From Managers To Leaders

As I said in the over view – I want to stress that full exposure to these concepts is the best way to go. You can do that by going to the Franklin Covey site and registering for one of the following programs: Leadership: Great Leaders, Great Teams, Great Results or Leadership Foundations.

At times managers feel justified in clarifying the goals for a specific project alone. By doing this you expect and you should see results for that project. A leader takes a bit more time on this topic which is why it becomes part of the 4 Imperatives. A leader doesn’t just clarify the goals for a specific project; they clarify the goals of the organization and how that project fits in. By doing this the employee will understand the purpose of why they are working on this project as well as how both they and the work they do fits in with the organizations plan as a whole. A leader will do this for every single project given out. Depending on your relationship with the employee this may take more time with some then it does others, but still you need to take this time.

Why is Clarify Purpose so important (imperative)? Because once the employee understands the full purpose of the company, their unit, and then their work, they will have a better understanding of how they can contribute to it. They will have a better understanding of how everything they do impacts the organization as a whole. They will be able to pinpoint ideas that may come about while working on a project or something else and know that by presenting them they are working on the purpose of the organization as a whole. It allows them to have vision and scope beyond just a single project.

A side factor of this is also employee happiness. If they understand what they are doing and why they are doing it they tend to be motivated by that knowledge. Feeling empowered by the knowledge that what they do does affect the bottom line and they do contribute and when they can contribute they feel a sense of accomplishment. We all want a sense of purpose in our lives and our work. Clarifying your organization and your employee’s goals will help them see that purpose and how they fit in.

From Managers to Leaders (What would a Leader do?):

~ Attend one of the following programs: Leadership: Great Leaders, Great Teams, Great Results or Leadership Foundations.

~ Meet with each employee – explain the organizational goals, the department goals, their team goals and then their goals. Work towards buy in and clarity of how they fit into the picture.

~ Create a project list template of what you would like to cover each time a project is rolled out. This will ensure the full purpose of the project is clarified.