How’s Your Vision When the Parade Comes By? Can You See It?
Everyone loves a parade. You packed a snack, brought a cushion to sit on and arrived early to get a really good seat on the curb of the street. Here comes the parade now. Oh boy, I can’t wait. There’s the Parade Marshall riding in back of that beautiful 1924 Packard Touring Car, waving to everyone along the parade route. The parade is passing by me right now! The bands are high stepping and playing upbeat exciting music. Oh look – there are the floats, fire engines, a marching military unit and even a clown or two. Flags are flying in the crowds along the street. It’s an amazing fun filed day for everyone, isn’t it? Or is it?
A parade isn’t really much different than the project you’re working on at the office. The project leader is telling everyone the project is about to start and you’ll be building the new Ultra Coffee Mug. Everyone begins working on their little part of the project. Some are drawing what the coffee mug shape could be. Others are selecting the color. The marketing folks are singing the praises of features/benefits and how they may want to sell it to the future customers. There are samples of the new mug around. The project is on. It’s an amazing day in the life of the new Ultra Coffee Mug project for everyone, isn’t it? Or is it?
You see, when you think of a parade … some people want to be in the parade, a few want to lead the parade, a lot want to watch the parade and others are just trying to get through the day of the parade. Isn’t this a lot like a project … where some people want to be working on the project, a few want lead the project, a lot want to watch the project’s development and others are just waiting until they can get on with something else?
The point here is that people have varing interests, unique skill sets and different abilities. Do they trust you to effectively engage their talents within the project? How well have you aligned project tasks with the people on your team in terms of their ambitions, interests, knowledge, skills, abilities and career growth? Do the people have a crystal clear vision of the project and their direct specific involvement in the process? Do they see the benefit to the organization as well as their own personal gain by participating? Do they understand the value the project brings to the prospective customers and the community where it will be used?
You see, the people on your project team need your leadership. Anyone can manage the details of the process. But it’s the leader, the Vision Expert, who rallies the troops around the project, paints an incredibly clear overall picture and surgically aligns the individual team members with the specific project tasks. When this alignment is strong, each person has the very best possible engagement to realize the very best possible outcome value for the project AND themselves personally. That’s the payoff. They’re counting on effective leadership. They’re counting on YOU.
