Vision and Pace
I am often cautious to understand what companies mean by their vision, as each may put a slightly different emphasis on the trilogy of “Vision, Mission, and Goals”. Those three have given me more than one headache over the time I have been coaching.
Let’s keep it simple and assume that vision is the direction in which the company wants to go. Every leader should use this as their ‘homing beacon’ for what they do. Question your own actions; are they in alignment with that of the company? This is where some reflection time can be valuable.
Very often there is a tension between the short-term and the long-term outcome, this is the struggle between those daily business objectives and that three to five year plan. Commercial awareness is instrumental; knowledge of the specific business is needed to strike the right balance.
Many a coaching conversation has been spent agonising over the pros and cons – a dear friend once said, “This is where the rubber hits the road!” And of course all of this agonising and thoughtful reflection has to be done with ‘pace’. Spend too long making the “right” decision and you may well lose the competitive edge in your business or the window of opportunity that may have presented itself! Pace is about maintaining a momentum, energy, and an excitement of achievement. Different companies have different levels of pace, dictated by their culture, business model and market sector.
In conclusion a leaders direction and behaviour needs to be aligned with the ‘vision’ and then executed with ‘pace’ – easy to write, a bit trickier to pull off.
Whilst writing this I am reminded of Daniel Pinks book ‘DRIVE’, and specifically the three factors he states for motivation to be present:
- Autonomy
- Mastery
- Purpose
A leader needs to have a clear vision, delivered with pace to create the right environment for motivation to take hold and flourish.
Annie
