Leadership: Give Direction
Success January 21st, 2009True leadership is about taking people to a place that they would not go to by themselves. Good leaders provide that by delivering and demonstrating purpose, direction, goals and guidance that is well beyond a supervising role alone. These are the areas that I feel make direction vital to leadership.
Planning and Communication
Direction cannot be given if it is not known by the leader in the first place. And a leader cannot lead if they don’t give a direction for people to follow them. This creates a big requirement to do something about that by using techniques, tools and resources to provide and develop that direction.
- Vision and Mission
- Problem Analysis
- Brainstorming
- Big Picture Thinking
- Goal Setting
- Involving Others
A leader must take time to plan, think and figure out the direction to steer things. This is not something that is obvious and often the things that seem most obvious tend to be very short sighted with no long term advantages. There is much to consider by a leader for direction and this comes by all the tools listed above and a variety of resources. Direction is certainly not something that should be created by one person (although it can), it is better to use other people’s ideas, hopes and plans in developing a single direction that the leader can use for everyone involved. All of this data from brainstorming sessions, ideas from other individuals, through research, experience or simply grand hopes with visionary ideas needs to be assessed by a leader. Don’t rush this process and make sure that you consider many components of a planned direction.
Ask yourself questions to challenge the direction and make sure you cover all facets of it to everyone involved.
- Does this direction align with the values of those participating?
- What new skills and training will be required to take this route?
- Are there examples or case studies that can be used to model an approach in this direction?
- Are those involved able to accept the changes needed for this?
- Do you have the resources needed to achieve it?
- Is it something that everyone can believe in?
- How will you know that people are following this direction?
- Can you clearly indicate and describe this planned direction?
- Who will be the people most in favor and in doubt of this direction?
- What kind of contingency can you plan for in dealing with resistance or troubles?
These are just a few samples of the types of questions you need to ask yourself to ensure you evaluate as much of the situation as possible. You certainly don’t need to have answers for all of these when planning and setting a new direction, but you should understand what the most difficult areas and unknowns will be to help prepare any followers. That is where communication then plays a huge role.

Leadership – Give Direction
Communicating during this planning stage with others is vital to ensure you consider their ideas and concerns within the plans and directions you decide on. Involve others as much as possible to keep them included and engaged with the decisions you make. Then once you do finally have the direction planned and decided on, it requires continual communication to ensure it is well understood and followed. Ask questions of others to ensure they understand the plans and the big picture of the contribution they can make individually. It is far easier to lead by ensuring others know your vision so communicate, communicate, communicate!
Course Correction
Leadership is not only about leading in a specific direction, it is also about correcting and steering things back on the right direction when they do get off track. I touched on this in my Persistence article in my Productivity Series that you are really continually steering things with minor adjustments back on track as a leader. However, there time when things have gotten so off course, it is no longer just a simple course correction. There are times to abandon a route altogether and choose an alternate path. A leader must recognize when an individual is heading down a path that is off course and not in the right direction. Running with ideas might seem like the right path but often it leads you further away or way of course from the direction that you have planned. When this occurs, whether is the leader themselves or someone working with that leader, it is the leader’s role to correctly steer things back on course. This can be difficult to do in a way that doesn’t break any respect or trust developed.
“Everybody can get angry – that’s easy. But getting angry at the right person, with the right intensity, at the right time, for the right reason and in the right way – that’s hard.” (Aristotle)
Referring to the goals and plans outlined and discussing how things fit with that is a great way to address course corrections. A leader should try to have an individual realize or admin they are off track instead of simply accusing them of that or telling them so. Nobody likes to be told what to do and so this is a critical area for a leader to do exactly that, lead. Being genuine and sincere goes a long way here when correcting someone’s course. Showing compassion for their time and effort spent and appreciation for what they are doing while asking questions about whether it is worth doing or not is useful. You don’t want to be authoritative or a dictator when giving direction and the more you help others steer their own directions appropriately, the more you enable them to hold that path with future ideas and decisions they make.
This can be the trickiest part of leadership to keep things moving in the right direction, to stay on course yourself and to ensure that others are following the same or at least a similar helpful path. The course corrections that are needed alone the way are continuous, will come in varying degrees and must be handled quickly and smoothly for a leader to do well.
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January 21st, 2009 at 10:40 AM
“Leadership is not only about leading in a specific direction, it is also about correcting and steering things back on the right direction when they do get off track.”
I love that saying. Some managers tell people where they need to go and then wait for them at the finish line. Leaders guide them along the way. I love your writing.
I am all about learning as well and enjoy learning through your site.
January 21st, 2009 at 2:45 PM
Communication is key for those who lead and those who must listen. As a good friend once said “being boss is not about telling people what to do, it is about placing qualified people in the proper position, the more they know their job the less I have to do.” I think a good leader is aware of those he entrust various positions.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:18 PM
This is the second post I’ve read tonight with a focus on communication. It’s the key to everything! I sit on the board of directors of a local networking organization and we are moving in new directions and as a result have a strategy meeting next month. A lot of what you wrote in this post is very relevant to my experience recently on this board. Great list of things to consider.
