Sharing a Vision for the Future

Do you have a personal playbook for leadership success? What advice would you give leaders about creating a shared vision for the future with their team members?

I have a playbook. I think, to me, it has to be core to your DNA, who you are right? In the end, you have to be an amazing listener. Leadership starts by listening carefully. Some people just tend to jump into it without understanding the context of what people have to say, and views and so forth. Then you have to be a conductor of common objectives, a common mission with clarity. Clarity is everything, so if you’re not clear, people get confused. And when you have 60,000 employees, you want to be as simple and crisp as you can be. And be very direct, you know, these are the three things we’re going to do, and here’s how you contribute to them.
And then you have to create an environment by which people work together, because you can’t do everything yourself, obviously, or a small group of individuals, it is how you bring 60,000 people along. And we are on a company that’s a unique journey. We have to transform while we perform. Transformation journeys are not for everyone. So that is why sometimes you have to make some tough choices. At this time, in the context of the company, where we are today, we need this leadership, maybe the next phase of this, you need something different.
And that’s where the hard part of the job is because you have to define those phases, and you have to constantly move people around, because maybe two is good for this time, but maybe for the next phase, she needs to move into that space where somebody else takes over this unique domain.
So, this are things you have to be comfortable with. But ultimately, this is about being clear about what you want to accomplish, what role employees play, what framework you’re going to manage this. And then last but not least, focus on that culture of how you do things because people will follow you.