In every leadership act we have a choice regarding how we will engage with those we lead. Some leaders believe that all they have to do is create an awareness of what is desired and then their people will just do it. Other leaders will create that awareness and suggest an orientation and then expect their people to succeed. The best leaders create the awareness, understand their people’s orientation, and then guide them into action.
For many years leaders thought that all they needed to do was create awareness. If people were aware of what the leader wanted, they would somehow figure out that something really needed to be done and how they should do it. In line with that thought was the associated thought of; if my people know who they are, they will be able to become who I need them to be. Both assumptions are erroneous assumptions. Awareness does not naturally lead to an understanding of what needs to be done or how to do it nor does awareness lead to comprehending how to make oneself more effective at doing what needs to be done.
The act of leadership requires the leader to do all three. Effective leaders create opportunities for followers to become more aware of: 1) themselves, 2) the world around them, 3) the tasks they must engage in, 4) the expected outcomes of those tasks, and 5) the processes they should use to get those tasks accomplished. Once that awareness is evident, effective leaders consider the orientation of followers; that is what will be each follower’s natural reaction to what has been laid in front of them?
There are many possibilities. One might want to carefully plan the steps to be taken. Another might want to get right at it without any planning. A third might want to get the input of others. And yet another might want to do it completely alone. In fact, each person will have an action orientation based on numerous factors. A few of these orientation factors might be directness and decisiveness, relationship building, aesthetics, altruism, process and rule following, thinking, independence, or economic gain. There are others, but these are some we often see when people make decisions about how they might engage in any activity.
But awareness and understanding orientation, in themselves, do not lead to success. Most followers need their leaders to guide them through the actions needed to achieve success. Successful performance is about behaving our way to success. We cannot think our way to success, we must act. Actions result in our behavior and it is behaviors that get things done. If someone has a heart attack, we don’t want doctors to take an excessive amount of time to develop a course of action and treatment implementation. We want them to act now to save a life. But if someone has cancer, we don’t want doctors to act before they have studied the situation carefully and then developed the best possible treatment plan.
In all circumstances the best course of action will be a product of the situation we are faced with. It will consider each person’s awareness level, their preferred action orientation, and the unique qualities of the situation. Success will hinge upon the effectiveness of the plans made and the skills of those who implement those plans, as well as a leader’s ability to either coach or find a coach for followers in areas they lack the knowledge or skills needed to achieve success.
Awareness, Orientation, Action – practice:
Step One: Review the five areas leaders can create opportunities for awareness in their followers. Are you utilizing each of these opportunities as a leader?
Step Two: Determine the orientation of your followers. What might their natural reaction/orientation be when given instructions?