It is proverbially noted that leadership is influence. Many leaders and managers exert a significant amount of time and energy trying to convince every member of their team to support an initiative. Most of the time it is important to have everyone understand what the initiative is all about, but rarely is it critical for every member to fully “buy in” to the plan.

…but you can communicate so that everyone understands.

Communicating with the goal of everyone understanding – that is effective communication. Trying to persuade everyone – that is an act in futility; as William G. McAdoo put it, “It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument.” (Okay, so just because someone doesn’t agree with you, it doesn’t make them ignorant; despite what political pundits purport!) However, to effectively communicate with your team, focus on whether they understand first and foremost. Full understanding is the first step. Getting buy in” to the plan is secondary and is less likely to happen if it is not understood first.

Joel Barker is known as The Paradigm Man for his leadership in defining the concepts of paradigm shifts for corporations. He was even presented an honorary Doctorate in Visionary Leadership from St. Mary’s University.

Joel Barker Quote about Vision and Action:
“Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference.”

Vision

The vision is your mission statement to define the purpose and objectives of the organization. CEOs of most corporations utilize visions statements as a leadership tool to define strategic goals for the organization and defining operational traits for managers, leaders, and other professionals in the organization to follow. For leaders of small groups and teams, you can create a mission statement that works within the framework of the organization’s vision statement and target the objectives and operational traits specifically to the group.

Action

The action is the momentum and drive which work towards the defined goals – both short-term and long-term. The action falls subject to the corporate culture of an organization and is greatly influenced by the leadership with the organization. Effect leaders learn how to propel their teams and groups to action, but effective leaders also set the stage by practicing what they teach. Most people in an organization have no knowledge of what a CEO does on a daily basis, but most people can perceive whether a leader is a person of action or not.

Combining

Combining vision and action is highly effect as Joel Barker articulates. Your vision statements should clearly define your objectives and define how to accomplish your objectives. When you consistently and effectively communicate your vision statement, you demonstrate the importance of the goals and objectives that the statement defines. A significant part of the action for a CEO is the effective communication of the vision statement.

You can learn more from Joel Barker here.

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The lifelong timeline of a leader includes an important shift in focus and measuring success for this shift is well articulated by Jack Welch, the notable, former CEO of GE.

Leadership quote from Jack Welch:
“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”

Developing Leadership Potential

In the development phase, which starts “today” and continues lifelong, the focus is selfish in a sense. It’s about the leader – the leader’s knowledge, wisdom, understanding, communication skills, people skills, and the leader’s ability to influence.

The Practice of Leadership

The leading phase starts “tomorrow” and continues for as long as the leader is able to lead whether by position and/or by influence. The focus is on those you lead. The followers are not merely followers for I take the same position as Ralph Nader who stated, “I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers .” It may be better to say, the success of a leader is all about growing leaders.

For Success Today

• Your focus should be on developing your leadership potential.

For Success Tomorrow

• Your focus should be on developing the leadership potential of others.

So many back-and-forth opinions surround corporate visions that having a vision statement or focusing the valuable attention of top leadership on it is often overlooked with all the other priorities. I honestly believe, as do many top business leaders like Jack Welch, that visions are an efficient and effective mechanism for leaders to impact their organizations.

Here’s a quote from unknown origin on visions and communication:
“A clear vision is usually assumed and rarely communicated.”

With so much knowledge and information in organizations, many managers and professionals have difficulty cutting through all the fluff to the core substance that is needed. The KISS principle is often touted, but not practiced often enough. Learning to Keep It Short and Simple requires you to edit and prioritize the information in reports, statements, plans, and other written materials.

Visions and KISS

The same focus should be placed on vision statements. Priority should be given to ensure that the most relevant and highest priorities are presented, but not hidden amongst unnecessary distractions.

Benefits of KISS

1. Ensures the statement is focused.

2. Allows the statement to be communicated more often and more effectively.

3. Increases the likelihood that the statement will be remembered.

4. Increases the likelihood that the statement will impact the daily workloads of the people who need to execute it.

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Last week, I wrote Dreams, Goals, Planning, and the Decisions that Matter with the core message that dreams can become reality through implementing long-term goals with sound planning and decisions.  I want to build on that with the business and leadership focus on vision.

