Vision…or Values? Dreams…or Burdens?
Vision. Values. Mission. Strategy.
Hang around leaders for any length of time, and you’ll soon hear words like those interwoven into the conversation.
“What’s your vision?”
“What are your goals for the next five years?”
“How do your values align with your strategy?”
For some people, those kinds of questions are fun and fulfilling. Yet for others, they can be frustrating. As I’ve worked with leaders over the years, it’s only reinforced my understanding that we don’t think alike, process alike, or approach problem solving alike. I can almost hear some of you saying, “Well, duh!” Yet, we are often in situations where everyone is expected to be “alike”. That’s not a good recipe for team chemistry or productivity.
“Goals…or Burdens?”
God providentially brought me Bobb Biehl’s wonderful book Stop Setting Goals if You’d Rather Solve Problems and suddenly a whole lot of things made a lot more sense. I now had some simple questions to ask people that both brought clarity to their thinking but also freedom from their frustrations.
Here’s the heart of Biehl’s book as I learned from him…
About 20-25% of people are wired and gifted to think big picture, globally, conceptually and visually. It comes easily for them to look out into the future and describe their dreams. Setting goals to reach those dreams often comes fairly instinctively, too.
BUT…about 75-80% of people are wired and gifted to solve problems in the here and now. They think more in concrete, linear, detail and hands-on terms. It comes naturally for them to look around them and see problems that need to be solved or issues they are burdened about.
Knowing the difference can set people and teams free!
“Vision…or Values?”
Similarly, when Steve Ogne and I wrote TransforMissional Coaching over 10 years ago, we described how generational qualities influence how we look around and/or look ahead. In a nutshell, we stated that Boomers tend to think more in terms of “vision”, “strategy” and “success”. Gen X and Y tend to think first about “values,” “relational community” and “a cause”.
Clarifying Questions
I’ve learned some simple clarifying questions that set people free to describe their heart’s passion and preferred future in ways that make the most sense for them. Here’s some initial questions you could also use…
“Would you describe yourself as more big picture or detailed?
“Would you say you’re more people oriented or task oriented?”
“Would you rather state your goals for the future or describe what problems you’d like to work on right now?”
Once you’ve helped the person determine their heart’s passion and preferred future, you can use the following questions to continue thinking with them.
If they lead from their values…
“What’s most important to you in how you address that issue?” They will usually share their values.
“If you were to live out those values, what could that situation look like two or three years from now?”
If they’d rather solve problems…
“What are the issues that concern you most right now? What or who are you burdened about?”
“If you could go to work solving those problems, what will it look like when you solve them?”
If they lead from vision…
“You do a great job describing things as they could be! If we were to reverse engineer that dream and start now with things as they are, what comes first?
If they lead from goals…
“You’ve laid out some good goals. What values will keep you on course so you won’t drift?”
Goals…Burdens. Vision…Values.
Clarify those individual perspectives and you’ll be on the way to releasing people’s potential and productiveness in marvelous ways!
Coach Yourself Forward
1. As we gave some simple, clarifying ways to identify your approach, how would you describe yourself? Why?
2. Think of a time when you worked with someone and it was frustrating to them to try to set goals or describe their vision. If you were having that same conversation today, how might you do it differently?
3. In what current situation could you use these insights and questions?