Vibrant.  Creating a vision about what you want, a proactive vision, is what makes it vibrant and energizing. A reactive vision based on negativity and what you want to get rid of is short-lived because it does not take you anywhere. And a vision that excludes or does harm to its environment is not sustainable because the organization it part of its environment and ultimately is doing harm to itself. 

I – Identifiable.  It should be clear exactly what the company it is about and easily explainable in plain language. It should show what is unique about the organization and what differentiates it. Here’s an example of a generic statement from a real company. “Our vision is to provide aggressive strategic marketing with quality products and services at competitive prices to provide the best value for consumers.” These kinds of statements mean nothing and even worse make people lose confidence in the leadership of their company.

N – Never-ending.  A vision should not be about beating the competition. Where do you go after the race is over? It’s about being the best you can be. It’s not about “being number one,” because again, that defines you in terms of your competition instead of where you are going. In fact, the closer you get to your vision, the clearer the magnitude and meaning of the vision becomes and it enlarges. There is no such thing as a five-year vision, only a five-year goal. The vision is what answers, “what’s next?” after that goal is achieved.

G – Guiding.  A vision provides guidance for daily decisions and actions. Because each person can see where they fit and how their actions contribute, they can be trusted to make decisions. Empowerment only makes sense in the context of a shared vision. But when the organization is guided by a shared vision, the role of leadership naturally shifts from controlling and managing to supporting and enabling.

Last year in surveys of over 500 people, less than 10% said their team or organization had a driving vision. Here is a link to a similar questionnaire, if you would like to check out your own team and get instant results: Vision Test – Is Your Team’s Vision 20/20?

My first question is always, “What do you want to accomplish? What will be different as a result?”

I ask that question because I want to make sure that what . . . → Read More: Are You a Team in Name Only? 3 Questions to Help You Find Out]]>

Leaders who want to make their team more effective often ask me for help with teambuilding, training in team skills or advice on restructuring.

My first question is always, “What do you want to accomplish? What will be different as a result?”

I ask that question because I want to make sure that what they are requesting will get them where they want to go – to avoid delivering the wrong solution.

My next question is “What is the purpose of your team?”

I ask because I want to know if the leader really has a team. —No point in trying to improve something that doesn’t exist.

A team is a group of people who need each other in order to accomplish their work. 

Just because everyone reports to the same boss doesn’t automatically make them a team. Teams are organized around real work, not who the individuals report to.

If you want to know if the people who report to you are a team, ask them these 3 questions:

1. Shared Purpose: Is there a common purpose that ties us together?
2. Interdependence: To what extent and how do we need each other in order to accomplish our work
3. Access: Do we have the access to each other that we need to share information and communicate?

This is usually an interesting conversation. Sometimes people assume they have distinct responsibilities but during the course of the conversation discover a larger and important purpose they had missed – like a shared responsibility to ensure the success of the entire department or to use each other as resources — something that creates a big picture view and takes them out of a silo mentality. This changes their ideas of what they need to be communicating with each other.

Or sometimes they might already agree they have a shared purpose, but during the course of the conversation develop a deeper understanding of what it really means. They get energized and naturally begin to identify better ways of working together.

But that’s not always the case. In today’s complex organizations, you may find that you have several distinct teams reporting you. Or it might be that the real team is a cross-functional team where direct reporting relationships are with both you and another leader.

Not every collection of individuals should be a team.

What’s important is to recognize the real teams so you know where to focus your attention and resources for team development.

“Do you really want a team?” This is a third question I sometimes ask, depending on what I observe. To support your team in reaching its potential, you need to provide structure and direction early on, but at some point, you need to start stepping back and letting go of control, or they will never become a high performing team. For some leaders, letting go of control feels like a huge risk. I have worked with leaders who intellectually understand letting go of control is the best thing they can to do for their team, but it runs counter to all of their patterns and instincts. I have the deepest respect when these leaders choose to develop a real team, for they are the bravest leaders I have met.

What I am trying to do is feel comfortable . . . → Read More: Goal Setting for Goallessness]]>

My friend Susan wrote, “Although I am ashamed to admit it….I don’t think I have any goals right now. At least there are none that have crystallized for me. I am a goal-setter, always have been, and have achieved almost all that I have set….

What I am trying to do is feel comfortable being in the moment of my life, my career, my health…I know all too well that none of those important ‘issues’ are unchanging. Tomorrow I may lose my job, my health or even my life. I am unsure of my role in my current job, but at the moment I am enjoying it. So…is it a problem to feel goal-less in my life and career? Am I being less productive than I could be? How is being goal-less affecting my work…?

Susan’s questions touch on many important issues.

What exactly is a goal and why are goals important?

