How to be a leader that people love to follow (Part 2: Purpose)

Introduction

In part 1 of this series, we explored three foundational elements that make a great #leader:

• #Humility: "Stay Humble"
• #Integrity: "Do What's Right"
• #Empathy / #EmotionalIntelligence / #EQ: "Genuinely Care"

These were identified as the most important characteristics embodied by a leader that people love to follow in my recent LinkedIn poll (71%). While these elements are critical and lay the foundation for #trust, being an effective leader must go beyond #character and into the practical aspects of leading a #team toward a common goal.

This brings us into the 2nd category identified in the poll (#mission, #vision & #values), which I am summarizing as "Providing #Purpose". This is where the rubber hits the road and real #leadership is performed. Anyone can (and should) strive to embody strong character (humility, integrity and EQ), whether or not they are in a position of leadership. To be a leader, you must be willing to step into a position of #influence and guide a collection of individuals in a common pursuit. To be a leader that people love to follow, you need to do this with excellence by providing meaningful purpose via a clear mission, a compelling vision and intentional values. We'll explore each of these below.

Provide Purpose

Clearly define your mission

“Without a mission statement, you may get to the top of the ladder and then realize it was leaning against the wrong building.” - Dave Ramsey

In order for a team to work #effectively and #efficiently toward a common #goal, there must be crystal clear clarity around what that goal is, why it is meaningful and how they will work together to achieve it. This foundation of a clear mission (who we are and what we do), vision (where we want to go and why) and values (how we work together) must be established before the #tactical #planning and #execution can begin.

Your mission is typically a short statement that provides clarity in day to day #operations by defining what you are, who you serve and your collective goal. Michael Hyatt , in his book "The Vision Driven Leader", identifies the following four questions that can be used to shape a #missionstatement:

1. Who are we?
2. Who do we serve?
3. What problem do we solve?
4. What transformation do we deliver?

The answers to these questions can be used to define your organization's #identity, intended #output and #valueproposition, which can then be distilled into a 1-2 sentence statement that describes what you are and what you do. The #clarity and #focus gained from this exercise is critical for gaining alignment across the team and is the perfect place to start when providing purpose. However, some leaders may stop here and miss out on an even more impactful step: drafting a compelling vision.

Cast a compelling vision

"If you have a clear vision, you will eventually attract the right strategy. If you don't have a clear vision, no strategy will save you." - Michael Hyatt

Many organizations create mission and vision statements, largely because that's what they've been taught as a #management best practice, but the difference (or lack thereof) between them can be blurry, confusing and, ultimately, result in them losing their #impact. To appropriately differentiate between mission and vision, I'll once again defer to Michael Hyatt , as I've found his definitions to be helpful:

"A mission defines what a business is, a vision describes where it's going. Mission is here; vision is still out there. Mission is now; vision is next." - Michael Hyatt, "The Vision Driven Leader"

Michael's approach to vision casting is unique in that he recommends crafting a long, in-depth "vision script" that describes the future state of the organization in detail and is written in present tense to help the team picture the intended outcome. While different than the short, punchy #visionstatement we might be used to, I've found this strategy to be very effective in creating a crystal clear picture of what the team is working towards and why it's worth the effort.

To write this script, picture yourself in the future 3-5 years from now. What does your organization look like? What products do you offer? What customers are you serving and how many? How do you compare to your competitors? What impact are you having (internally and externally)? Involve your team, especially your key leaders, in answering these questions and then write a 2-3 page script detailing this ideal future reality. Read this to your broader team, solicit input, adjust as needed and revisit it regularly. A team with a clear vision for the future will be a team with purpose and a #purposedriven team will work with #creativity and #endurance to #achieve that vision, even when the road gets hard.

Intentionally identify and defend your core values

“Good values are like a magnet – they attract good people.” - John Wooden

What we #value shapes almost everything about our lives. It guides the decisions we make, how we use our time, how we spend our #money, how we communicate, how we interact with others and much more. As individuals, we have a natural tendency to allow our values to be shaped unconsciously, which can lead to destructive behaviors, bad habits and wasting our resources on un-fruitful pursuits. It takes #intentionality and #discipline to determine what you value and live those values out.

Organizations are no different. An organization that is lax in defining and defending its #corevalues, will quickly see them fade and be replaced by others...usually ones they don't like. #Culture will be shaped one way or another, so do it "on purpose". A leader that people love to follow is #intentional in defining what they want the organization to value and what that means across everything they do: how they interact, how they do business, whether they give or take blame and credit, etc.

Every organization is different, so it is up to the leader to engage with their team, collectively define what they want their values to be and determine associated behavioral expectations. These may vary based upon the industry, stage of growth and whether the current culture needs to be changed or is just being established. A helpful approach is to define a set of 5-8 core values and then generate a list of 3-6 related expectations for each value that demonstrate what it means to practically live it out. For reference, here are a couple examples that my teams have used in the past:

1. Core Value: #ExtremeOwnership; Related Expectation: The only finger we point is at ourselves (i.e. take responsibility for doing what's necessary to get the job done, regardless of your job description)
2. Core Value: #UnwaveringIntegrity; Related Expectation: Do the right thing every time, even if it's costly.

Once you define this list, #communicate it to your team, solicit input, adjust as needed and then discuss it OFTEN. Pick a value to review at the start of each #teammeeting, #celebrate an individual who clearly lived one out, privately admonish violations, post values in visible locations around your facility, make them a common part of your vocabulary, use them in your #decisionmaking process and let them guide your #hiring and #firing. Most of all, it is critical that you model these values yourself and, when you fail to do so (which we are all bound to do), be quick to take #responsibility and apologize, as we discussed in part 1.

Conclusion

Everyone wants to have #meaning behind what they do, especially when you are spending most of your waking hours doing it. Leaders that people love to follow give them purpose in their work by providing a clear mission, a compelling vision and intentional core values. When this is combined with the character elements discussed in part 1 (humility, integrity and EQ), you have the foundational elements required for #inspirationalleadership.

So far we've touched on character and purpose, but ultimately a leader and team need to develop a tactical strategy and execute against the mission. Next week, we'll dive into how leaders can get the most out of their organizations in the execution phase by setting big goals, empowering the team and coaching, as needed.

References:

1. "The Vision Driven Leader" by Michael Hyatt
2. "Extreme Ownership" by Jocko Willink