Archive:Leadership and strategy/Brainstorming

Vision

How can one lead without a vision in mind of the goal to be achieved? What is in it for the followers? Thomas Jackson 16:18, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Confidence

Not just self confidence, the followership must have confidence in the leadership. It is up to the prospective leader to engender this confidence. Some traits that foster confidence include; achievements in the field of endeavor relevant to the skills needed for organizational success, decisiveness, and levelheadedness. Thomas Jackson 17:44, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Here is an example of how confidence effects the strength of a one's position as leader:

Suppose you are on a large commercial passenger jet flying to Bermuda. You are in the first row of the first class section in the isle seat with a great view of the cockpit. Suddenly the pilot and co-pilot both disappeared. They just vanished! There is no time to debate what happened to them as the jet begins to dive for the Atlantic Ocean!

The situation is now characterized as one in dire need of leadership. Does the prospective leader need to know how to fly the plane? Not necessarily. Many different stories may unfold at this point, each will be rife with illustrations that show how certain characteristics and traits of leadership manifest themselves as well as those of followership. Let's take the diving jet story to examine the importance of confidence.

• Alternate ending number 1:

A uniformed stewardess stands up and asks "Does anyone know how to fly this thing?!" A hush fell across the panicked passengers. One person stands up and says "My name is Skip and I fly my own small aircraft!". Skip is an long haired fellow with a scruffy beard. He is wearing a faded Hawaiian shirt that is barely covering a pronounced beer gut. Skip is also wearing cutoff camouflage shorts and flip flops. Immediately another person stands and says " My name is James and I'm a pilot with 20 years experience flying this same model for this same airline!". James is a dapper fellow with a meticulously kept somewhat grey head of hair wearing a blue sport coat over a white oxford shirt and crisply ironed slacks. Whew.. you think, we're saved! Almost in unison, 100 passengers yell for James to take the pilot's seat and for Skip to sit in the co-pilot's seat. It seems that James has risen to the role of leader and all the other occupants are at his beck and call. As the new flight crew passes by your seat on their way to the cockpit, you ask James "Is there any thing I can do to help?" James replies "Thank you, I'll Let you know." At this point you are ready to obediently do anything the leadership asks you to do without question. Shortly after, James yells for you to come up to the cockpit. You can't respond fast enough! It takes about a nanosecond for you to be in the cockpit. "Yes James! What do you need?!" You say out of breath. James says one of the starboard wing flaps is jammed and he wants you to climb out of the emergency door proximate to that wing and see if you can free the jammed flap! He tells you that everyone is counting on you and you must hurry or everyone will die! He said he can throttle back so the wind won't be so bad and that the loss of altitude means it's a survivable 40 degrees outside the plane. You agree to try your best and start to head out of the cockpit. The sport coat James was wearing was thrown in the corner, you grab it on your way as added protection for your upcoming e.v.a. (extra vehicular activity) You approach the row where the starboard emergency door is located above the starboard wing. The three seat occupants in that row quickly dive out of your way. You clamber awkwardly toward the emergency exit. You read the instructions on the door and prepare to open it. "I cannot believe what I am about to do" you think. The encouraging looks on the faces of and nodding gestures of the onlooking passengers gives you courage.

Just then, a few things fell out of James' jacket pocket. You pick them up and see that he had a pamphlet from The North American Society of Recovering Pathological Liars. Attached was a "Welcome to the 2007 conference in Bermuda" information package. Along with the pamphlet, a small zippered case fell out of James' (if that's his real name) pocket. You unzip the case to find a crack pipe! You hesitate, and think you might go back to the cockpit just to double check that this whole thing is necessary. You don't say anything as you push back past the crowd of passengers who moan in disappointment.

