Vision-free leadership

Sometimes it feels hopeless to write this newsletter. I started it just before the pandemic as my way of making sense of what I see around me. Lots of things that I simply can't make sense of have happened since then, including within the last 24 hours. I continue to try to share a little light in the darkness and use my words to send positivity and hope out into the world, especially to anyone who is struggling.

This week’s edition is looking at whether you can have leadership if you haven’t got vision, and what it means if you don’t.

Can there be effective leadership without vision? I found myself saying the words "vision-free leadership" to someone the other day as a joke and have been pondering ever since.

In an era of sound-bite, click-bait politics, vision has been diminished to shorter and shorter slogans, Make America Great Again, Get Brexit Done, Change. It seems to me that if all people are going to remember is a slogan, then articulating the vision behind it becomes even more important.

The slogans above are all about getting rid of the status quo. The voter was left to work out the why and the what for themselves, creating their own interpretation or vision of what a Great America, a UK after Brexit or life with a Labour government would be like. How could any electoral victor hope to match up to the millions of differing expectations? It's no wonder voter trust is plummeting and election turnout is low.

Articulating the vision is as important for staff teams in organisations as it is for customers/voters.

Vision is what inspires people, helps them create a more emotional connection to their work, rather than going through the motions. It's what changes the it'll do into something special.

Without vision to act as a guide, there's a risk your people can pull in different directions, just like those pesky voters.

Without clarity of vision and purpose, how would staff know what decisions would be the right ones to move the organisation forward? How would they feel safe and free enough to set the direction for their own team? They'd be more likely to stay in steady state, keeping things going, solving day-to-day problems, reacting rather than being proactive. (Is proacting a work? ed)

You can manage without vision, and maybe you can lead without it for a while but to keep impact going, motivate your team and navigate in the same direction through change, having vision - and articulating it clearly and consistently - isn't optional, it's vital.

Terry Higgins would have been 80 on 10 June - the first named person to die of the “big disease with a little name”. What a memorial his loved ones made for him. The Terrence Higgins Trust is working to eradicate new cases of HIV in the UK by 2030 - an even greater memorial.

Day of the Week 📆

Our neighbour, Les, was 100 years old last weekend. He invited us to his birthday party where we celebrated with his family, friends, and neighbours. Les told us that the secrets of such a long and healthy life are keeping active, eating fruit and veg, and cooking from scratch - all of which he still does. Tremendous! 

What am I reading? 📚

I’ve been on a lot of long distance trains this week and Bob Mortimer’s Satsuma Complex was my kind of holiday read. It's listed as comic fiction but it's a dark sort of humour.

What am I watching? 👀

I love being away because screentime is down - no telly or Youtube - so I have no recommendations on that front this week.

What am I listening to?👂

When I wasn’t reading, I listened to a couple of podcasts. Louis Theroux’ interview with Little Simz about her latest album was a good listen. She talks about her life, family, loss, and how she uses music to channel grief and trauma. 

Another point which really stood out was that sometimes people see in you a talent that you don’t see in yourself. I love that - and it's something I love doing with my clients.

Little Simz is curating Meltdown this year. I won't be there but it looks brilliant.

Joy-giving things 😍

We've just come home from Amsterdam where we met Police Cat 🐈‍⬛

Have a good weekend

Lucy

This newsletter is put together by Lucy Caldicott. Over the past three decades I've led and managed teams in international marketing in financial services and in international and UK charities working on international development, health, and social justice.

Today I work to improve leadership and team culture in the non-profit, for-impact world through my consultancy, ChangeOut.org. If you’re looking for support on culture, leadership, purpose, equity, or a facilitated team discussion about any of those things, or even just a friendly chat!, get in touch.

You can also find me on Bluesky, Instagram, and, LinkedIn.

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