Visionary Leaders - inspiring and leading change

As a grade school kid I remember hearing an oft repeated warning that we were entering a new ice age.

PANIC

Mankind and civilization as we knew it would be wiped out.

Last week it was bird flu, this week swine flu.

PANIC

Mankind and civilization as we know it will be wiped out.

Maybe this time it is once again climate change, maybe it is the greater depression, maybe it is other lifestyles, nationalities, or political affiliations. Maybe it is ....

PANIC

Science gets funded if there is a panic, and scientists can be fallible, greedy, and gullible too. Post-modern science focuses on how, they are afraid to ask why. Why?

Politicians get more followers if there is a panic, and few politicians consider honesty. They want to change the system -- until they understand it, by then the system has changed them.

Bureaucrats gain power when there is panic, and most bureaucrats worship power. Try to please everyone and you end up resenting their choices -- eventually learning as a bureaucrat to use pettiness to herd them.

You do not have to be mastered by their constructed hysterias. If you are not the lead cow, the view never changes. You can inspire others to independently fashion meaningful change, instead of aspiring to be a lead cow wearing a bell.

Someday something horrible will once again happen on a global basis.

It will probably be a surprise we were not warned about. Minor disruptions such as depressions, flus, and earthquakes will continue to occur. We still can prepare for the worst and pray we are missed. Those you inspired to leave the herd may be the ones that create the solution.

In the meantime, ignore the fear mongers, think for yourself and:

relax

Enjoy your life.


Concentrate on doing something useful.

I wrote the following as a comment to a blog that asked if commanding was a management function or a quality of leadership.

I realize I rewrote their question in a way that discloses my opinion. Here then was my comment:

I would put commands as an administrative function - management.

A real leader seldom commands, except at highly charged moments where concise direction is immediately needed.

One reason is a real leader has developed his team to make them leaders also.

To me a manager is focused on performance and controls, a leader is focused on people and goals.

If you are more concerned with the efficiency of the operation than the direction of your team - you are a manager.

For visionary leaders I would change that focus statement from people and goals to relationships, team member potential, and a worthy cause.

If you are primarily concerned with the direction your team is moving - you may be a leader. If you are concerned with creating an environment where productive individuals can thrive, you may be a visionary leader.

A manager is more likely to exist in a bureaucratic organizational structure, a visionary leader in an entrepreneurial one. Success can come without good leadership - but it will be more sure and last much longer with a visionary leader.

Are you that leader?

I heard a director of a company talking with authority about something I'm sure he didn't believe - if he thought about it.

There had been complaints about poor communications between management and workers in his division. His response was "I'll spend more time in meetings so my managers will have more time to spend with their people."

He had to know better than that.

His managers will do what they see him doing.

Now they are justified in avoiding their "people" to attend meetings - so their direct reports can spend more time with the people. Their "people" of course will follow suit.

I think what the director was really saying is that his job security and self image are tied to hanging out with other "b" level executives - to heck with "his people." With that view he will never be an "a" level executive.

If he really wanted to improve communication he could take his managers on walks to talk with the workers - and even try to catch the workers doing something right so they could congratulate them.

Most of his meetings are probably a waste of time anyway - in terms of business effectiveness. He has at least one worthless manager that talks intelligently and plays politics well - he could assign them to attend the meetings.

Meeting and inspiring his division would require true visionary leadership - that director is obviously satisfied being a bureaucratic manager.

Wasting your life in meetings sounds like a dead end way to spend 70 hours a week. The only upside is his ego knows he is an executive cog in a huge organization, even if he is not quite high enough to use the corporate jet.

His own frequent comments about it being "lonely at the top," and his hair turning gray and falling out show that he feels stress - not pleasure - from his chosen route.

Ya gotta feel sorry for the guy - he could have had his own business or concentrated on good works instead - and enjoyed his life. He could have sought, developed, and shared his passions with people that would appreciate his contributions. He could have found a cause worth fighting for -- and dedicated his life to the battle.

That would require thought and leadership.

Instead he has a business card featuring the business founder's name - and in much smaller print his own name and title - and no life of his own.

You may not be able to ignore the packaged angst of public media; but you can apply your thoughts only to those subjects where you can make a difference.

First, an old exercise: find a quiet spot with no interruptions and few distractions, then ask yourself. What planet am I on, and what do I have to work with?

After that, there are three questions to ask yourself as you consider your future actions.

* Relevancy: Is what you are considering in any way relevant to where you want to go and what you want to do. If not it is just consuming time and delaying your chance to bring about a significant advancement.

* Importance: There may be something to do, it may even have some value. But will it make powerful accomplishments possible, or just add a pebble to a small stack of insignificance? Your life has great value, if you will direct it toward possibilities of major consequence.

* Actionable: It may be important, but can you see any way at this time, with tools currently available, you can change things for the better? Much of what is reported is so far away from our influence that we might as well dream fantasy as spend time considering it.

If it fails any of those tests there is only one reason to continue - perhaps your futile efforts will inspire someone else to do better.

What is important to you? If it is easier for you to remember the negative:

Ignore everything that is irrelevant, unimportant, or un-actionable.

I am reminded of the couple where the man bragged that he made all the important decisions in his family - such as should the US try to land men on Mars, or should the UN be disbanded. His spouse made the unimportant ones, what is for dinner, where the kids will go to school, if they should move to a different country.

What planet am I on, and what do I have to work with?

The reason you are reading this is to become a visionary leader yourself.

Wisdom and understanding are required - here is the first step.

Be careful of your foundations.

Roots are dangerous things, they trap even majestic oak trees. Almost everything you have learned is directed at making you a target for the bulldozers.

The world is changing in a dramatic fashion, and you need to be ready to move.

The only thing God is taking off this world is people. If you root, root in relationships, not into things.

Be very careful of who or what or where you give your loyalty. Do not be more dedicated to others; a job, a party, a movement; than they are dedicated to you.

Escape the slavery others would have you serve - dedicate yourself to worthwhile relationships.

Move toward freedom.

Then consider the vision you want to build on your marvelous foundation.

"It is time for us to stand and cheer for the doer, the achiever, and the one who recognizes the challenge and does something about it."
Vince Lombardi

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The things that haven't been done before

Are the tasks worthwhile today;

Are you one of the flock that follows, or

Are you one that shall lead the way

Are you one of the timid souls that quail

At the jeers of a doubting crew,

Or dare you, whether you win or fail,

Strike out for a goal that's new?

Edgar Guest



"If there are several opposing opinions on an issue, all of them can't be right; however, all of them can be very wrong." - Allan R. Wallace



100% of direct income from my lenses goes to micro-finance solutions for world poverty provided by the Grameen Foundation. The Grameen Foundation is creating a rising tide of positive influence upon our world.

Will YOUR life be based on what you want to use it to accomplish, or by random urges of what you want to do?