According to the dictionary, a goal is: the object of a person’s ambition – an aim – toward which effort is directed. We set goals for things we want to be different in the future, not for what we are currently satisfied with. By their very nature, goals are future-oriented.

A myriad of research studies[i]  have demonstrated that goals are important because they help us get what we want, keep us from drifting aimlessly, and that people with clear goals are more satisfied.

But goals are not what’s most important.

Goals are actually guideposts, milestones that mark the way. They help us navigate the road that fulfills our needs and connects us with our hopes and desires. When we are clear about what we truly desire, goals can help us get there.

Although we can never really control our future, if we understand our priorities, our values and what’s most important, we can adapt our goals to help get us where we really want to go. [ii]

What kinds of goals do you tend to set?

Usually we set goals to help fill a need – something we want in the future that we don’t have now. The kinds of goals we set depend on what needs and desires are most pressing. Abraham Maslow, a seminal contributor to understanding motivation described a hierarchy of needs, implying they are developmental in nature.[iii] But as Susan has quite articulately described, our needs can change. Health can become an issue unexpectedly, and what Maslow considered a lower level need suddenly becomes a primary need.

Current research has focused on two types of goal-orientation – performance (achievement) and learning (mastery). Some people gravitate more toward one type or the other, although it’s also thought that one could be motivated by both. [iv] And when we set goals, most people focus on these.

Six Goal Genres

It might be more helpful to consider your goals from the perspective of six genres. They are not linear, hierarchical or developmental. None is more important than another. At various points in your life, depending on your circumstances, any one of the six genres of goals might emerge as most pressing.

What do you do when your habitual Goal Genres no longer serve your needs and desires?

It’s likely that Susan is used to focusing on certain genres of goals that are no longer necessary for her, given her current level of accomplishment and competence. This is not an uncommon experience for highly accomplished men and women who are in the throws of mid-life.[v]

I’ve observed that as we grow older, the things we held as goals, whether we accomplished them or not, are not as compelling.

Presence: The Missing Goal Genre

Susan wants “to feel comfortable being in the moment of my life.” And here’s where her confusion comes in. Without an understanding of this Goal Genre, she believes she is goalless.

Most of us have had an experience, a moment when you know you HAVE everything you need, …where you know you ARE everything you need to be …and that there is NOTHING you need to do.

It might be at the birth of your child or when making love with someone you deeply love, or just simply a moment while floating on a raft in a pond on a warm, sunny summer day, or sitting on a porch and watching the sunset until the sky fades from dark purple to black, …and you realize I could die at this moment and I wouldn’t regret a thing. You feel alive and vibrant and it is enough.

The interesting thing about these moments is they don’t require you to climb a mountain, parachute from a plane, or go on an African safari. They occur when we deeply connect with our present experience, whatever it is.

Usually these moments are fleeting, but for some very lucky people, these moments can last for a long time.

When we reside in the moments of perfection, our typical future-oriented goals seem absurd. You have no goals because each moment is perfect. You have arrived.

HOWEVER… When you are not residing in that state of perfection, and when it is what you most deeply desire, you do have a goal – to recapture that state of Being.

The Challenge of the Presence Goal Genre

Ironically, you can’t approach goals in the Presence Genre in the same way you have learned to do so successfully in the other genres. Nature plays a trick on us. Paradoxically, using our future-oriented goal-setting skills that work so well in the other genres to return to the state of Presence can have a reverse effect.

These special moments exist exactly because we are not future-oriented. Instead of trying to control or achieve, we are accepting and appreciating.

But there is good news. It doesn’t mean you can’t have goals for this genre. They just need to be a little different.

• You can have a goal to live your life to its fullest - to be present to each experience as it unfolds, whether it is happiness or pain, joy or loss.

• You can have a goal to be true to your nature.

• You can have a goal to love yourself and to be as kind to yourself as you are to others, which means forgiving yourself when you have been judgmental, unkind, unloving or disconnected.

• And you can have a goal that when you do fall off the path, to recognize it as soon as possible so you can return.

• You can have a goal to learn to meditate so you can learn to discipline your thinking.

• You can have a goal to participate in experiences that help you lead from within.

•  You can have a goal to connect with people who understand and share these goals.

Caveat – take these goals seriously but treat them lightly. Do not turn Presence into a project, because you will be approaching it from the Mastery or Achievement genre and as they say, “you can’t get there from here.”

Mistake #1:  Thinking it’s the team leader’s responsibility to pull the team together and waiting passively for that to happen.

Mistake #2: Accepting mediocrity because they assume there is nothing they can do.

Ultimately a team’s success depends on the team members, not the team leader. In fact, . . . → Read More: What Team Members Can (and should) Do to Help Their Team Become High Performing]]>

Team members make two common mistakes:

Mistake #1:  Thinking it’s the team leader’s responsibility to pull the team together and waiting passively for that to happen.

