This morning I was having coffee with one of my buddies, and as always, our conversation turned first to politics and then to how leaders lead (no, I'm not about to talk politics, but I am about to talk leadership). "That's it!" I said. Not only do I have my blog topic, but I also have some good material for an executive round table I'll be leading this week at the Minnesota Community Action Reunion and Training Conference. Not bad for a Sunday morning…
So, here's my question: Are you a forward-looking leader? That is, can you motivate the people in your organization to stay focused on the future even if it means the future looks very different from the past? Back to my coffee conversation this morning…
Too many leaders lead with visions of the past rather than visions of the future. Think about it. How many times have you heard, "We need to return to what made our organization great."; "Remember when we did that? It worked. Let's do it again."; "Our future is built upon the success we had.” and the list goes on. As leaders, it's easy for us to motivate people by what they already know and understand. Alternatively, it's much harder to motivate based on the promise of a different future. And, being people, we too often take the easy way, looking to our past for motivation rather than analyzing what's coming and creating a vision that might lead to future success.
If we look to our future and contrast it with the past, I can see some pretty clear differences in the following areas:
• Government funding (or where our funds come from)
• The programs we offer
• How we reach people
• How, when, and where we work
Let's look at an easy one—social media. We have a choice: We can embrace it as a way to reach more people (and maybe even raise money). As a leader, I don't have to understand how it works. I do, however, need to see a future in which social media can help our organization. More importantly, I need to entrust someone in my organization to get us there. Alternatively, I can stop at, “I don't understand it, and therefore we won't do it (and won't allow others to pursue it). Let's just issue a press release. That's always worked.”
So here it is. The past is certain. It worked or it didn't. We know the result. The future is uncertain. It might work. We have to take a chance to embrace the future. However, I also know this: The future will not look like the past. If it did, we never would have given up our horse for a car, smoke signals would be the norm, typewriters and carbon paper would still be in our offices, and my cave was pretty darn comfortable. I am pretty sure that in the future the need for the services our organizations provide will still be there. At the same time, the organizations that meet that need are going to look and act very differently than they do today. Those that see this future will survive.
Here's my challenge for you: If you accept that the future will not look like the past, share what you see for the future of your organization and what you are doing to get your organization ready for it.
And, just so you don't think I'm a total geek, my buddies and I also discussed such important topics as today's football games (go Bears) and why our wives just don't understand us.