Keep Them on Your Side

Vision vs. Leadership

Your company has a new leader, and he or she describes a beautiful vision of the organization’s potential. The leader makes promises, but in the end, nothing changes.

You almost certainly have experienced this scenario, because it happens all the time. It illustrates one of the main pitfalls for leaders: You may think leadership is about vision, but it’s really about action. If you can’t get people to put their time, energy and resources into your vision, you can’t lead. Good leaders go beyond coming up with ideas. They act and pull others along with them. They create and sustain momentum.

Competencies for Action

To be this sort of leader, develop and practice two competencies:

1. Political competence – Understand the political realities of your organization, what you can and can’t do, and who the key players are. First, build an agenda. Next, identify supporters and resisters. Some individuals on each side will identify themselves immediately, but you’ll need to conduct many discussions with people throughout your organization to discover who is in what camp. When you’ve lined up all your allies, convert...