"It’s our calling as leaders to remind our teams of the vision of the organization and lead them in the right direction."
Many of us have had it happen. Most times, by the time we realize it, it’s too late. When it happens, we're always caught off guard and leave a mark or a trail behind us.
A leaky cup.
Ever have a cup of fresh hot coffee or tea and, without warning, it begins to drip onto your hand, shirt, countertop, or floor? At first, you may think to yourself, “Did I spill something?” and then as the drip continues you realize there is a leak.
You spring into action; putting your hand under the cup as you hold it away from your body trying not to get any on yourself. You run over to the sink or garbage can. If you’re close enough to another cup, you may place your cup inside of another.
One thing you don’t do…nothing.
I am willing to bet that any leak we have; cup, sink, toilet, radiator, etc., we don’t just walk away from. We act and we act quickly.
One of the lessons I’ve learned over the years of leading organizations is that vision leaks.
The teams and people we lead will forget why we do things we do unless we keep pointing them to where we are going and why that’s important.
Vision leaks.
Just like the coffee example, we may not notice at first. We may have people make decisions that run counter to where we are trying to go as a company. The people we lead may act in a way that doesn’t reflect our corporate values. Employees who were once self-starting people, full of passion and energy, seem less motivated or apathetic. These are like the drops of hot coffee on our hands. They make us ask, “What’s going on?”
If we remember that vision leaks, the answer may be simply that our team has forgotten why what we do is important and where we are trying to go together.
It’s our calling as leaders to remind our teams of the vision of the organization and lead them in the right direction.
I’m sure you’ve probably heard, because it’s been said a lot, that the beginning and end of projects are exciting and energizing. In the middle, where vision leaks, we need to keep momentum by reminding people where we are going and why it matters that we get there. If you’re not doing that, you may be managing people, but you’re not leading them.
When leaders stop refilling the leaky vision bucket, what started as an exciting, life-giving venture can quickly turn into a dreary, soul-weary work. Your team’s “vision tank” is running on empty when your team “has to” rather than “gets to”.
Growing up I had a friend named John. (The same guy from sledding in last week’s post. Also, the same John I mention several times in my book. Don’t tell him… he’ll want royalties!) John had a slow leak in his bike tire. We had to stop several times throughout the day while we were riding to refill it.
As the day wore on, John was getting more and more frustrated needing to stop so often to put air in his tire. At some point near the end of the day, he decided he was going to fill it up once and for all for the rest of the trip home.
We pulled our bikes up to the gas station and he began to put air in. And more air. And more. Aaaannnnnnddddd moooooooorrrreeeeee.
BOOOOOOOOM.
The tire exploded with so much force it knocked him against the wall of the gas station, made all of our ears ring, and coated his face with the white powder that covered the inner tube. We all started laughing. HARD. I think so anyway…. My ears were ringing so bad that it LOOKED like everyone was laughing.
In hindsight, it was a terrible idea to think if he overinflated a leaky tire enough he wouldn’t have to fill it again that night. It’s an equally terrible idea as leaders to think if we talk about the mission and vision of our organization passionately enough, or creatively enough, or loud enough, that we won’t have to do it again.
Vision starts leaking as soon as we finish casting it. The people we are leading have real lives, real problems, and real struggles inside AND outside of work. They have difficult co-workers. Equipment that breaks down. Unexpected challenges. They get tired, frustrated, and sick. All of these are little holes that vision leaks out of.
Vision casting is not a one-and-done task. We need to cast and recast over and over in big and small ways; with groups and individuals; and in structured and organic ways.
Think about the people you lead. Are they excited about the why and how of where you are trying to lead them?
In the next post I’ll share some thoughts about ways to help refill leaky vision buckets.
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