Leadership is a Process

I’ve been reminded this week about the importance of process. I tend to be more of a big picture vision person. I have ideas, and sometimes I can envision what I want the end to look like….but working through the whole part in between then and now is sometimes the challenging part for me.

But leadership is also a process. While leadership is about vision and championing a new way forward it is by no means the only thing needed to get from point A to point Z. The leadership to inspire others towards shared goals is a critical component, but so is the process.

I was reminded of this through the frustration of others at the lack of progress on a potential project. This was valuable input. And that’s part of leadership too – to take in feedback. Sometimes it’s hard to hear the tough comments. Sometimes it even stings a little. But taking the time to let feedback and input sink in and then reflect on them is so important.

Some call it having a thick skin, to be able to take in tough feedback and work with it. I think of it more as reclaiming the hard stuff as an opportunity. That doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings about it. I do, but after having and acknowledging those feelings, I can move on to reflecting on what the opportunities are. There are always opportunities.

So after some reflection, I realized I had to shift my focus to the process and not just the end result. The next task is how. What do I have the skills and strengths for? How can I best contribute? And what do I not have the skills for? Where might we need other leadership skills to help us move forward? No one person has all the skills and strengths needed and that’s okay. That’s where the collaborative leadership comes in.

And the process may or may not be linear. It may be more of a winding road or like a river winding its way around the rocks and the bends. One may not always be able to anticipate all the twists and turns or know with any certainty what all may lay ahead. Sometimes we have to be willing to go with the flow or paddle in another direction than we originally thought, especially as we bring in different ideas, input, viewpoints, and knowledge.

The process also takes some time, and that can be a hard part too. Things take time - time to work on, time to figure out, time to gather information, time to get feedback and input, time to get buy-in and support, time to make revisions… and time is certainly something a lot of us don’t seem to have. But through time and input, the end result will be better and those involved will feel proud and invested in the outcome.

So trust the process... in the long run it will get you where you're going.