Proverbs 29:18
Strategy. Long range plan. Master plan. Does your governmental organization have one? Do your elected leaders use a well thought out process in order to know what should happen ten years from now? If not, then where is the vision? Whatever it’s called in your neck of the woods, vision is a critical component of local governmental organizations.
Vision and strategic planning is such an important topic, I have split it into two sections. Part I will focus on vision, and Part II will focus more on the strategic steps.
Do You Live in Wonderland?
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
-Lewis Carroll
Vision is only important if you do care where you go.
Cowardly leaders don’t emphasize, and often don’t even believe in, vision. Ask a cowardly leader, “What do you want your community to be when it grows up? Or at least, when it gets older?” You will get answers such as, “We are concerned with now, not next decade!” What they mean is, “What can we get done in the next year to get re-elected?” What are easy decisions to make- facade decisions?
Are they truly, sincerely concerned about the long-range improvement and direction of the organization they lead, or, are they worried about what looks good and gets in the local newspaper?
Who Needs a Vision Anyway?
Courageous, forward-thinking leaders will implement a process. That process includes public input, as well as objective, professional expertise. The results of that process lay out a strategic roadmap- a vision– for where the local government should go. What new schools should be built, and where? Which schools should be closed, or consolidated? How is growth handled? How is retrenchment handled? The factory that closed-what about that? Maybe most telling of all: What can be implemented that will pay dividends years from now, but will make the city, or county, or school district, fundamentally better? Where is the vision? As Simon Sinek, author of Leaders Eat Last recently said in a blog, “Vision is the ability to talk about the future with such clarity it is as if we were talking about the past.”
That is the first part- authorizing and encouraging a vision plan to happen. The second part is using it. Governments are notorious for having dozens of planning documents on the shelves, but ignoring them.
Cowardly Leaders Beget Wicked Followers
Many have heard of the vision proverb. Not as popular, but just as relevant, is Proverbs 29:14- If a ruler listens to falsehoods, all his officials become wicked. I’m not a Bible scholar, but I think that means if a ruler is content to take the easy way and listen to what he already knows and agrees with, his followers/people/staff become wicked. Become lazy. Become self-absorbed. Similarly, if he listens to those “yes men” and those in the entourage who tell him what he wants to hear, (read Truth to Power HERE), then he, and his followers- become wicked. Vision is non-existent.
Where Is the Vision?
True visionaries know. They know that tomorrow must be better than today, and that with work and imagination “better” is attainable. They know vision is long-range, not quick-fix. Visionary leaders know that once in power, some people, including allies and false friends (beware the Ides of March…), will curry favor. True visionaries know that “yes men” and others are present. Nevertheless they lead with firmness and objectivity.
Cowardly leaders, on the other hand, do not embrace, or even trust, visionary decision-making. “I was elected, so my opinion is what matters.” Without objectivity, there is no vision. And without vision, the people perish.
Do your elected leaders have a vision? Have they asked for your input? Do they want to lead where the people want them to go? Or are they flying by the seat of their pants, doing what comes easy, with no plan, no vision, no strategy? In terms of vision, it’s easy to spot the cowardly leaders. They are the ones leading from behind.
Stay tuned for Part II
II-9
