Leading Organizations That Matter

If you are the leader of an organization, what do you see when you "look in the mirror"? In this episode, I discuss that awkward situation when you realize that everyone else sees something different.

We all have differing levels of tolerance for uncertainty. Organizations are the same. Unfortunately, however, some leadership teams and boards of directors are SO uncomfortable with uncertainty that they will make rash and unhelpful decisions. I discuss this topic today and offer three potential remedies.

You don't expect surprises (or at least, pleasant ones) when you conduct a strategic planning exercise. However, in my experience... recent planning projects have resulted in some important and quite helpful "ah ha" moments for boards, leaders, and staff.

Strategic planning is important and I've certainly spent a lot of time talking, writing, and podcasting about that. Today, I address the topic of strategic DOING. 

Many years ago, my son and I were hiking in the Grand Canyon when we learned a valuable lesson about hiking, life, and for me... years later... strategic planning.

I'm serious.

I recently saw that a former colleague from a company I once led posted on social media that he had fallen victim to an affiliation that was not accurately described to him as it was taking shape. Since I was the one responsible for messaging that affiliation, I took his comment as a blow. And that stung.

But... some further reflection has led me to a few conclusions.

Vision. Every organization should have one and every leader need to be able to articulate his or hers. But not all "visions" are the same. 

According to Jonathan Swift,  “Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.”

So, do you help others see the invisible?

When I was starting out as a young and relatively low-in-the-chain-of-command employee, I was highly focused on the task at hand. I was clear about my responsibilities and how to be successful and I didn’t worry about a great deal more than that. If someone back then had asked me how the company I was working for was doing financially or what its main threats were in the external environment, I don’t think I could have answered. More importantly, I would have thought that those were strange questions for someone at my level to be concerned about.

Things change.

"Conflict avoided is conflict multiplied." Most people don't relish having to make tough decisions but sometimes putting this off can cause more harm downstream. Organizational culture flows from the personality of the key leaders of the organizations, most notably the CEO's. If that CEO is conflict avoidant... then that may prove to be the biggest problem of all.

Negative budget variances? Sounds like a boring and low level topic for a podcast such as this one... but how you handle them: (1) says a lot about you as a leader and (2) has the very real potential to positively transform your organization.