Leadership quote from Allen Pathmarajah:
“The difference between vision and hallucination is action.”

3 Steps to a Successful Vision:

1. Have a Vision

Many corporations and organizations have a corporate vision.  These are usually developed by top management and reflect the long-term goals for the company.

This vision should be definite, but broad.  It is better to say that company is seeking to have the largest market share in its industry or to develop the highest quality products than to merely say the company is seeking to be the best.

2. Communicate the Vision

A corporate vision is a top-down message.  Top managers from the CEO and COO to the department directors should communicate the vision.  There should be publications (posters, newsletters, and email messages) that make the vision known by everyone in the company.

3. Take Action on the Vision

As Allen Pathmarajah notes, the vision is useless to the company if it is not acted upon.  To ensure the vision gets needed action:

A. Keep the vision up to date, fresh, and relevant.

The vision should be continually reviewed, updated, and kept relevant.  If the company has achieved the largest market share, then the vision should be changed to “sustain the largest market share.”

B. Continually communicate the vision.

It is not enough for one newsletter to communicate the vision.  If the last time your employees read or heard about the visions was three years ago when the new CEO put it out, then your employees have forgotten about it.

C. Demonstrate what the company is doing.

There should be evidence of how the vision is implemented within the organization.  This evidence should be shown and communicated with the vision.  The words of the vision should be exemplified through the activities of the company.  This is the “how to” message from the CEO to every manager.

For more on action, read Ready, set…Action and Do Something.

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The 8 One-Liners are:
1. “Susan, Susan Thompson. The repetition of your first name twice is very effective.”
2. “I’ve heard some great things about you.”
3. “I’m looking forward to that.”
4. “Leave your name and phone, speaking slowly enough for me to write it down.”
5. “I’m not sure about that but I think we can do this.”
6. “I think we have something in common.”
7. “Let’s strike while the iron is hot!”
8. “Let me see if I understand where you’re coming from.”

Check out the post for more on each One-Liner here.

I like each of these suggestions. I have relied on the third One-Liner extensively, especially in cover letters for positions for which I submit my resume; I usually end with something like, “I look forward to discussing my qualifications with you” or “I look forward to learning more about opportunities with XYZ Inc.” I recommend these strategies and Mike’s article.

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Communication is fundamental to our existence. We communicate every day and in many ways. We talk with our family over breakfast cereal, chat with our friends on our cell phones, and we converse with colleges around the coffee pot. We also email, blog, and write reports. We communicate with the written and spoken word.

To take our communication to another depth, we also communicate non-verbally, through our body language—our gestures, posture, and proximity.

Leaders communicate. Leaders not only communicate clearly, but, more importantly, communicate effectively. Leaders understand the different dynamics of communication and use the full spectrum to effectively communicate their vision, direction, and guidance.

It is one thing for a leader’s message to be heard, another for the message to be understood, and finally, yet another for the message to be acted upon.

The first dynamic:

I remember a college English professor who had the worst public speaking skills of any teacher that I have ever been in class with. I really thought it was quite ironic, but nearly half of every class I couldn’t hear what he was saying. He spoke softly to start with, but additionally, he would look away from the class. There is no communication without hearing or seeing.

The second dynamic:

I’m reminiscent of days in school today. It’s been nearly a decade, but I vividly remember a trigonometry class where my high school teacher was explaining something about signs. I heard the words coming from her mouth and I grasped the terms—sine, cosine, and tangent, but I didn’t understand. Of course, in hindsight, I probably would have understood if I had read the assignment before class, but academics weren’t my top priority during homecoming week! Nonetheless, there is no communication without understanding and comprehension.

The third dynamic:

No school analogy this time. We can all think of that manager who always complains about TPS reports, this procedure, or that method, etc. Often the failure to complete a task is not the result of failing to know and understand, but rather a willful disregard. I heard it said once that employees will do two things well: what they think is important and what the boss thinks is important and will check. Perhaps the effectiveness of communicating procedures and process is through checking the control mechanisms. Or perhaps, a leader will effectively communicate by harnessing the full spectrum of communication and the control mechanisms will merely be a quality system.

Leaders communicate. Leaders not only communicate clearly, but, more importantly, communicate effectively though understanding and harnessing the dynamics of communication.

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