Hi there,
Do you have a clear understanding of your organization’s goals right now?
I ask this question, face-to-face, to Sonarians every four months during skip-level meetings to assess my leadership.
We ask a similar question in early-stage conversations with prospective clients: What are your priorities right now? As often as we hear outcomes (e.g., enrollment, reputation, retention), we also hear confusion (e.g., just keep our heads above water, there are too many changes happening to know that, or we’ll figure that out once we fill our open positions). If you or your staff think time or a new hire is the key to defining priorities, there’s a leadership gap to fill.
Both questions underscore the need for me—and you—to commit to the basics of leadership: defining our vision/values, setting our goals, and continually communicating about the relationship between the two and the work each person does. This aspect of leadership is difficult because it takes time, focus, and seems easy to push off in favor of high-priority tasks that can be crossed off a to-do list. This work is ongoing. It never gets crossed off the list.
Providing strategic direction and consistent communication aligned with vision and values is more important—and will have a longer-term impact—than nearly anything on your to-do list. It impacts every single person in your organization, as well as the people you serve. Only when your team knows where you’re headed can they be truly focused on efforts to get there.
I feel vulnerable writing about this because I too have let myself get swept into task-oriented work at the expense of strategic leadership activity. But, I’ve built in mechanisms (like skip-level meetings) to alert me when I’m neglecting that aspect of my job. I also:
- Set recurring calendar reminders for leadership communication.
- Set expectations with the organization regarding where/how leadership communication will occur.
- Block significant time (i.e., entire days) to reflect, assess feedback, gather my thoughts, and make purposeful leadership decisions.
I’ve found that not only does this help me commit to the most important work I can do, it ensures I have a consistent answer to the question every leader should be able to answer in their sleep: What are the organization’s goals, right now?
Leaders, how are you feeling about your efforts in this area? What are your wins? Where are you struggling? I’m in this with you.