January 21st, 2009 at 7:48 PM
@Maria M, thanks so much for the comment and feedback!
@Rachel, definitely so, a leader must enable others to do their jobs and positions well. There is an element of trust there as well, so doesn’t need to know everything about those various positions, just that they will be done. You’ve made a great point about that!
@Stacey, Thanks for that feedback, I’m glad it has some real world impact, isn’t that why we all read and write this stuff anyway, to then know how to apply that in our lives!
January 21st, 2009 at 10:02 PM
What happens most is leaders speak about vision and mission at the beginning, then they never mention it anymore. They waste their time dealing with technical problems instead of correcting and steering all the process.
Great article here, Mike. Thanks for sharing.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:35 PM
So true Arswino. If a leader only did the steering and guidance bit by bit along the way, they would still get to where they want to be without ever having mentioned the vision or mission in the first place. I don’t recommend that of course, but it would work.
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:56 AM
We were just thinking about some leadership analogies on the way to work today, and we thought about a “navigator”.
Leaders are often “navigators”, and managers are “drivers”.
We thought that leaders as navigators fit nicely with your post’s theme.
January 22nd, 2009 at 6:53 AM
Definitely, thanks A Friend. I’ve use an analogy before that it’s like a pilot flying a plane or navigating a plane, same concept and they both work! Thanks for your comment.
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:27 AM
Hello Mike,
I find leadership is taken away every experience you have had from the start and utilizing it.I know I have taken the good and bad with everything taught to me by mentors and previous bosses and used this to my advantage.It has helped me when decided who to delegate certain tasks to and team with others on projects.You have to nurture your team.It is as good as the boss makes it.
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:20 PM
A true leader have a mission. You just cannot separate the leader from the mission. And knowing the direction is just the first step in completing the mission.
I really think that a leader should constantly monitor his mission progress and the direction in which he moves in order to assess progress.
Good tips on how to actually achieve this.
Thanks for sharing!
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:32 PM
I feel an important part of leadership is also picking up and leading the group when the group runs into a perceived set back.
I’m glad to see that you included course corrections. It seems like I read about and experience leadership that decides on a direction and doesn’t correct the course of action when other directions look more promising.
Great article!
January 22nd, 2009 at 6:39 PM
@Bunny, thanks again for your additions here and how leadership has played such a role for you in finding the right path with your team. Those things we learn from tighten that course towards a common goal.
@Dragos, yup, you got it and definitely the leader who must make that monitor and movement possible to ensure progress. The mission is not enough.
@HIB, you are right, there is a lot of material that covers direction, but many fail to look at the way to get their. There is nothing wrong with changing course or even veering off for short term good reasons, but the leader must ensure that it doesn’t get too far off course and that things are always directed back to that common goal and target.
Thanks for your comments so far!
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:40 PM
Socrates talking about appropriate quality of anger bothers me as I feel anger is the common enemy.
Obama did one thing done perfectly well before even leaving his inauguration platform. That is, he had Elizabeth Alexander recite her inaugural poem “Praise song for the day.†of which the last three sentences say what is needed to solve our change of direction and challenging problems:
What if the mightiest word is love?
Love beyond marital, filial, national,
love that casts a widening pool of light,
love with no need to pre-empt grievance.
In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air,
any thing can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp,
praise song for walking forward in that light.
President Bush had a big need to pre-empt grievance and we have seen the results of that. Obama IS doing and will do the opposite. And we will be happy with the results, but we all need to walk forward in the light.
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:40 PM
I have a hard enough time leading myself. Leading others at work is much harder. We have to keep everyone happy and understanding the direction that we are going in.
This is a great post for me tonight. I’ve been having trouble putting my goals as a leader into words and ideas and this helped. Showing compassion and patience when a person is having a tough time is strength of a great leader. I’m still learning this, but improving on a weekly basis.
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:08 PM
Dhanamjaya, thanks for sharing that. It is all about actually DOING the leadership you say you will isn’t it! As for the poem, I wish it didn’t have the question. The mightiest word IS love.
Karl, a true leader is always learning. The best ones are also humble. I see that in you and hope you’ll like the last article in this series tomorrow on Humble leadership. Your messages of admitting improvement and needing to learn this demonstrate that nicely. Thanks for your continued support and comments!
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:40 AM
Keep coming. This is very useful and refreshing not to mention educational. I need to keep up with the class.
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:44 AM
I think Montgomery had to ask the question at the junction point of change of direction. She may have even been posing it directly to Bush, an arms length away, and all those who still support love that needs to preempt.
January 26th, 2009 at 2:37 AM
I agree that the most critical leadership trait is to be able to make the right decisions. Leadership is about strategy and long term success. Every decision he makes will affect the future of his team/company’s success. I am afraid this trait is not easy to learn.
October 19th, 2011 at 5:52 AM
I’m going to direct a colleague to this post. If delegation is a subset of leadership, then he could certainly benefit from asking a few of the questions you’ve set out.