Crafting a Vision for Success: Intentional Leadership
Author: Sandy Thompson
According to management author Oliver Burkeman, we only have about four thousand weeks to make the most of our lifetime. It's a short time, but it's up to us how we spend it. We can either wander aimlessly, or take control and make sure we achieve our goals.
As the New Year has just begun, now is a great time for leaders to reflect on their leadership and plan for the next year. While setting SMART goals is a well-tested practice, I'm really interested in leaders setting intentions instead. It's a powerful way to stay focused and achieve what we truly want in life.
Intentions and goals are not the same thing. When it comes to leadership, intentions refer to the big-picture beliefs and values that shape a leader's behavior. Think of them as a moral guide that helps steer the leader in the right direction. Leadership intentions aren't specific targets, but rather the reason behind a leader's choices and actions. For example, a leader might have the intention of promoting teamwork, encouraging innovation, or building a team-oriented approach to making change. Goals are specific and measurable actions.
Both goals and intentions play an important role in leadership. It is always great to see leaders communicate their intentions, as it helps everyone in the organisation understand their actions, goals, and priorities. This not only creates a shared understanding, but also shows the leader's commitment to these values.
On the other hand, having clear and specific goals is equally important as it provides direction and focus for the organisation. Goals help us measure our progress towards our desired outcome and helps us to prioritise our resources and focus our efforts in the right direction.
The most effective leadership requires a combination of both goals and intentions. This way, leaders can share their values and vision while also keeping track of their progress towards specific targets.
Leadership Intentions
Being a leader is so much more than just keeping track of tasks and assigning duties. It's about setting the tone and direction for your team and encouraging others to work together towards a shared goal. That's why having strong and clear leadership intentions is so vital.
Leadership intentions are like a roadmap for a leader. They outline the leader's guiding principles and values, which helps to create a unified culture and ensures that everyone is working towards the same objective.
Here are some key benefits of having clear leadership intentions:
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A clear sense of direction
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Consistent behaviour
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Inspiring others to achieve common goals
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Better decision-making ability
In short, having leadership intentions can lead to more successful and cohesive teams.
As a leader, you might have one or more of the following intentions:
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Creating a supportive work environment - Leaders who aim for this want to make sure their workplace is inclusive, empowering and a place where everyone feels like they belong. They aim to bring their team together and foster respect and teamwork.
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Encouraging innovation - These leaders are always on the lookout for ways to improve their organisation, products or services. They love to see their team members be creative and try new things, and they create an environment that supports this.
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Helping team members grow - leaders who prioritise this, believe in developing their team members' skills, knowledge, and potential. They create opportunities for learning and growth and support their team members in reaching their full potential.
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Keeping things steady - these leaders focus on maintaining stability and consistency within the organization. They work to minimise disruptions, maintain established processes and procedures and keep the team functioning smoothly.
Leadership Intentions: A Key to Success in Complex Environments
For me, the biggest reason for setting intentions is because leadership is about navigating and influencing the direction of an organisation. As the environment is becoming more and more complex, leaders need to be more intentional in their actions and decisions.
We all know leading in complexity requires particular approaches:
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Clarity of Purpose: Leadership intentions provide a clear direction and purpose for both the leader and the organization. When leaders have a clear understanding of their intentions, they can communicate them effectively to others and build a shared sense of purpose within the organization.
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Focus: By setting leadership intentions, leaders can focus their energy and attention on what is most important. This helps them stay focused and avoid distractions that can hinder their progress.
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Alignment: With clear leadership intentions, organisations can align their strategies, processes, and resources to support their goals. This alignment creates a sense of unity and helps teams work together more effectively.
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Adaptability: Complex environments require leaders to be agile and adaptive. By setting leadership intentions, leaders can adjust their approach as needed, without losing sight of their overall goals and purpose.
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Inspiration: Leaders who set clear intentions, inspire others to do the same. When leaders are intentional in their actions and decisions, they create a culture of intentionality that extends throughout the organisation.
Leadership Development Intentions
By being self-aware and intentional, leaders can ensure they are always leading in the right direction. Leadership development intentions - a subset of leadership intention setting - can support this. Leadership development intentions articulate what your intentions are for your own leadership development. Seeking outcomes without developing leadership acumen will limit what is possible when a leader grows their potential.
A person's intention to develop as a leader can be seen in their dedication to continually acquire new knowledge, practicing new methods, building new skills, and evaluating their progress through self-reflection and dialogue with others. By focusing on this approach over extended periods of time, leaders can make sure they are taking the right steps towards growing their effectiveness.
By being dedicated to your own growth and development as a leader, you'll be able to achieve your full potential and make a positive impact on your team and organisation.
As leaders and organisations grow and change, it's important for leaders to stay true to their values and make decisions that benefit everyone involved. To do this, great leaders aim to be self-aware and intentional in their decision making.
In a nutshell, leadership development goals reflect an individual's aspirations and the resources they have to achieve them. For example, a leader who seeks to become a better public speaker, can identify areas for improvement in their speaking style, create a plan to enhance those skills and identify who to bring on board to help them succeed.
Final words
Setting leadership intentions is a key aspect of effective leadership in complex environments. It provides clarity, focus, alignment, adaptability, and inspiration. By being intentional in their actions and decisions, leaders can lead with confidence and achieve success in even the most challenging of environments.
Hand in hand with intention setting, is also including personal leadership development intentions, to ensure you are equipped and resilient to what’s ahead. Don't wander aimlessly, take a proactive approach and make a deliberate commitment as you reflect and plan for the coming months.
If you would like to learn more and have a go at setting leadership intentions, join Sandy on an online workshop:
Date: Thurs April 6, noon to 1.30, on zoom
Cost: Koha – proceeds will be donated to Auckland grassroots community organisations impacted by the Mayor Wayne Brown’s funding cuts.