As you enter the cockpit, you notice that the jet is diving just a little steeper than before and there is a heated argument taking place between James and Skip. The two so called pilots are so fixated on each other that they don't notice the ocean rushing up to the windshield. "Aahem!" you clear your throat "Hey guys, don't you think we aught to pull back on the stick some?" You can't make out the response as both men are speaking at the same time. "But..but.." you say. "To hell with this!" You exclaim. You reach for the control stick and pull it back with all your might. Skip helps you as James, defeated, sulks in the corner. The huge plane leaps skyward. You hear cheers from the passengers. Skip goes on to successfully land the plane in Bermuda. Thomas Jackson 21:16, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Now for some analysis

• Once the crisis began the first person to assume leadership was the uniformed stewardess. She brought order to the mob and successfully recruited (or at least she thought) not one but two pilots. Did the uniform help? Once her vision was accomplished she stepped aside.
• Skip (the first applicant) was initially past over for "promotion" by the organization. He was in fact more qualified than James but James lied about his qualifications and Skip did not look the part. (It's shallow but it is the way we are)
• James fooled the group and took command. Did his appearance help? Had he got Skip on his side, possibly by using heavy delegation rather than arguing with him, how much longer might he have pulled it off? Long enough to retire?
• Does appearance get you in the door? Is that all it does?
• We saw the level of confidence in leadership swing from both extremes. When confidence is high the constituents follow orders with little question. See how questioning authority and hesitation begin to take over as confidence wanes? "maybe these guys really can't lead us to our desired goal."
• Its not enough to look the part, you have to have or get someone with (which is almost if not exactly the same) the needed skills.
• When you see two superiors arguing, how does it affect your confidence in their leadership? Thomas Jackson 21:16, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

How this story parallels more common situations

Before the crisis began, there was a shared vision among everyone on the plane including the pilot, co-pilot, stewards, stewardesses, and passengers. That vision was to fly safely to Bermuda. Its called a shared vision because everyone on the plane feels more or less as passionately about the same goal. You might have polled everyone on board and asked them what their vision was. They might have given you answers like; "I'm going to Bermuda to see a wedding." or I'm going to Bermuda to vacation." or I'm going to Bermuda to attend a conference." Each answer slightly different but all sharing the same destination. You could call people on the ground who are not on the flight with you but have an interest in it such as; the air traffic controllers, executives of the airline, and the families of the passengers, and they all would say that they expect the flight to land in Bermuda safely and on time. If you took the same poll at a business that designs builds and sells widgets you might get answers like; "I'm just here to put up with the b.s. for eight hours, collect my paycheck and get out of here." and "I'm a member of senior management and if I keep my head down I'll be retiring soon." as well as some who say "I have always loved widgets, I have widgets on the brain and I like to help people with their widgets. I am so lucky to get paid to do what I love to do. I just wish everyone else around here felt the same way." You might ask some people external to the business such as customers, suppliers, neighbors and get answers like "They just want your money." or "They are a real asset to the community." Not exactly a shared vision here is it?

Suppose now you were hired in as a manager at some company. In order to become a leader you will have to develop a vision in your mind as to how your department would look and feel if you were to be successful. Literally close your eyes and envision how your subordinates interact, level of productivity, morale, the work environment, profitable, sustainable. Are there awards on the walls? See yourself, are you confident, supportive, firm, decisive, charismatic? Do you want to be respected, well liked? Do your employees feel comfortable talking to you? Are you consistent, fair, and trustworthy? What ever your vision is you must internalize it. You have to see it in detail. You have to know that it's a win/win for everyone including employees, customers, suppliers, management, other departments etc. Once its fixed in your mind you have to make it a shared vision by sharing it! Tell everyone involved what your vision is and see who will get on board the plane with you. You won't walk in the door on the first day with a fully developed vision. You won't walk out the door at the end of the first day with a fully developed vision, but it should be completed soon. There are a lot of folks to talk to in order to fully develop your vision.

It is a good idea for new managers to to have a one on one talk with each subordinate to see what each individual's vision is. Also ask them how they think things could be improved. Get a feel for the needs and wants each employee because only then will you be able lead them to their individual goals. Ideally, eventually, you can essentially say to each subordinate "Help support this one overall shared vision and I will help you realise your dreams and ambitions!" Don't lie to them and don't over promise or you will eventually become James, defeated sulking in the corner.

It's a good idea to talk to customers, internal and external. Ask what they like or don't like. do the same with other department managers even your boss. Each conversation can add to your vision. Thomas Jackson 13:13, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

Once you have covered all the stakeholders, you should schedule an ongoing cycle of getting feedback from them. Such as quarterly reviews with employees and regular discussions with customers. Be guided by their feedback as to weather or not you and your organization are making progress toward your shared vision.