Where Are You Going?

It wasn’t long until Debbie was scheduled to meet with Jeff again. She was excited to share the ways she had been able to serve since their last meeting.

“Good morning, Jeff,” she said as she walked in carrying a box of his favorite donuts.

“How did you know?” Jeff asked.

Debbie smiled. “I’m learning to listen and observe more carefully,” she said.

“Thank you, Debbie. That was very thoughtful.”

“Jeff, you were right. I discovered that I could serve people regardless of my position in the organization. I made a list just as you requested.”

“Wonderful! Let’s take a look.”

“I bought coffee for my staff. I picked up trash in the parking lot on my way into the office the other day. I listened to two of my team members who wanted to talk about personal problems. I’ve agreed to work with Charles on his skill development as a project manager. There were others, but I think I’m beginning to get it.”

“How’s your team’s performance?” asked Jeff.

“No significant improvement,” Debbie said in a tone that revealed her sense of hopelessness.

“Don’t worry,” Jeff said. “I believe you’re beginning to get it. Keep looking for ways to serve your people. However, there’s something else you need to know. Those good deeds and acts of service will not make you a great leader. A nicer person to work with, yes—a great leader, no.”

“I’m confused again. I thought you said I was supposed to serve,” Debbie protested.

“That’s right,” Jeff affirmed.

“In countless ways,” she said.

“Exactly,” Jeff agreed.

“And I did.”

“Yes, you’re right, you did serve. And you need to keep serving because the more you serve, the more you will want to serve. But there’s more. Remember in our last meeting I said that there was a short list of things that all great leaders do? The things you did, including picking up trash and buying coffee, aren’t on the short list.”

Debbie said, “I don’t understand.”

“You will,” Jeff said optimistically. “Your willingness to serve in small ways is another indication that your heart is ready to discover more strategic ways to serve.”

“I think I’m ready,” Debbie said cautiously, since she had no idea what “more strategic ways to serve” meant.

Jeff walked to the whiteboard and drew the iceberg again. This time he labeled the part above the water with the word SERVE.

image

“I’ve created this simple way to help me remember the five key practices of great leaders—the five ways I must serve if I want to reach my full potential as a leader,” he said. “These are the things leaders do that distinguish them as leaders and not just people who serve. There’s certainly nothing wrong with service, but service alone will not make anyone a leader. A person can serve without leading, but a leader can’t lead well without serving.

“As I said before,” Jeff continued, “there are five key ways leaders SERVE through their ongoing actions.”

“The strategic ways?” Debbie asked.

“Exactly!” Jeff said enthusiastically. “Today, we’ll talk about the S. We’ll explore the others in future meetings. Now, I have a very important question for you. Where are you going with your team?”


A person can serve without leading, but a leader can’t lead well without serving.


“What do you mean?” Debbie had not thought about this before.

“What are you trying to accomplish?”

“I want our salespeople and customers to feel satisfied.” Debbie felt this was a safe and valid response.

“Is that all?”

“Isn’t that enough?” Debbie asked.

“I’m not sure satisfying our salespeople and customers is very compelling. The S stands for See the Future. It’s about your vision as the leader for the future of your group.” Jeff wrote the words next to the S.

See the Future


E


R


V


E

“A compelling vision stirs passion within you. It tells everyone who works with you who you are, where you’re going, and what will drive your behavior. Are you passionate about satisfying your sales-people and customers?”

“It would be nice,” Debbie said with a shrug.

“That’s my point. If you aren’t passionate about something out there in the future—if it doesn’t fire you up and get you out of bed in the morning—you can bet your team is not going to be passionate, either.

“A number of years ago, when everyone was going to self-service gasoline stations, a friend of mine decided he would go into the full-service business. He loved to go where there was no competition. He decided that people didn’t go to gas stations because they wanted to but because they had to. As a result, they wanted to be in and out of there as quickly as possible. So he decided to create gas stations that were in the entertainment business. If you drove into one of his stations, it would be like going to an Indy 500 pit stop. He hired mothers and retirees who were interested in working part-time to make a little extra money and then dressed them in red jumpsuits. When you drove into one of his stations, people would race toward your car and pump your gas, look under your hood, clean your windows, and take your money or credit card—faster than anyone could imagine. The values that drove everyone’s behavior were safety, speed, and fun. As you drove away, they would give you a business card that said, ‘P.S. We also sell gas.’”

“That certainly sounds exciting,” said Debbie.


Creating a compelling vision is one of the privileges and most serious demands of leaders.


