Leaders Must Answer These Two Questions Every Day

There are two questions that every leader must continually answer: Where are we going and what’s next? Answering these two questions every day is one of the most important things I can do. While the questions are simple, the answers are never easy.

Additionally, the work is never done. These questions need to be re-asked and re-answered regularly. Not because our direction is erratic, but because our world changes constantly, and so does our context. In this article, I’ll break down these questions and help you find your own answers to them.

Where are we going?

This is the vision. A vision is an ideal future state that should be both inspiring and directionally guiding for your team. Some leaders put a lot of emphasis on crafting a specific vision statement. I’m okay with that, but it’s not always needed. A statement can represent a vision, but the vision itself is an idea. It’s most important that the idea is a shared understanding across the team. A vision doesn’t do any good if it only exists in the leader’s mind or on a presentation slide.

The act of leadership is that of movement. You are taking your team on a journey. If you are standing still and not changing, then you aren’t leading. The vision is always a little out of reach. It is never a fixed destination.

While there are milestones along the way, there’s never a complete sense of having arrived or being done. The journey itself is enduring. It’s multi-generational. If you do it well, the vision will outlast your own leadership, and you will pass it on to your successor.

A vision is worth repeating

I think it’s very important for leaders to spend a lot of time talking about vision. Not just once per year at an annual event. Not just at the quarterly town hall. This is a daily task. Why? Mostly because people forget.

It’s completely natural. We all get busy with the mundane. We get stressed about what is right in front of us, and whoever is yelling the loudest. We forget what it’s all for. We need to be reminded. This starts with leadership but doesn’t end there. When has a leader repeated the vision enough? I’ll give you my secret: When I hear my words coming out of other people’s mouths as if they are their own, that’s when I know. That’s the moment the vision stops being mine and starts being ours. That’s powerful.

What’s next?

I wish it would be as simple as that, but the work isn’t done. You can create a shared vision, but people will just keep on doing what they’ve always done. That doesn’t mean the vision wasn’t right, it means that people don’t know where to start. Your vision of the future is inspiring, but not specific enough for your team members to change what they are doing today.

Depending on your leadership style, you may be tempted to build a roadmap at this point, or perhaps a Gantt chart. This, of course, assumes that you know your starting point, you know your destination, and you know every step along the path. If you do, then you probably don’t have a big enough vision. But even more likely, the pathway will change.

“Plans are worthless, but planning is everything” – Dwight Eisenhower

In my experience, 5-year plans have a 3-month shelf life. Our world is heavily influenced by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. These terms make the popular management term, VUCA. You can read more about that concept here. In short, your working assumptions will change frequently. You’ll need to adapt your strategy rapidly to continue to make progress toward your vision.

All of this makes it hard to accurately plan several steps ahead. However, you can always plan what is right in front of you, and that’s something your team desperately needs help figuring out.

Many of us lead complex organizations with a variety of functions. Ideally, everyone on your team should be able to accurately identify the one thing they need to do today to advance the team toward the vision. Of course, that one thing is different for every person, and it cannot be effectively determined from the top-down.

I trust my team members to figure this out for themselves, but gladly help if asked. Frequently, I get asked to make priority calls. This might sound odd, but I love it when I’m asked to do that.

We live in a world where everyone operates with 10-25 “priorities” which is insane. Even as few as 3 priorities can be a problem. The word priority should remain singular. When I prioritize a list of things to do, there is only one item in the #1 spot. That should always be the one thing we must do to move us toward the vision.

While we all wish that those priority judgments would endure, they often need to be tweaked. That’s just the way it is.

It’s your turn

Now that you know what to do, it’s time to put it into action. Think about your ideal and inspiring future. Talk about it with your team. Most leaders don’t do this nearly enough. I know that I don’t. Then, in your team meetings, one-on-ones, and committee meetings, make the priority calls. Identify the one thing that moves you forward. Be bold. It’s okay if the world changes overnight because you’ll have another opportunity to make a different call tomorrow. Keep this up, and you will keep moving toward your vision.

Day to day it’s hard to see. But, when you look back at your team a year or two ago, you’ll know you’ve made significant progress. Keep on leading. You are getting there.

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