Which way do we go?

This is a great question that comes up almost every day from people looking for direction for their teams, their projects, or their future in general.

The question comes from people who are searching to find a path that makes sense out of the unknown or darkness.

Sometimes the question of “which way do we go” comes with positive feelings of anticipation, and other times it comes out of a place of sheer panic.

When things are going great and we have to make a decision about which way to go, or which road to chose, or which job offer to take, or which wonderful item we pick first from the endless buffet spread, we call this “a great problem to have!”

“Wow, this is so difficult; yet so exciting! I can’t lose no matter which option I chose!”

We tend to like the sense of unknown in these types of situations. They make us feel alive and vibrant.

However, when the question of “which way do we go” looks more like the kind of unenviable decision that Indian Jones has to make while standing on the edge of a cliff with villains quickly approaching and peril seems like it lies at the end of each option, we tend to not have such an optimistic outlook. In fact, we can get overwhelmed with the process of deciding because we can get panicked, paralysed, upset, annoyed, frustrated and worse.

Not knowing which way to go often times seems frightening. It can be disheartening and demotivating when we don’t know which way to go. It can shrink us into something that is weak, feeble, and ineffective.

The Leader’s Role: Deciding

For leaders, we need to understand that the people that follow us expect us to have a plan. They often think and believe that we are in control and driving them with a competent road map in hand. Whether we actually have a plan that is workable or not, they assume because of our position that we are working from a playbook. (Don’t worry, I won’t tell them that many of us not only don’t have a plan or an effective roadmap, we often times don’t even have a clue…. Shhhhh!)

So, keep in mind that you need to be in charge of the decisions on which way to go and accept the consequences that goes along with that. Whether you chose to collaborate with others on decision-making or not,  you must be decisive. Period. They need that from you.

The Leader’s Duty: Vision

Nobody wants to follow the Three Blind Mice. You could end up getting your tail cut off. So after you decide on which way to go, cast a vision in your own mind. Think in terms of pictures. Articulate those pictures in a logical and linear narrative. Build a story around it. Make it into a movie.

Then when your movie is ready to be seen, cast that vision to your team in a way that works best for the audience, the topic at hand, and the environment or circumstance that you are in. Play that movie for them. Give them the DVD of the movie. Sell it well. Bring popcorn.

The Leader’s Maturity: Perspective

Now just because you made a movie, sold it, played it and passed out the DVD doesn’t mean that your vision necessarily translated to your audience. Just think back to sitting through a terrible movie that you “didn’t quite get???”

Or, here is another tragedy that happens: Your movie is great; in fact, it’s too great. Your vision is perfect in your mind and you are asking people to take new steps (into the unknown). It could be that the scope is too great.  Or that the action and effort required is too great. Or that the popcorn was not so great.

The plan and vision is great, but the team won’t follow you. Or they drag their feet, or they sabotage the whole effort along the way. Or they seemingly check-out mentally.

Why won’t they follow my Grand Vision?

Think of it this way:

It is like asking someone to follow you over the small creek, up the hill and over to the other side of the hill where certain success lies ahead. Maturity requires that you know your followers. A mature leader will understand that while asking someone to jump over the small creek and get to paradise on the other side of the hill, many will not share that vision of the small creek.

They may be frozen at the edge staring into a scary version of the Grand Canyon in their eyes. So make sure that you are continually building bridges to help people actually take the journey with you. Perspective is important. So know the perspective of your people so that you’ll know how to serve their individual needs when those occasions occur.

The “Which way do we go?” question gets asked every day. In order to be able to be an effective and influential person in the eyes of your followers, make sure that you are decisive, that you are casting a credible vision in an effective manner, and that you are understanding perspectives along the journey.

So Mr. or Ms. Leaderperson, how are you doing in answering the questions about direction and next steps? Are you blind to the next steps, deaf to the needs of your people, or dumb to practicing proactive vision-casting? Or, if you are doing a great job in this arena, please go teach someone else your tricks. They need you!

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Tom Schulte is Executive Director of Linked 2 Leadership &
CEO or Recalibrate Professional Development
He can be reached at [email protected]

 Image Sources: dan-dare.org and english4u2.net