Summary

Many organizations operate without a cohesive plan to govern their operations. In many ways this is analogous to fighting a war without a battle plan, and it is largely explainable by examining the differences between leaders and managers. According to some leadership experts, leaders spend a significant portion of their time envisioning the future and rallying others around that vision. Managers, on the other hand, are task-oriented and focused on what has to be done from day to day. It follows then that an organization with many managers and no leaders is an organization without a future.

The Background

Let`s see how this might work in practice. Eight years ago, John Davis founded a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide discussion forums for environmental leaders. John operated solo for the first three years, and remained content to deal with issues as they arose instead of planning ahead. As more staff were hired with different perspectives of how the organization should function, John found himself and the organization being pulled in a number of different directions simultaneously.

The Solution

It became exhausting to run the organization, and John began to contemplate his departure. That`s when he realized that there was no way the organization could survive in its current state. At a minimum, John had to put in place a plan for the future that everyone could support.

Lessons Learned

For an organization that does not have a culture of planning, the process of devising a strategic plan can be a real shock to the system. However, as people start to see the rewards of planning (in the form of high productivity, reduced conflict, less burnout, and improved morale) they inevitably become very supportive of the planning process.