I have spent the weekend thinking and writing about leadership, particularly about how leaders in our schools can be more strategic, in how they lead their teams and bring about positive and impactful change. Being strategic, is not about being manipulative, or political. It’s about being smart, proactive, focused and having everyone aligned, working with the same priorities and in the one direction.
Being strategic starts with you and your leadership.
There are many aspects to being strategic.
- Your leadership style- the culture you create around you
- Your working style – how you manage your time and make decisions
- Your educational focus – and how this is adding value to your organisation
- How you are growing the capacity of the people around you
- How you lead your team – ensuring they add value to the organisation
If this interests you, join me at the Leadership Blueprint program being held in March (Melbourne) and May (online). It will teach you how to be more strategic. You can learn more about it here.
I am seeing too many leaders and schools put plans in place for a new strategy or even a small change, only to see them fail and then wonder why their plans aren’t working. It’s because they haven’t done the groundwork first. They haven’t set up the conditions for success first.
Having a clear strategic direction will guide:
Your interactions, Your decisions, Your team, Your organization and ultimately Your Career Success. It all links together.
These statistics paint an interesting picture of how the leaders think they are doing a great job, but the rest of the team or organization overall feel very differently.
- Only 22% of employees feel that leaders have a clear direction for the organization. (Gallup)
- 67% of well-formulated strategies fail due to poor execution.
- 60% of leaders think less than 20% of the workforce has at least a basic understanding of company strategy and can explain it. (Organizational Synergies, 2003)
- 5% of employees are aware of and/or understand their company’s strategy. (Harvard Business Review, 2005)
But before you determine your strategic direction, there is work that needs to be done on you ( and its done by you) to create the conditions needed so that your team are ready and willing to embark on a new strategy or any change.
You might have heard the adage Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast.
(Peter Drucker has always been attributed to this, but recently he has been quoted as disputing he said these exact words. I just thought I would share that.)
Having a strategy or a plan is great, but if the people who you hope will carry out the strategy aren’t ready for it, the culture needs work first.
Culture is where you start. Always. You need to set up the conditions for success first. Innovation comes where there is freedom to think, to speak, to be critical, to explore, to be creative, to think outside the square. If the culture doesn’t allow this, any strategy will be simply a nice-looking document or a colourful dream. This reminds me of another adage, If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
This program is focused on the leader not the school. People follow leaders they trust. Leaders are the influencers. Leaders create the culture. If your team feel you have the school’s best interests at heart and the strategic direction you are encouraging them to take is going to have a worthwhile, lasting, positive impact they will join you on the journey. If they think it is just so you can prove your worth to your new school or new role, or its going to drive your personal agenda or your career, they will see through this remarkably quickly. You create the culture around you. Set this up first.
Join me at the Leadership Blueprint in March (Melbourne) and May (online) to learn how to be more strategic. You can learn more about it here.
