LEADERSHIP: SHARP TOOLS FOR HARD TIMES

Published: 2008-11-26   please add a comment below

What's the leadership equivalent of reaching for your Swiss Army Knife, and selecting the right blade?  It's creating a plan, and populating it with appropriate leadership actions.  Actions relevant to current challenges, not old ones.  Actions that convince people and build commitment.  Things that work, giving traction in this tough new environment.

If I interviewed your team, how much would they say you've shifted your thinking and leadership actions over the last six months?  Would they rate it as significant or not?  In terms of the organisation's journey, are they now more convinced and committed, or less?

With markets in turmoil, how clear is each member about where they're going and why.  Are new goals defined and specific?  Is everyone aligned?  And, with cost pressures and personnel shortages, how many people still have clarity around where and how they all fit in.  Are relationships and teamwork requirements clear?  And, across all areas, how deeply have you embedded a capacity and willingness for learning and reinventing?

In sum, are you (and your team) winning?  Or, is the market - and your competition?

In disruptive times, these are fundamental challenges that need to focus your mind; and, drive every waking moment.  You need ruthless analysis and tough decisions.  You need relentless execution and manifest passion for bottom-line outcomes.

But, how?  My suggestion is to develop a Leadership Action Plan.  Look at the key questions worrying members of your team; and, find the right actions to answer them.  Sadly, in most companies, no-one develops a leadership (as opposed to a business) plan.  They don't work out what each leader (from CEO to front-line) needs to do so their direct reports and other colleagues know what the journey is, and have a clear basis for committing.

In a sense, my V|E|C|T|O|R Leadership® framework provides a Swiss-Army-Knife solution.  It offers a range of actions to address key follower questions.  And allows you, in an hour or so, to develop a plan - specific to the hard current and coming challenges.  It's your plan; and, you make the calls.  That requires honesty in defining your challenges; and, incisiveness and courage in selecting actions.  It’s not for the faint-hearted.  In that way, it's rather Swiss.

So, act sharp: cut yourself a plan!

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Dr. Timothy Pascoe AM
PhD (Cambridge), MBA (Harvard), BE & BEc (Adelaide)
Creator, V|E|C|T|O|R Leadership^®

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