Leadership for Planning

In Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland the Cheshire Cat tells Alice that if she doesn’t know
where she wants to "get to", then it really doesn’t matter which way she goes. Yes, it’s overused,
but it illustrates the relationship between leadership and planning. There are so many people in
leadership positions who don’t know or aren’t sure where they are supposed to be going which
makes it very hard to lead anyone else there.
Leadership and planning are inextricably linked. Without a good plan, leaders don’t know
where to lead -- but without good leaders, even a great plan will fail. There are many levels of
leadership in any organization but there is always a senior leader who has the highest level of
responsibility. One of his or her prime responsibilities is subordinate leader development. Often,
subordinate leaders are sent off to lead with training in management relations, human relations,
group dynamics, and other things, and perhaps a mandate to "fix that," or "raise the numbers."
What is often missing is a clear set of directions on what the organization does, where it’s going
as an organization, and how it intends to get there.
One of the basic responsibilities of leaders at all levels of the organization is to keep their
subordinates informed. Many organizations don’t do this very well. Leaders have a tendency to
keep things to themselves thinking, "They don’t need to know that," or "They wouldn’t
understand that, it’s too complicated." It’s a highly competitive world and sometimes it’s
important to keep information to a select few people. But the strategic plan isn’t in that category.
A good plan helps leaders at all levels keep subordinates informed of where the organization is
going and what progress it’s making to get there.
Of course, a leader is usually pulled from many directions, and often it seems like everything
is priority one except the basic task of keeping the train on the track. This is where a good leader
will shine because he or she has already written the strategic plan and has started the team
toward meeting the goals in that plan. Senior leaders will be more able to react to the
emergencies while the rest of the organization implements the plan and accomplishes the
objectives toward meeting the goals.
Inevitably, something will happen to completely derail the organization, such as natural
catastrophe, fire, or theft. In that case, the entire organization may become completely focused
on rebuilding, or dealing with whatever the emergency is. When that happens, the plan is often
tabled until the emergency is handled. The beauty of a great strategic plan is that when things are
ready to get back to normal, the roadmap is still there and everyone knows what it is. Though
you may need to change your completion dates, the organization can revert back to the plan. Be
careful about shelving the plan, though. Sometimes, when adverse times hit, it’s better to use the
plan as the basis for recovery. This is especially true during economic hard times. You may end
up having to scale back your efforts, but the plan gives you a solid point to deviate from. If that
sounds a little odd, let me explain.
It is unfortunately true that when troubles hit the economy, organizations tend to quickly
default to a strategy of shedding employees or even parts of the company. Then when conditions
improve, they have to hire people back, if they’re still available, and compensate for the effects
of losing parts of itself. An organization with a good strategic plan can slow down goal
accomplishment or maybe delay some objectives. They have determined what is basic to the
organization and are much less likely to start slashing just to cut costs. Then when recovery
starts, they are ready to pick up where they left off and charge ahead while their competitors are
trying to figure out what to do.
This isn’t to say that the strategic plan will protect you from pain during recessionary times.
It won’t. But it will make the recovery quicker and easier.
The strategic plan is the roadmap for everyone to follow and provides a well-though-out
course when the going gets rough. If your organization doesn’t have a strategic plan, sit down
right now and start making one. You won’t regret it.
Bob Mason is a speaker, trainer, facilitator and president of RLM Planning and Leadership, a
consulting firm dedicated to helping businesses meld smart strategic planning with leadership
excellence. He helps all kinds of organizations improve through strategic planning and
leadership training/coaching. His book, Planning to Excel, Strategic Planning that Works, is due
to be released this spring. To learn more visit www.planleadexcel.com and download his
“Inviolate Rules of Leadership,” and the first chapter of his book.