“It sure was,” said Jeff. “Leadership is about taking people from one place to another. One of a leader’s top priorities must be to assure that the team knows where you are headed. Seeing the future is all about creating a compelling vision and is one of the privileges and most serious demands of leaders. It may sometimes be difficult to determine where the enterprise should be heading. But heading somewhere is a must. Envisioning and communicating a future-oriented vision is a huge part of leadership.”

“Are goals and strategies part of the future?” asked Debbie.

“Absolutely,” said Jeff. “They take on real meaning when they are in the context of a compelling vision.”

Debbie said, “I never thought about that part of leadership. I guess I’ve been thinking too much about today and very little about the future and where we should be headed.”

Jeff nodded. “There is a constant tension between those two in the mind of a leader. I often refer to it as the ‘Heads Up versus Heads Down’ challenge.”

Debbie said, “I think I know where you’re going with this, but I would rather not make any assumptions. Please tell me more.”

“For example, this discussion is a Heads Up activity because we’re talking about vision and direction. Leaders will always need to devote some time to seeing the future because we need to keep communicating to our people the vision of where we’re going. We do that because over time, vision evaporates. Unless you keep replenishing that vision, it will gradually disappear.”

“Like water from a bucket over a long, hot summer?”

“Something like that,” Jeff said with a smile. “The point is, leaders must consistently see and communicate the future, as well as anticipate opportunities and obstacles.”

“What about this ‘Heads Down’ business?” Debbie asked.

“That’s when leaders help people with implementation—making the vision a reality. Leaders must constantly evaluate how they invest their time. Some time must be devoted to Heads Up, and some must be devoted to Heads Down.”

“Question,” Debbie said. “Do you as a leader have to do all the Heads Up work by yourself?”

“No,” said Jeff. “Involving your people will get their commitment. But it’s your responsibility to make sure that the Heads Up work gets done. Does that help?”

“Yes, thanks,” said Debbie. “You suggested earlier that values should drive everyone’s behavior when implementing your vision and future thinking. Do we—I mean, our company—have values?” Debbie asked.

“Yes and no,” Jeff said.

“That’s helpful,” Debbie joked. “What does ‘yes and no’ mean?”

“Our values do exist. Every organization has them. Either they can be created on purpose by leadership, or they will emerge on their own. Regardless of how they are developed, there are always core operating values. Because our organization has never formally articulated them, we are missing a huge opportunity.”

“How so?”

“If the values are published, they can be repeated, recognized, and rewarded, with positive results. Since I’m still relatively new to the company, I decided to spend a few months observing the culture to see what values were already in place, as well as what values we may want to incorporate in the future. Before going public with any new values that I believe should shape our behaviors, I wanted to make certain that they were all grounded in some truth and some sense of reality. If not, we would lose credibility.

“Our values will be featured at our upcoming annual meeting,” Jeff added. “You’ll also see a lot of other things reinforcing them in the months and years to come. Values are a big deal. They are the cornerstones of the culture the leader is trying to create. Remember this: our values are the beliefs that drive our behavior.”


Values are the beliefs that drive our behavior.


Debbie nodded thoughtfully. “I suppose that’s true. What are our values?”

“You can read about our values in our annual report, which is scheduled to be released next week. Take a look and let me know what you think.”

“Okay, I will,” said Debbie.

“When is your next team meeting?” Jeff asked.

“We don’t have team meetings anymore,” she replied.

“You don’t?” Jeff was surprised but tried not to show it.

“No, I canceled them several months ago, because performance was so bad. I didn’t want to waste time in meetings when people could be taking care of clients.”

“Interesting. I’d like to talk more about that in a future session. In the meantime, let me give you a few questions to consider. You may be tempted to answer them all yourself, but I’m guessing you’ll need to talk to some of your team members.”

“I’m ready. Let me have them.” As Jeff posed the thought-provoking questions, Debbie jotted them down:

• What is the purpose of your team?

• Where do you want your team to be in five years?

• How many members of your team could tell you what the team is trying to become/achieve?

• What values do you want to drive the behavior of your team?

• How can you communicate your vision of the future to your team?

“These should give you something to think about before our next meeting,” Jeff said.

“You’re not kidding. I’ll be spending more than a little time working on this.”

“You’re catching on. Great leaders are always asking questions like these—and others that we’ll discuss in future meetings. See you in a few weeks.”

Debbie left Jeff’s office knowing that she was learning the secret of great leaders. But one big question weighed on her. Could she become a great leader? She was cautiously optimistic.

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