Q. How do you know when you are spending too much time on a decision?
Too much time comes in when you, as a leader, don’t have a clear enough vision of what your overall guiding force is on your business model. If you have a very strong mission and a very clear vision of where you want to take a business or what approach you are adopting, that helps you cut through a lot of the smaller details.
If you are spending too much time trying to decide … you probably don’t have a clear enough vision of what you are about. Usually, a strong vision will cut through a lot of the nonsense for you and almost tell you what you have to do.
Q. What is the first step to creating a strong vision?
You have to understand what your capacities and your strengths are within your organization, and then you need to stretch yourself. The reason we have grown and have done as well as we have is because we are always questioning and we are always stretching ourselves for the next goal.
We are never complacent. We are never comfortable with what our achievements have been. We are always looking at the next aspiration, the next best of class, and that keeps you active, keeps your mind thinking, keeps you looking at your competitors, looking outside of your industry for opportunities and out-of-the-box ideas for how you can really maximize your business. That’s a mindset that’s more of a cultural mindset because some companies just don’t have that.
What’s also important is the people you surround yourself with. Have people around you that have the same mindset that always are searching. Culture goes beyond just a leader. Leaders in organizations do two things: They lead with their own strong visions, but they also have to align those with what the culture of the organization is.
Sometimes the vision of the leader is in conflict with the organizational culture, and then you have to get those aligned. Strong leadership listens to the culture of an organization and then transforms the culture to meet his vision, but vice versa, as well. His vision needs to go and somehow meet the culture of the organization.
How to reach: Burt Hill, (215) 751-2900 or www.burthill.com
