II. Leadership insures the future.
If leaders of the
organization buy into the vision set in front of them, they will be the
mechanism to manage the opportunity for growth and success.
Leaders provide the character, determination,
and skill to build an environment of
symbolic convergence. Character
is the qualities stamped upon a person’s heart. The greatest assets thereof are
humility (knowing who you are
enough to compare your utmost and greatest against all competitors, God
included, and thereby seeing the greatness of your smallness) and integrity (the quality of being
whole, intact, undivided, unimpaired, or sound. Without character, the team
will find unity and accountability difficult. No one would take responsibility
for shortcomings. Skill is
talent refined by the fire of practice and experience in real time. The
greatest assets of skill are capability
(the ability to perform a task) and talent
(natural aptitude or shaped intelligence). Without skill the team will find it
difficult to perform tasks on time and as directed. No one would be able to
trust his/her teammates because of an inability to know the condition of the
final product. Remember, practice makes permanent and consistency breeds excellence.
Without skill, a team cannot proficiently, efficiently, and effectively provide
a consistently excellent final product. Determination
is the ability and process of terminating deterrence with extreme prejudice.
The greatest assets of determination are authority
(self-governing ability) and responsibility
(the ability to appropriately act with courage and self-possession). Without
determination opportunities become obstacles. Change is a pain and both the
successes and failures of the organization are always the same. When the
leaders on a team buy into the vision, they will all fiercely steward it
because it belongs to all of them and not just the visionary. Yet, the opposite
is also true. Leaders will not fiercely steward the vision they don't own because
it only belongs to the visionary. The culture created by the leadership team
helps to create an immune system to regulate routine. Routine saves time as
leaders learn the culture of the organization and develop environments for
healthy growth, competency, efficiency, and proficiency. Yet, this immune
system also exposes the pain of stagnation if routine becomes management when
it needs vision casting.
Management maintains the vision of the past, and therefore,
it is not the case that management is bad. It is certainly a type of
leadership. Surely, there are times when an organization needs the steadiness
of a governing leader who maintains the values and morals of the organization
that have taken it from good to great. Yet, at other times an organization becomes
stagnant, and management hampers healthy growth, competency, efficiency, and
proficiency. It is in those times that visionary leadership draws toward the
vision for the future, pioneering a path that asks the startling question, “How
do we apply the vision of our forefathers to today’s world, in such a way that
it insures the success of the vision for years to come?” When David chose his might men, he chose,
"of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what
Israel ought to do," (1 Chronicles 12:32). Vision demands some sons
of Issachar in every organization who understand the times and know exactly
what to do.
Remember, change is inevitable, but growth is
optional. As adapted from Ruby K. Payne’s A
Framework for Understanding Poverty, there are really only four reasons a
person/organization chooses to change:
1.
A
situation is too painful to continue.
2.
A
goal or vision calls for immediate change/growth.
3.
A
“sponsor” initiates a significant relationship, whether that is a change in
leadership or change in ownership.
4.
A
skill, gift, talent, or new capability/market that the organization sees value
in pursuing.
When the pain of stagnation becomes greater than the
pain of change, people are forced to make choices. Yet, those choices are
futile without vision. Ken Friar, the executive vice president of InJoy Stewardship Solutions said, “From
good to best, move toward unrest.” In other words, as he also stated, “There is
no growth in the comfort zone and there is never comfort in the growth zone.” Someone
once well said, “If your only tool is a hammer, every problem will look like a
nail.” Sure, routine saves time, but it cannot be an excuse to remain the same,
nor should it be mistaken for symbolic
convergence. Symbolic convergence is the theory explaining how
meanings, emotions, values, and motives for action are hidden in the rhetoric
that is co-created by people trying to make sense out of a common experience. So remember, common experiences create common bonds, but uncommon experiences create
uncommon bonds teaching that each ending is actually a transition to the
beginning of the first day of the rest of your life. Ultimately, the leadership
of an organization is the only resource an organization has to offer the world
because leaders reproduce themselves. If
it is true that vision drives the future, then your team must be able to
sustain the vision.
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