Do Your People Know Which Way to Go?

The ultimate goal of leadership is the delivery of exceptional performance that creates value for all stakeholders in an enduring way. This goal demands that leaders create a clear sense of direction for the enterprise.

In my experience, for people to perform together at a high level, they simply must know where the organization is headed and what is expected of them. As a leader, you have to clearly and succinctly answer the question, “which way?” before you can hope to show them “how high.”

The concept of Creating Direction is truly fundamental to building a high-performance organization. Importantly, the direction must be clear, compelling, and flexible enough to enable people to plug into it in a way that works for them and the enterprise. If it is not sufficiently flexible, it will be hard (if not impossible) for the employee proposition to deliver enduring value. So, set yourself up for long-lasting success with your leadership by asking yourself, and answering, these three provocative questions. These questions can help you gauge if you are laying a solid but flexible foundation that can create a distinct sense of direction for your organization.

1. Do They Trust You? 

Trust is the secret to unlocking extraordinary performance -- and it’s essential for properly orienting people to perform superbly. If they don’t trust you, you simply cannot count on them to follow you in any direction. Have you earned their trust? Have you demonstrated your character and competence in such a fashion that people are really ready to respond to what you have to say? Without creating a high sense of trust and respect in your relationship, you cannot create direction, drive alignment, build organization vitality, or produce sustainably extraordinary results. Conversely, when you do cultivate trust and respect, the potential for your organization becomes limitless; all things are possible.

2. Is Your Clarity of Purpose Unmistakable? 

Once people trust and respect you, the table is perfectly set for creating a sense of direction. Now, you need to be prepared to convey a clarity of purpose that is compelling, distinct, and clear. Have you thoughtfully reflected on the purpose of your work? Have you found the “plumb line” that helps associates connect their work to the purpose of the enterprise – and shared that purpose broadly and deeply with the organization?

Your purpose should be expertly articulated: the sense of direction should be collaboratively developed, strategically grounded, earnest, visible, and actionable to all stakeholders. Anchor your expectations in a concept that everyone can understand and rally around with enthusiasm.  

During my tenure as CEO of Campbell Soup Company, our mission was: “Together we will build the world’s most extraordinary food company by nourishing people’s lives everywhere, every day.” This direction was underpinned by a tapestry of more specific expectations that included Seven Core Strategies, a Campbell Promise, a Campbell Employee Value Proposition, and a Campbell Leadership Model. It was further brought to life through an Annual Objective Setting Process and Performance Review Process designed to more clearly connect our mission to the everyday life of each associate. By supporting our efforts with these additional expectations, in service of our mission, we helped people to deeply engage in the work of the enterprise.

3. Are They Harmoniously Engaged? 

If you have built a reservoir of trust, and people understand the direction in which the organization is headed, they now need to be engaged and empowered to do the work. The oft-used orchestra conductor metaphor is helpful here. Consider yourself as one of the conductors within a vast and complex network of orchestras in the broader organization. Have you created conditions where there is shared clarity around the arrangement of the music and the tempo, while recognizing that the duty of contributing uniquely to bring the composition to life rests with individuals?

In every orchestra, each section must play its part – strings, percussion, winds. So it is in an organization – marketing, finance, human resources. All essential. All unique.  All expected to make on-demand decisions to meet the needs of internal and external stakeholders. Are you pointing them in the right direction at a high level, while empowering them to make the right decisions in-the-moment to advance the enterprise in real time? If you’ve created ample direction, the orchestra should be able to perform elegantly all on its own, even as it benefits from the knowledge that it is in the sure and safe hands of its leader. This way, each player, and each section, takes ownership of their respective areas of responsibility, each making contributions that are integral to the harmonious production of the whole. When the leader and the team are harmonized in this way, and everyone is fully engaged and empowered, the potential for a high-performance symphony is ever-present -- each player making the melody better with their own unique wisdom and finesse.

I believe answering these three questions can help you create the direction necessary for driving ever-higher performance in your organization. They are inspired and time-tested by a leadership model I helped to develop as CEO of Campbell Soup Company. Our value-based, character-driven, and results-oriented flywheel of behaviors was used to set six key leadership expectations: 1. Inspire Trust, 2. Create Direction, 3. Drive Organization Alignment, 4. Build Organization Vitality, 5. Execute with Excellence, 6. Produce Extraordinary Results. Each of the six expectations related intimately and organically to one another and helped our entire organization to know “which way to go” with their leadership responsibilities. If you’re interested in learning more about the six expectations of this leadership model, I develop them further in this short video.

What questions would you add to this list? How do you make sure your people know which way to go?

Douglas R. Conant is a New York Times bestselling author and keynote speaker with over 35 years of leadership experience at world-class global companies. Doug is Founder and CEO of ConantLeadership. Chairman of the Kellogg Executive Leadership Institute (KELI) at Northwestern University, Chairman of CECP, and Chairman of Avon Products.  From 2001 to 2011 he served as President and CEO of Campbell Soup Company where he dramatically reversed a precipitous decline in market value, delivered cumulative shareholder returns in the top tier of the food industry, and led employee engagement levels from being among the worst in the Fortune 500 to being consistently among the best.  Doug was named a Top Thought Leader in Trust for 2014 and 2015,  a Top 100 Leadership Speaker by Inc. Magazine,  a Top 30 Leadership Professional for 2015 by Global Gurus, and a Leader to Watch in 2015 by the American Management Association (AMA). Join the leadership conversation by tweeting Doug at @DougConant or connecting with him on Facebook and LinkedIn.