Share Your Leadership Vision One Shell at a Time

Sarah Le Roy, vice president of Talent at Linkage is the author of today’s Tuesday Reading, “Share Your Leadership Vision One Shell at a Time” <http://mylinkage.com/blog/sharpen-your-leadership-vision/>.  In the essay she tells the story of “shelling” with her eight year-old daughter.  As they walked along the beach, Le Roy noted (to herself) that she consistently found better shells than her daughter.

What made this possible?  Experience, using a technique learned from her father.  Knowing how to differentiate – “see” – the better shells on a beach composed mostly of shells.  Knowing what she was looking for and how to “see” it.

So, what does this have to do with leading teams?  At some point those “high performance ‘shellers’ were taught how to look and what to look for – clearly and explicitly.  Without clear direction from the team lead, your team cannot execute your vision.  A successful team leader must be able to ”see“ exactly what needs to be done and to express precisely what the vision is.  Le Roy says that good leaders must be able to articulate ”what good looks like.“

How do you teach yourself and others to ”see“ that you all have the same vision?  You first have a vision of what needs to be done and then you have to share it, and get buy in.  You have to convince your team of what good looks like.

When you and your team are on the same page – same vision, same timeline, same desired results – magic can really happen.