Читать книгу Prove It! - Barr Stacey - Страница 10

Florence Chadwick was an accomplished open-water swimmer in the 1950s. A legend in her own time, the Californian was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. But when Florence attempted to swim the Catalina Channel a year later, it wasn't the distance and ice-cold water and circling sharks that stopped her. With only a few hundred metres left to swim before she reached her destination of Palos Verde, she gave in. And her reason was fog. She knew that if the fog had cleared and she could see land, she'd have made it. But she couldn't see through the fog and couldn't see that she was making any progress. Only a couple of months later, she tried again. The fog was just as bad, but this time she held a vivid image of her destination firmly in her mind. And she made it. When our vision, our purpose, our direction are specific and clear, they are compelling.

This advice from James Grady, author of A Simple Statement: A Guide to Non-profit Arts Management and Leadership, is certainly true of nonprofit organisations, but I believe it's equally true for government and business as well:

For a non-profit organization, making a profit is not necessarily the definitive measure of success, nor is an increased budget size or staff. The evaluation of success lies in the mission and vision statements and is particular to that organization. Success may represent an increase in audience, in the number of people served by a particular program, or in artistic quality.

The following nonprofit and government organisations' mission statements reflect how clear they are about their purpose. Can you guess the line of work they're in, or even which organisations they are?

• ‘… creating a community partnership of knowledge, skills and expertise to enrich the participation in life of people who are blind or have low vision and their families. We will ensure that the community recognises their capabilities and contributions.'

• ‘To prevent cruelty to animals by actively promoting their care and protection.'

• ‘To make Australia the most desirable destination on earth.'

• ‘To make Australian sport stronger – to get more people playing sport and to help athletes pursue their dreams.'

The first is from Vision Australia, the second from RSPCA Australia, the third from Tourism Australian, and the last from the Australian Institute of Sport. These are very clear mission statements that make the purpose of the organisation measurable, understandable and recognisable in the world around us.

And what about for-profit companies? Their mission can certainly be more than to make profit. Profit is a by-product of business that is obviously very important to shareholders, but not really important to other stakeholders without whose support the business would simply not exist (customers, the community, employees not rewarded with profit-share). Can you guess which companies (or at least which types of companies) own the following ‘beyond profit' mission statements?

• ‘To grow a profitable airline … Where people love to fly … And where people love to work.'

• ‘To care for the world we live in, from the products we make to the ways in which we give back to society. At [company name removed], we strive to set an example for environmental leadership and responsibility – not just in the world of beauty, but around the world.'

• ‘To be earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.'

In order, the owners are: Virgin Atlantic, Aveda and Amazon.com. These companies know the power of an inspiring mission, but one that is clear and specific too.

Measuring our vision and mission means choosing a small handful of performance measures that track our progress in making them a reality. They provide real and objective evidence that the organisation is indeed excelling. By measuring the mission of our organisation, whether it's for-profit, nonprofit or government, we take it seriously, we make it tangible and understandable, and we make it easier to align everyone's attention and goals and resources to fulfilling that mission. Our mission is our purpose, and if we don't measure it meaningfully, we can't prove that we're fulfilling that purpose.

One of the most important things leaders need to feel is ownership of the organisation's results.

Stever Robbins, the Get-It-Done Guy from one of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcasts, says that the ultimate responsibility that rests solely on the CEO's shoulders is the success or failure of the organisation. And the CEO's top two duties, which only they can perform, are building culture and setting strategic direction.

In What You Really Need to Lead, Robert Steven Kaplan says leadership starts with an ownership mindset. One of the most important things leaders need to feel is ownership of the organisation's results. That means ownership of the organisation's mission and vision, and ownership of what it takes to make the organisation capable of achieving them.