Tuesday, December 29, 2009

"Lead Me out of Dysfunction"



In a perfect world:



  • I know the goals and purpose of my organization

  • I know my role and how it fits within my organization
  • Based on the organization goals, I collaborate with my team to create my initiatives
  • I identify the tasks, calendar scheduling, and priorities to carry out these initiatives
  • While keeping these initiatives visible to myself, I execute my objectives
  • These newly completed projects are made public to key stakeholders within my organization
  • I'm updated with other initiatives completed by my team
  • I realign with the goals and purpose of my organization and leadership and repeat the process

In the real world

  • Organizations don't have clear goals or a concrete vision of who they are and why they exist
  • People are operating without a clear job description or clear measurable objectives of how they fit in the big picture
  • Their team doesn't have defined roles either, so people really focus only on what they do
  • People fill their days with tasks that keep them busy and they feel as if they are productive
  • People continue to react to the day to day demands and feel like they are doing a great job because of how busy they are
  • When asked what was accomplished, managers don't understand why "nothing is getting done" and why things take so long
  • Edicts come down from management, people are frustrated and hate their jobs, organizations spin their wheels, there is no growth
  • People realign with what perception they need to maintain to keep their jobs, get a paycheck, and wish they had other options

No matter what character you are in the story, as leaders, we must do better. We can lead up, lead down, lead across, and lead ourselves. How are you doing?