Friday, April 04, 2025

Peter J. Williams - Leadership Lessons

Peter J. Williams, Learning from Your Mistakes: Failures in Leading and Things that Went Right

FOCLOnline - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35hJw_sXgEo

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Why Visionary Leadership Fails

by Nufer Yasin AtesMurat TarakciJeanine P. PorckDaan van Knippenberg and Patrick Groenen

February 28, 2019 – Harvard Business Review

 

https://hbr.org/2019/02/why-visionary-leadership-fails

 

Summary.   

Visionary leadership is widely seen as key to strategic change. That’s because visionary leadership does not just set the strategic direction — it tells a story about why the change is worth pursuing and inspires people to embrace the change. But research finds that the positive impact of visionary leadership breaks down when middle managers aren’t aligned with top management’s strategic vision. This can cause strategic change efforts to slow down or even fail. When middle managers were aligned with top management’s strategic vision, things played out as the widespread view of visionary leadership would suggest: the more these managers engaged in visionary leadership (by communicating their vision for the future and articulating where they wanted their team to be in five years,) the greater the shared understanding of strategy in their team, and the more the team was committed to strategy execution. For managers that were misaligned with the company strategy, however, there was a dark side of visionary leadership became evident. The more these misaligned managers displayed visionary leadership, the less strategic alignment and commitment were observed among their teams.

 

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 Vision without implementation is delusion – what are the steps / mechanisms for delivery?

A fantasy can distract us from getting on with doing something good

Start small, build up, show reliable growth

Don’t think God needs you or your work!

Is there a realistic plan e.g. a team to deliver this?

You can’t do everything!

We need a direction but also a vehicle and brakes! – who will be your filter?

Stage gating – what’s the process for getting this new initiative or plan tried out? Are people exhausted from your last bright idea?

How many balls can you juggle at one time?

A great number two is a real blessing – e.g. strong feedback but not necessarily needing / wanting to be number one

 It’s easy to spend other people’s money! How would you control costs if it were your money?

A certain amount of waste is of course inevitable and we have to accept that. We can’t have perfect 100% efficiency but….

Fundraising is often about friend-raising and that takes time

People don’t always want to give for ongoing costs. They want to give for new and shiny. But it is a problem to have lots of projects with restricted funds and a lack of general funds.

Don’t forget time is money. If people spend time on something, you are effectively spending time on it

Employment costs might be double salary costs. How much does a staff meeting cost? What about an away day?!

Don’t let relationships slip e.g. through busyness

Be strategic / deliberate / plan e.g. follow up

It’s really easy to undervalue or overvalue your time – sabbath!

Rushing and filling every minute / cutting stuff short

Could someone else do this pretty much just as well or better?

It is important to “waste your time” – be still! God is God!

Travelling alone can be a waste of time / loneliness etc. – fellowship in the car or on the train

Tiredness leads to vulnerability

Preparation time – recovery time

Health

Family / work / church

Burn out?

What are your core things? What gives you energy?

Fill your heart with Christ, don’t fill your time in an attempt to get meaning and fulfilment and reputation etc by doing stuff

What are the costs of this vision / what we are doing?

Personal ambition?

Obscurity and no monument would be okay, wouldn’t they?

Activism?

Keeping busy or keeping close to Christ

Over tiredness

Don’t confuse rest and play – you might be tired from playing computer games late – how can you unwind well?

What gives you energy and drains your energy?

Feeling / calling – what do I want to do? What should I do?

Employment mistakes: lack of formal process - ignoring warning signs in references / misgivings of others – trying to control other people’s futures! – don’t try to replicate yourself – consider your impact on the culture for good and ill – failure to show appreciation – allowing people in the team to get isolated – over and underpaying – the golden handcuff of overpaying (what could people get elsewhere?) – who do you want to retain? Can the pay work for them?

Don’t have one intern have four – they can entertain each other

Don’t be too flexible with junior members of staff – it can be helpful for people if they need to be in the office at 9am – framework and flexibility

Cowardice can be a big mistake if you like to be liked – should you be bolder and maybe be more forthright and risk some unpopularity?

Prayerful dependence  

God’s grace – surprising gifts / opportunities – God’s kindness in difficulty