Parcel - March/April 2009 - (Page 12) Searching for information, but don’t want to wait until the next issue of PARCEL? Sign up for PARCEL ’s monthly TRANSPORTATION ABCs MASTERING MANAGEMENT with Mark Taylor e-update Share Your Vision In 1991, President George H. W. Bush had a problem. He was unclear about the power of the “vision thing.” Some say he lost the election to Bill Clinton because he didn’t share his vision. If only he had read Peter Senge’s 1990 book, The Fifth Discipline, he would have learned that, “A shared vision is not an idea. It is rather a force in people’s hearts, a force of impressive power. Few, if any, forces in human affairs are as powerful as shared vision. When people truly share a vision they are connected, bound together by a common aspiration.” Imagine if your company or your team shared a vision. How different would your workplace be? My first piece of advice to be a better manager is to “share your vision.” Many times, when I make this recommendation, managers tell me that they are not sure what their vision is. They think of it as a lofty statement on the wall. What is vision? How can you discover yours? And how will it help you to become a better manager? One of the easiest ways for me to discover my vision is to think about what I don’t want. For instance, what frustrates you about being a manager? If we were talking, what would you say that you are not happy about when it comes to managing people? Think about a complaint that you have — ideally, a recurring grievance. Now, take a moment and complete the following sentence: I am sick and tired of This idea comes from the book, How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work. I answered the question this way in 2001: “I am sick and tired of people making excuses and not doing what they said they would do.” Behind every complaint is a commitment to making something different. In my case, I wished my employees would fulfill their promises. I didn’t want stories; I wanted results. Authors Kegan and Lahey state, “We would not complain about email rachel@rbpub.com to have it delivered right to your inbox! 12 MARCH 2009 | www.PARCELindustry.com http://www.PARCELindustry.com
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