Mistake #2: Accepting mediocrity because they assume there is nothing they can do.

Ultimately a team’s success depends on the team members, not the team leader. In fact, over-dependence on the team leader can prevent a team from reaching its full potential.

 What you can do as a team member to support your team on its journey to high performance.

Teams move through predictable stages of development, but how quickly and easily they progress depends on whether the needs of the team are being met during each stage. And sometimes teams can get stuck. Here’s what you can do, depending on what stage your team is in:

Stage 1: Setting the Foundation

Before jumping into the work, teams need to first lay the foundation by creating a common understanding of the team’s purpose and how they will accomplish the work. They need clarify how they will make decisions, share information, and approach the work.

If they don’t understand the importance of laying the foundation, or if they are impatient with process, or if they are too eager to begin, they will jump into the work prematurely. Ultimately they will need to clarify all these things. It’s much easier to do it on the front-end instead of making mistakes and having to backtrack.

What you can do:

1. Don’t assume it is up to the leader to ensure you team is successful.
2. Be aware of what teams need to clarify during this stage. See “Setup Your Team for Success” for more information.
3. Ask for a discussion to gain agreement and clarity if your team does not have a common understanding of their purpose and how they will work together to achieve it.

Stage 2:  Dealing With What’s Under the Table

As work gets underway, tension arises as the discrepancy between initial hopes and the realities surface. There is a growing sense of dissatisfaction or impatience, which might be directed toward the goals, leadership or other team members.

This is an important stage.  It is where trust develops because by successfully resolving conflict, the team members develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for each other. And it is where collectively the team calibrates to develop a believable shared vision of what they will accomplish and how they will work together to achieve it. Think of it as the grain of sand in the oyster that creates the pearl.

Denying and avoiding dealing with the issues during this stage lengthens this stage. And some teams get stuck here and never move on.

What you can do:  

1. Put it on the table: identify the issues and what you see happening in a descriptive, non-judgmental way.
2. Look at what is happening from a group perspective. If a few people are active (ex. engaged in conflict or pushing their agenda) and others are silent, the group is out of balance. Ask those who are silent to weigh in.
3. Describe what you personally are experiencing and how it affects you.
4. Suggest that the team review its purpose and operating values.
5. Be aware of the team member skills you can use.

Stage 3: Becoming Cohesive

A sense of cohesion arises once the team has developed a collective mindset and has learned to successfully manage conflict. There is a real sense of team identity and a “we” mentality.

But the newly formed trust is fragile, and sometimes team members will avoid conflict because they don’t want to rock the boat. The fact is that avoiding conflict will actually send the team right back to the previous stage.

One of the biggest dangers for the team during this stage is getting into “group think,” where people withhold opinions that are different from the majority.

What you can do:

1. Don’t hold back. Present your point of view when it is different from others’.
2. Observe how the team functions in areas such as communications, decision making, and problem solving.
3. Don’t participate in decision making until the topic has been thoroughly discussed and all viewpoints are on the table.
4. When the team makes a mistake, ask, “What can we learn?”

Stage 4: Achieving

At this point, the team has learned to work together, appreciating and utilizing the talents of each team member, and flexibly adapting to circumstances to achieve its goals. Leadership can arise from anywhere depending on what’s needed.

The danger for the team at this point is in resting on its laurels and getting bored or sloppy. The team needs new challenges.

What you can do:

1. Be an active participant.
2. Set challenging goals.
3. Maintain a big picture perspective.
4. Model and monitor the team values. Don’t ignore mistakes.
5. Recognize others’ contributions and the team’s success.

I’ve had the good fortune to connect . . . → Read More: 2011 in Reflection: My First Year of Blogging]]>

2011 closes the first year of my blog.  It’s been a year of learning – the biggest of which was learning how to condense what I want to say into a readable chunk. I still find the shorter the post, the longer it takes me to write.

I’ve had the good fortune to connect with and learn from some of the great leadership bloggers. Early on Bret Simmons advised me that “content is king.” His excellent advice helped me focus. Wally Bock has generously offered feedback in finding my voice. I am also grateful to have connected with Becky Robinson, Mary Jo Asmus, Tanveer Naseer, Art Petty, Dan Rockwell, Lolly Daskal, Chris Edmonds, Whitney Johnson and Gwyn Teatro. I have benefited from their advice as well as by reading their excellent blogs.

Awareness and readership of my blog has grown geometrically. But because it is new, many people are not aware of some of my earlier posts which contain some of my most important content.

In reflection, I thought it might be helpful to list my top five most-read posts and three of my personal favorites. I would also like to invite you to look through some of my other earlier posts, especially those in March and April.

