The purpose of V|E|C|T|O|R is to help you hone your Leadership Action Plan; not rank your performance versus other leaders. Be optimistic! If you're in the job today, use the time to lift your performance. If you do, it increases the chance you'll still be there (and even promoted!) next year. V|E|C|T|O|R is about helping you achieve such outcomes. It has been used in a wide range of circumstances: for example, leaders facing dramatic leadership challenges; others transitioning into a new leadership role; and, still others driving further in readiness for higher responsibility. And, their profiles cover a range of ages, functions, industries and organisational sizes.

Just as V|E|C|T|O|R is not about comparing you with some statistical sample of local or international leaders, it is also not about squaring your actions with some new (or old) theory of human or organisational behaviour. Its objective is not to label or box you but help you find new and more effective leadership actions.

In sum, V|E|C|T|O|R is pragmatic: focusing on actions you can take as a leader to make your people more effective and efficient in what they do. It emphasises operational value (for you, your team and organisation), not statistical validity (for theoreticians). There is only one core question: are your leadership actions as effective as possible? If they are, hone them and make them even better. If they aren't, then try some new ones.

FOLLOWER QUESTIONS AND ORGANISATIONAL OUTCOMES

Within the V|E|C|T|O|R framework, there are six Follower Questions. They relate to Vision, Energy, Culture, Task, Organisation and Renewal. The meaning of each, and its contents, will be described below.

For each Follower Question, there are six Action Areas. Each is intended to help achieve two fundamental things:

• Answer the Follower Question. For example, within Vision, the question is "Where are we going; and, why?;" and, actions like "Define destination, goals and outcomes" or "Identify drivers of competitive advantage" help to address it.
• Generate a related Organisational Outcome. For example, in Task this is "Operating Standards." Actions such as "Attend to customers, distributors, alliances, etc." and "Demonstrate efficiency in everything (including meetings)" help set those standards.

The following table sets out the six Follower Questions and the related Organisational Outcomes - including, in a footnote, an important distinction between the Energy and Culture.

FOLLOWER QUESTIONS AND ORGANISATIONAL OUTCOMES ...

* DISTINCTION - actions in:

• Energy generate value-free, physiological (bodily) get-up-and-go
• Culture generate a value-laden, psychological (mental) sense of how things could be

In sum, the point of the actions under each Follower Question is to generate willing and successful followership by those who sign up for your project - and hence generate the desired Organisational Outcome.

The table below gives some examples of what you observe in an organisation when the Organisational Outcomes mentioned above are (or are not) in place.

EVIDENCE OF THE PRESENCE/ABSENCE
OF DESIRED ORGANISATIONAL OUTCOMES ...

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE - AND SHADOW RISK

One can also look at each Follower Question in other terms: the nature of the Competitive Advantage, which you hope your leadership actions will produce; and, to strike a cautionary note, the Shadow Risk, if you or your team become fixated by that area to the exclusion of a balanced agenda. For example, within Organisation, creating Teams and Relationships will help you in the competitive market for Talent and Influence. However, over-emphasis may lead to organisational Self-indulgence and Self-deception.

The table below illustrates these contrasts - and they will become clearer, if you choose to explore each Follower Question in its own resource module.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AND SHADOW RISK ...

ACTION AREAS AND ILLUSTRATIVE ACTIONS

For each Follower Question, there are six Action Areas. The first of the six identifies a Key Focus, which directs our thinking and discussion to an issue fundamental to that Follower Question. For example, the first Action Area in Renewal is "Monitor and shape change in your environment". The Key Focus is "change" i.e. the shifts and consequent challenges your organisation and people face as they progress on the journey - whether over a few weeks or many years. You will immediately see the connection back to the Follower Question ("What if our world erupts?") and the Organisational Outcome ("Learning and Reinventing").

