Tag Archives: long-term strategic goals

Dance Their Own Dance

Posted on by
Reply

Dance PhotoWe strive to be an innovative organization that continually seeks new ways to meet the needs of the children and families who turn to us for care. To do that, however, we have to have a higher than normal tolerance for letting key staff “dance their own dance.” What exactly does that mean? Well, for starters, it’s sort of like when you hope your children grow up to be independent thinkers . . . and then they do. And the first time that happens, you question a bit the wisdom of encouraging such independence, because it would really be easier if they would just follow your lead. But of course, easier rarely equates with better.

Letting your staff dance their own dance means letting go of the fallacy that you alone know the best way to accomplish your organization’s goals. It means having the confidence to allow staff to try things, in their own way, to further your mission. Certainly, there have to be parameters. For us, the parameters are our mission/vision/values, our strategic framework, and our SMaC recipe (more on that next week). But beyond that, the leaders in our organization are given a good deal of latitude in searching out and testing new ways to extend our mission reach. Do all of their efforts work out? Of course not. Sometimes it’s the right project at the wrong time. Sometimes everything works out except for the funding, and sometimes a great concept falls prey to the “devil in the details.” And still, I believe you have to not only give permission, but encourage them to keep dancing.

Allowing your key leaders to dance their own dance fuels the passion, the commitment, the creativity that it takes to see a challenge with new eyes, and break through to a game-changing solution. Our leaders live in a world of gray. All the black and white parts of the job happen closer to the direct service. By the time a challenge gets to our senior leaders there usually is no one right answer . . . and, by the time someone is a senior leader they should have demonstrated that their instincts are trustworthy, so why not let them dance!

I was recently talking to someone who commented that “culture eats strategy.” So true! All the more reason that your culture should foster innovation. I have found that many non-profts, in trying to be good stewards of their resources, avoid failure at all costs. No dancing allowed! While I can’t fault these leaders for wanting to be good stewards, I haven’t found the safety/conformity/minimal risk route to be the best way to reach our strategic goals. We tend to follow the “fail faster” school of thought. Try a pilot, adapt as you go, and chart a new path. While perhaps a bit scarier than following someone else’s lead, when you’re the one forging the trail, you get to decide the direction the path will go. As caretaker of this ministry, I see determining our direction as one of my primary responsibilities . . . so as for me and my team, we’re going to dance!

Playing Chess

Posted on by
2

Chess Players

I believe one of the responsibilities of a good leader is the ability to play chess . . . not the kind with pawns and rooks, but the strategic kind where you assess the gifts and graces of those on your team, consider your organization’s long-term strategic goals, and place your key “chess pieces” into pivotal positions several moves in advance of when they need to be there. To be most effective, you have to place them where the “other player” (be that a service recipient, a funder, a referring agency, a competitor, or any combination thereof) is likely to be two turns down the road, not where they are now. In addition, you have to keep your long-term strategy clearly in mind and understand the capabilities of each “piece” so you can respond to, but not be swallowed up by, the moves of the other player(s).

In my experience, there are a few guiding principles you have keep in mind if you want to master organizational chess:

1) You have to be clear on your long-term strategic goals. And please note, responding to a change required by a funder is not “your” long-term strategic goal – it’s your funder’s. You want to play offense in chess, not defense, because once the other player has you in checkmate, you’re sunk.

2) You have to understand the gifts and graces of your current and emerging leaders. I don’t just mean what they do well in their current role. Step back and look at what makes their eyes light up. What are they uniquely passionate about? What type of projects do they “run with” and consistently exceed your expectations? It is important to note that someone can be very capable at a task and not be passionate about it. (That’s the difference between skills and gifts and graces).

3) You have to be willing for your moves to baffle others, and occasionally that even includes the people being moved. But if you’re clear on your goals, you understand the unique capabilities and insights your staff bring to the table — which we refer to as gifts and graces — and you listen to your gut, you really can give Bobby Fischer a run for his money.

The other thing to keep in mind is that chess is a game of long-term strategy. If you need an immediate win, chess is not your game. But as you look down the horizon at who will be taking leadership roles and guiding your organization into the future, you have a unique responsibility to work the board, and move your ”pieces” into positions where they can have the greatest impact — whether it takes one move or four. Mastering chess requires the quiet confidence borne of experience and the insight to anticipate a move before it is made. No doubt a tall order . . . if it was easy, everyone would be playing chess.