The Great 8: Traits of Highly Effective Leaders

The Vision Thing

Donal F. Hartman, J.D., LL.M

Program Director, School of Graduate and Continuing Studies Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont Member, APWA Leadership and Management Committee

Beginning with this issue, the APWA Leadership and Management Committee introduces a new series of articles entitled “The Great 8” which will focus on leadership traits and qualities. This is the eighth series of articles contributed by the committee over the past several years. The Leadership and Management Committee, working with a subcommittee composed of public works leaders with decades of experience, has identified a number of qualities required for success as a leader of a public works organization. The series will explore the following traits over the next eight months:

1. Vision 2. Charisma 3. Symbolism 4. Empowerment 5. Intellectual Stimulation 6. Integrity 7. Knowledge Management 8. Power of Relationships

Visions Give Us Direction

We look to our leaders to provide us with direction. When our organization lacks direction we know the inevitable result—resources are used inefficiently, people are assigned to jobs for which they are not suited, opportunities for growth, change or efficiency are lost. If your organization just gets by dayto-day dealing with its immediate needs, the push and pull of customer demands, the effects of bad weather or the latest message from City Hall, it may miss the opportunity to shape its future. You cannot allow your organizations to be trapped by current crises and thus miss the chance to move to a different place. You must create a vision for your organization. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, observed, “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.”

A vision will galvanize collective action and inspire others to perform at their maximum abilities. For example, India suffered under British colonialism for over two hundred years. By the early twentieth century there were no signs this would not continue for another one hundred years. While there had been numerous outbreaks and thousands of lives sacrificed in efforts to throw off British rule, nothing seemed to shake loose its hold over India. That changed when Gandhi was able to offer the people of India a vision of their future—freedom from British rule—and a strategy to achieve that vision. We tend to remember Gandhi mainly for his insistence on nonviolent resistance. But that was the method, not the message. His message was always freedom and through his vision the nation of India as a modern democracy was born.

Act – Don’t Just Dream

Vision without concrete plans to achieve the vision is just a dream. Gandhi recognized that India did not have the means to achieve its vision of freedom unless it had a strategy. He knew that colonialism depended on India’s resources and a market among India’s population to sustain itself. So he embarked on a series of steps calculated to work towards the overthrow of colonialism as system. India thus frustrated the British simply by violating the “salt laws,” eschewing British products, etc. These steps were practical and doable. If done only by individuals acting alone, they would not have amounted to much. But they took on a different effect when carried out on a massive scale.

Gandhi’s main method was the policy of non-violent resistance; and it met his needs perfectly. As the British often used violence against Gandhi and his followers, the world and many Britons saw the moral weakness of a system that could sustain itself only through violence. At the same time, Gandhi recognized that demands for freedom were viewed more favorably when defenseless people were being shot, beaten and imprisoned. In this way Gandhi was able to capture world sympathy in favor of India’s political goals.

Your challenge will be to see the outlines of the strategy to achieve your vision. Before Gandhi offered a vision, he traveled throughout India. He needed to have a sense of India, its internal politics, its problems and its strengths before he identified his strategy. You already know your organization’s values and mission. But you also need to see where you may have allies, where the resistance will likely come from, and what steps need to be taken to move the organization towards the vision.

Don’t Confuse a Vision with Goals

Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in 1915, but it was not until 1948 that his vision for India was

achieved. That brings home another feature of vision: It is not a short-term goal; it cannot be something that is easily achievable in a short period. As a vision is sufficiently greater in scope than current reality, it takes planning and time to identify priorities and work through the necessary stages. Freedom from British colonial rule was certainly a vision by Gandhi and his followers, but none thought the vision could be achieved quickly. There were too many obstacles, too much resistance from a powerful colonial government, and too many divisions within Indian society to achieve it in a short period. Indeed, the greater the vision the more time is needed to bring it into reality.

Sell the Vision

A vision acts as a force to guide present and future action to a distant and achievable new state or status. Since a leader must be able to spur others to act, the vision has to be embraced by the group. How do you achieve buy-in?

Start a conversation. Before a dialogue can start, your vision must be more than a collection of unfocused ideas and thought. It must be easily understood on its face, it must be grounded in the values and mission of the organization and it must be achievable. Few will rally to a vision that is unrealistic or so farfetched it defies logic. The organization must see the vision as a whole, and see its component parts as well. And it will need to understand how baby steps can take the organization to the end point.

When you announce the vision invite the organization to ask questions and make suggestions. At the end of the day people want to be consulted, not lectured to. The dialogue will be a success if the organization begins to be enthusiastic about your vision, or you perceive a positive shift in organizational culture in favor of the vision. You should never assume acceptance is a given. People don’t always embrace new ideas or a change with enthusiasm. Indeed, overcoming organizational inertia may be the most difficult obstacle you face.

Don’t lapse into the role of a carnival barker. Visions come with challenges, so be candid about the challenges. Never promise it will be easy, or announce success is guaranteed. People won’t shy away from challenges, but they will not embrace empty language or outlandish promises. Although you are the driving force of the vision, don’t give the impression that the vision and your ego are one and the same. Leaders by definition galvanize and lead; they are not effective when they use their position as a bully pulpit for their own egos. Give credit when others contribute ideas, praise people for asking questions, and accept criticism when it is constructive.

When Gandhi advanced his vision of freedom for India, he did not continue to dress like a lawyer (which he was), or speak like a lawyer, or act like a politician. He lived a simple life, and worked hard to heal the class divisions in Indian society (especially the caste system). His work and his life were without reproach, and his lack of ego was apparent. He knew the message and the messenger are seen as one. Not only did he avoid criticism due to inappropriate personal conduct, he strove to create a personal philosophy that transcended politics.

Don’t Give Up

You are responsible for the vision of an organization, but achieving that vision requires patience and understanding, both on your part and on the part of the organization. Perhaps your greatest challenge will be the culture of the organization. You will likely make some misstep, outside factors will cause delays, key people will retire or move on, resources may be less than originally anticipated, and even some outside of the organization will resist (don’t overlook the role of unions; they can be major allies if consulted and engaged). No one could have predicted the advent of World War II and the Japanese invasion of India. The war placed Gandhi’s call for political change in a far different light as the British believed political dissension was undermining the war effort. What could have been achieved by Gandhi in the late 1930s was out of reach for the time being as he and his immediate group languished in British prisons for years. But while the war delayed achievement of the vision, it did not prevent it.

Stay on Message

Nothing kills a vision quicker than the perception that management doesn’t buy into it. Just as the vision itself needs a strategy and concrete steps to become reality, maintaining the vision in the organization takes planning and action. Facilitated meetings and surveys will help those in the organization think about the vision. But the real key is for management to stay on message. Projects, expenditures, budgets, promotions, hiring, etc. all must be focused on the vision. This doesn’t suggest the vision trumps daily management; you still must deal with crises, difficult people and emergencies. You still have a budget to create and an organization to manage. But the daily grind and the need to respond to current issues will tempt you to dwell only on the present. A vision will not become reality absent discipline, focus and hard work, and constant attention to your long-term goals. You have to understand this, and so does your organization.

Donal Hartman can be reached at (802) 485-2767 or hartmand@norwich.edu.