Leadership Success - Taking the Long Term View
For most folks in employment you are likely to be in employment for somewhere in the region of 40 years.
In the early stage of your career you probably progress pretty rapidly.
As you climb the career ladder, the opportunities for rapid progression slow down.
Typically, people will get into leadership positions in their 30s so still have a long time ahead until they come to retire.
As a leader you know that there are going to be things that you can achieve relatively easy and whilst it is important to grab these short term wins, it is your long term results that really matter.
So how can you take a longer term view of your success as a leader? Determine the strategic results As a leader of the organisation, function or team, it is important to be able to focus on the strategic results you want to have.
Every organisation has to make money to stay in business.
At the same time success in an organisation is a lot more than just money.
When I worked in organisations, even though I am an accountant by profession, I saw pounds or dollars as representing what was or what was not happening in a common currency called money.
When thinking about the strategic results you need to be considering results in areas such as marketing, sales, production, research, innovation, people and technologies as well as money.
Keep a big picture focus It is easy, especially when you have a period of struggle to lose sight of the long term strategic results that you want to achieve and resort to short term fire fighting.
While this might be necessary from time, you want to keep your focus on the bigger picture and the long term results that you want to achieve.
Remember, a track record over a period of time will make you stand out more.
Focus on the reason for being in business As organisations get bigger and bigger it is so easy to lose sight of the core purpose.
Yet in truth, it is the purpose that drives you and makes people decide that they want to be part of the organisation.
Charities are a great example of this.
The people who decide to work in them do so because they are really passionate about the core purpose.
Bottom Line - The true measure of leadership success is the ability to deliver over the longer term.
So what do you need to do to start taking a long term view and achieve more leadership success?
In the early stage of your career you probably progress pretty rapidly.
As you climb the career ladder, the opportunities for rapid progression slow down.
Typically, people will get into leadership positions in their 30s so still have a long time ahead until they come to retire.
As a leader you know that there are going to be things that you can achieve relatively easy and whilst it is important to grab these short term wins, it is your long term results that really matter.
So how can you take a longer term view of your success as a leader? Determine the strategic results As a leader of the organisation, function or team, it is important to be able to focus on the strategic results you want to have.
Every organisation has to make money to stay in business.
At the same time success in an organisation is a lot more than just money.
When I worked in organisations, even though I am an accountant by profession, I saw pounds or dollars as representing what was or what was not happening in a common currency called money.
When thinking about the strategic results you need to be considering results in areas such as marketing, sales, production, research, innovation, people and technologies as well as money.
Keep a big picture focus It is easy, especially when you have a period of struggle to lose sight of the long term strategic results that you want to achieve and resort to short term fire fighting.
While this might be necessary from time, you want to keep your focus on the bigger picture and the long term results that you want to achieve.
Remember, a track record over a period of time will make you stand out more.
Focus on the reason for being in business As organisations get bigger and bigger it is so easy to lose sight of the core purpose.
Yet in truth, it is the purpose that drives you and makes people decide that they want to be part of the organisation.
Charities are a great example of this.
The people who decide to work in them do so because they are really passionate about the core purpose.
Bottom Line - The true measure of leadership success is the ability to deliver over the longer term.
So what do you need to do to start taking a long term view and achieve more leadership success?