Blog “Thinking Out Loud”
By Wendell Jordan-Brangman, PMP, CSM, CSPO
Contributor to RadientPearl Leadership Blogs
What is your vision as a leader?
In my previous article, “Being an Authentic Leader (Part I): Why Do You Consider Yourself a Leader?”, I highlighted that an authentic leader is a servant leader with a heart for people rather than outcomes. Given that the ‘heart’ is typically viewed as the starting point for all thoughts and actions, what keeps an authentic leader’s heart aligned to its original intent? The answer is a vision centered around the betterment of people!
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” - Proverbs 29:18a (King James Version)
One definition of a vision is an ideal or goal toward which one aspires. An ideal is the best possibility and to aspire means to have a strong desire or ambition to achieve something. A person with a vision is not easily swayed or distracted - they are able to remain committed to their intended course of action regardless of what is happening because, though they live in the present, their dream is of the future. This is a powerful tool because an authentic leader cannot allow present circumstances to dictate their actions. An authentic leader must also empower those around them. Have you ever completed a task and then felt lost, asking yourself “Well, I’ve done this task but what’s next?!” What if the people you lead feel the same way - moving from task to task but not really knowing where it’s all leading to. A vision empowers you to keep moving forward regardless of the current circumstances because ‘your eyes are on the prize’. Your vision defines your responses to situations because you are less likely to allow temporary things to dictate your progress to your more desired and permanent end state, no matter how far away or challenging it may seem.
Oftentimes, a vision is birthed from an abstract thought and is sometimes classified as a dream. Is there anything more powerful than a dream that cannot be destroyed because it lives in the hearts and minds of those who heard it or were inspired by it? Just about everyone knows about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech delivered on August 28th, 1963. It is iconic and powerful despite the fact that Dr. King died less than five years later on April 4th, 1968 without his dream being anywhere close to fulfillment. Yet his dream continues to inspire multiple generations of people. Why? In part because Dr. King’s dream was centered on the betterment of people! The most compelling evidence of authentic leadership is a legacy that others have taken up your mantle and that can only truly happen when your ulterior motives are geared towards the benefit of people.
When you dream of or envision ‘success’, do you see attainment or achievement of material or tangible goals as the ultimate barometer, and are the positive impacts to people along the journey seen as just as pertinent and substantial as the other goals? Or are the people you are supposed to lead viewed by you more as a means to your end, a set of resources to attain goals rather than a group of individuals with specific needs that you will help them to achieve? If your primary motivator is the achievement of a goal or objective, there will likely be a tendency to treat people as replaceable. If a primary motivator is positively influencing people, then you will likely be more authentic because people will experience that you sincerely care about them, which will motivate them far more than you may realize. You will build loyalty that will drive people to remain committed even in your absence, a loyalty that will persist beyond any material incentive, a loyalty that will keep your dream alive!
What you lead with is what you leave behind!
What you see at the end of your sojourn as a leader is what you lead with. If all you see is success for yourself at the end of your leadership stint then you will be a selfish leader. However, if at the core of your vision is service to others then you will more than likely leave a legacy that others will not just willingly follow but also willfully adopt as their own. Do you see yourself as part of a tree, someone who branched off from someone else and who will spawn additional branches? Is that part of your vision? Or do you view yourself as some kind of alpha person who has to dominate everyone around them, who got to the top by themselves and who does not have any influence on the next leader?
How many people are you going to leave behind or by the wayside? Not everyone who starts off following you will stay all the way through but why they go on a different path makes all the difference! Did they feel discarded or did they feel empowered and supported to pursue their own path? Divergence is often a good means to replication but it is your relationship with that person after the divergence that tells the truth. If you are an authentic leader, the relationship is positive, even leaving the door open for future convergence. However, if the relationship is negative or even apathetic then that tells you all there is to know about your impact on that person. In the National Football League (NFL), head coaches are judged by the success of their teams in winning Super Bowl championships. Yet many people who could care less about the NFL would struggle to name many of them. However, one of the most successful head coaches in NFL history is recognized as a great leader even by people who could care less about NFL championships. This man, Bill Walsh, not only led his teams to multiple championships, he also developed or directly influenced other championship-level head coaches and was admired for his willingness to strongly advocate for African-American head coaches at a time when there was no compelling reason for him to do so. He did not stand to personally gain from his advocacy and would still be considered one of the greatest NFL head coaches of all time without such active support of minority head coaches. Yet he chose to take actions that he didn’t have to take because he cared about people. No matter the number of championships other coaches may have, Bill Walsh’s legacy as a champion (pun intended) for racial equality in head coaching opportunities will never be forgotten.
How do you know that the people you are leading share your vision or at least have bought into it? What tangible evidence or proof do you have? Do the people you are leading lead others with this vision or do they lead with tasking? Authentic leaders seek to develop and encourage growth in those around them as a first resort, not try to surround themselves with “the best” by replacing “under performers” because they (the leader) do not want to do the work required to develop and grow people. If you are seen as someone who is willing to sincerely invest in someone else, you are far more likely to attract people of similar mindsets and more likely than not to inspire others to do the same. However, if you are viewed as having a ‘mercenary’ mentality - preferring to quickly replace people rather than invest in them - then do not be surprised when those around you do not display loyalty.
“Don’t let pressure make decisions for you.” - Karen Jensen Salisbury
As an authentic leader, you intentionally seek to empower people, sometimes at personal cost, because you have a vision of how they can achieve their best. You are willing to put in the hard work because achieving a goal at the cost of people is unpalatable! Nevertheless, all that hard work is useless if you do not set the right culture in place so that people will always be encouraged and empowered to strive for better without fear of being discarded for failure. Though there are many ways to do this, here are some things that you can do, taken from various sources on building a “culture of courage”:
Set scary standards. If you want people to develop courage, you have to give them opportunities to stare down their fears and act in spite of the fears. Like building a muscle, as you lead more people, they recognize that fear does not have to paralyze them, the more emboldened they will feel even when uncertainty looms large.
Allow for failure. There is no one who is successful that hasn’t experienced failures. Let the people you lead know that failure is not fatal but is a way of learning. Do not punish people for failing if they are trying to improve themselves or improve the situation.
Reward innovation. Doing something new or differently is inherently risky but has the potential for great rewards. Encourage the people you lead to try new things, to go beyond their comfort zones, and tangibly show appreciation for them doing so.
Learn to delegate. The only way to build someone’s confidence in their ability to lead is to entrust them with something you deem important. If you cannot delegate, want to maintain all the control, and think you are the only one who can do it, then you will only go as far as your own abilities and bandwidth.
So what are you chasing?
When the going gets tough, do you get tougher or do you get kinder? How you treat the people you lead is a direct reflection of your vision as a leader. Being an authentic leader is a lifelong pursuit in which the joy comes from the journey rather than the actual destination. You always have a choice about how you respond to tough situations. How you feel should not dictate how you respond; rather, you should respond based on the outcome you want to achieve. Whatever your vision or dream, it is imperative for you as an authentic leader to be intentional and honest about how you lead and to leave people better off after they encounter or experience the results of your decisions and actions, regardless of the objectives that have been set for you by others.
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