Warm wishes for a wonderful new year!

My Top Posts of 2011

6 Guidelines to Create a Vision For the Life You Really Want:   You are more likely to get what you want if you know what it is. This post explains how to discover what matters most to you.

5 Tips to Ensure Your Values Unify Your Team  This post explains how to use shared values to resolve conflict and make sure your values really work.

Be a Better Leader, Remove Your Self-Imposed Limitations  Your team can only be as great as you believe it can be. This post highlights some unconscious beliefs that can limit your success.

6 Tips to Set Goals That Will Get You Where You Want to Go  This post explains how to set the right goals and make sure they work.

5 Easy Ways To Tell If An Organization Is REALLY Values-Driven  What do Zappos, Ben and Jerry’s, and Southwest Airlines have in common? They are all financially successful, values-driven companies. A lot of companies claim to be values-driven. But it does not necessarily mean their values guide decision-making and behaviors company-wide on a day-by-day basis.

Three Personal Favorites:

Manage the Mid-Space or Your Vision Will Fail   Many companies suffer from a huge disconnect between the high level view of vision and strategy and their day-to-day execution. I call the space in-between the “mid-space.” This post offers seven things leaders can do to connect the mid-space.

6 Questions to Uncover the Purpose of Your Work   People who believe their work provides a worthwhile service, experience their work as easier and more fulfilling. This post explains how to find that deeper purpose.

Diagnose & Cure Team Drift  (published in The Harvard Business Review)  This post tackles an important, little-talked about issue for teams – “team drift.”  While major changes alert us that we might be off course, “team drift” occurs as a result of a series of small things, each insignificant on its own, the total of which has a cumulative impact. Teams usually just slowly continue to drift off course, not even aware of what’s happening. This post lists 7 warning signs of “team drift” and the 4 steps to address it.

What does any great athlete do before they…

…. dive into the water

…. throw the discus

…. grab the rings

They . . . → Read More: Before you begin, pause…]]>

This is a lovely week – the last week of the year. The darkest week of the year, here in the northern hemisphere. If we pay attention, we can’t help but pause.

What does any great athlete do before they…

…. dive into the water

…. throw the discus

…. grab the rings

They pause.

What are they thinking about? Nothing — absolutely nothing.

Shabbat means stop, cease. That’s what this week beckons us to do.

Wait a moment. Before you think ahead to 2012.

Go a little slowly. Be a little gentler. Take in the opportunity this week offers.

Pause, and then reflect. Let your mind traverse the year. Watch the movie. Don’t turn it into a project. Just see what emerges.

Soon I will blog about about vision, goals and taking action because it will be time to take stock and plan for the new year.

But first it’s time to pause.

This is the moment of between, the moment that separates you from what was and allows you to focus on what can be. It’s an important moment. It doesn’t last long, but you can experience it if you stop and pay attention.

He has a fuzzy recollection of the ride in the helicopter. But he does not remember the EMT folks who saved his life at the scene by inserting a tube into . . . → Read More: A Transformative Opportunity]]>

Dan does not remember the accident, although he was later told they found his truck down a steep ravine wrapped around a tree.

He has a fuzzy recollection of the ride in the helicopter. But he does not remember the EMT folks who saved his life at the scene by inserting a tube into his collapsed lung. Nor does he remember the emergency surgery at the hospital to repair his shattered hip, save his damaged eye, and set his broken hand.

In fact, he does not remember much of those first days while his family anxiously waited to find out if he would survive. But Dan’s a fighter, and a lot of folks were praying for Dan that Thanksgiving week.

Dan Rockwell writes a daily blog at The Leadership Freak on leadership and life lessons. His blog is inspiring, though-provoking and often confronts my assumptions. I like that.  I had reached out to Dan about a year ago when I first discovered it.  I liked his pithy, to-the-point approach, and wanted to find out more about who this person was. Over the past year, I have developed a deepening respect and appreciation for Dan, and I look forward to his daily post showing up in my email.

Dan’s journey to recovery will be long and hard. And making it harder, are his mounting medical expenses. As anyone who is self-employed knows, there is no paid sick-leave.

Dan’s out-of-pocket medical expenses are likely to exceed $30,000.

The Opportunity for Transformation

The opportunity for transformation is not for Dan. He’s pretty amazing already. The opportunity is for his community.

Dan’s accident has created an opportunity for those who have been touched by him to move beyond a professional network to become a community that supports each other in the full range of their lives.

Has Dan touched you in some way? Have you read his blog? If so, you are part of his community.

Even if you are not part of Dan’s community, I hope you will consider helping out a man who has given so much to so many.

For more information on how to help, please click on the box below:

Also, anything you can do to help spread the word is greatly appreciated.

A special thanks and warm wishes for the holidays.