Leadership Wisdom of the Week #9

“Hope comes from a belief in the organization’s future success.”

– Dave Ulrich, 2024

In these times of uncertainty, many people fall into the trap of not being able to function effectively. Some of us become apathetic, others focus on doing something they know and master, regardless of whether it adds any real value at work.

One of the most important tasks for us leaders in times of uncertainty is to keep everyone active and moving in the right direction. If we cannot learn and renew our ways of working as individuals, teams, and organisations, we will fall behind. And the best way to learn and renew is to do it step by step, not in one huge leap when we are already behind our competitors.

This week’s quote reminds us that an organisation’s vision of the future and its strategy for achieving this future are the key tools for leading people forward. Leaders at all levels should take time to understand the operating environment and their own organisation’s vision for the future. Building on this, they should have discussions about expectations and targets at individual and team level.

By agreeing on clear, forward-looking, and motivating targets, we communicate to our people that we see a positive future for the organisation and believe that each employee will be part of making it happen. And by following the achievement of those targets regularly during the year, giving feedback, and thus further clarifying expectations, we ensure people stay on the right track.

It all sounds simple. However, the uncertainty around us may make it feel difficult for us leaders to stay focused on these core ways of working. We may have doubts about the organisational strategy or difficulties in turning it into executable targets together with our teams. Or we may feel overwhelmed by change and uncertainty and fill our days with operational tasks, leaving no time for the more difficult – but far more important – work of creating direction and belief in the organisation’s future. Sometimes we need to start with ourselves, and then consider how we can best help build hope and energy in our organisations.

(https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leadership-code-40-evidence-based-view-effective-dave-ulrich-devxc/)