KEY FOCUS

In addition to the first (Key Focus) Action Area, there are another five for each Question. They build on the Key Focus and range from actions, which are quite broad to others that are gritty and detailed - but all aimed at helping you achieve the defined Organisational Outcome. For example, the second Action Area for Renewal is "Drive strategic re-think" and the third "Embed operational innovation and continuous improvement." You'll see all the Action Areas as you develop your Leadership Action Plan.

Digging down another level within the framework, each Action Area is backed by a set of four or five Illustrative Actions. They suggest actions to support the intention of the Action Area and the Question under which they fit. For example, the first two Illustrative Actions accompanying the Action Area "Monitor and shape change in your business environment" are "Identify trends in technologies and industry structures" and "Influence shifts and developments where you can." These and all the other Illustrative Actions are amongst the available resources when you're creating your plan.

However, before leaving them, there is one important point. The actions listed within V|E|C|T|O|R are examples only and something to start you thinking. They are common-sense prompts, collected over several decades of observation, reading and experience. They make no claim to being comprehensive or, more importantly, right for you: that depends on the needs of your team and their situation.

RELATIONSHIP: FOLLOWER QUESTIONS AND ACTION AREAS

While the six Follower Questions and 36 Action Areas appear distinct, there is both overlap and reinforcement. For example, actions under Culture and Organisation can support Energy and the creation of Organisational Will. "Delivering performance rewards" (in Culture) and "Building teamwork" (in Organisation) can help energise your team. Similarly, "Embedding operational innovation and continuous improvement" (in Renewal) will enhance capability across the board.

While each Follower Question (with its related Organisational Outcome) is a key part of the framework, one or possibly two (rather than the others) will almost certainly be more relevant to your leadership at any given time. This is taken up in greater detail in the module on ["Organisational Context"]. However, Culture and Renewal are worthy of comment - and merit particular effort and attention.

THE NEWER QUESTIONS: CULTURE AND RENEWAL

If V|E|C|T|O|R had been created several centuries ago, four Follower Questions (Vision, Energy, Task and Organisation) would probably have figured as they do today. Both history and myth speak of visionary leaders, who have a dream and take their people on a journey to a distant place. Their energy and endurance jump off the page and they inspire these characteristics in others; similarly, they exhibit high levels of task competence in terms of navigating the ship, fighting battles and so on. Such leaders also have an uncanny ability to choose people and organise them effectively to achieve the intended goal - notwithstanding setbacks along the way.

Even if the language has changed, much of what falls under these four headings has been relevant for centuries; and, is hard-wired into our psyches. This is not necessarily the case with the other two (Culture and Renewal).

Until relatively recently, it was accepted that leaders were (or had the right to be) authoritarian. Kings (and sometime queens) led their knights and soldiers into battle. Much leadership took place at the point of the sword. Notwithstanding the binding force of religious or other values, power was mostly personal and arbitrary. As a follower, you liked it or lumped it. In recent times, particularly in the last century, democracy and other developments (at both the national and organisational levels) have created a broader perspective on culture and values - as a source of willing followership.

Successful development of Culture and Constructive Values - based not only on a desire to win but also on humane objectives like fairness and compassion - can supercharge your organisation or team. Think of an under-dog team with less resources, fewer stars and no apparent advantages, which against the odds wins the competition. So often this is associated with a leader, who gives people an inner and unbeatable sense of self-worth and legitimacy.

But this critical aspect of leadership also cuts the other way: if a leader fails to build Constructive Values, it is hard for others to make up this deficiency. Team members can help define goals or establish technical standards, but Culture is peculiarly leader-dependent. So, if you find it hard to fire-up your people, then learn quickly.

Let us now turn to Renewal. For much of history, developments happened gradually: technologies, social attitudes and powerful families endured for decades and sometimes centuries. Even if there was a sudden disruption or revolution, people expected life to move to some new and relatively steady state, which would endure for a significant period.

Today, however, change is rapid and continuous, particularly at the organisational level. There are still sudden disruptions but even the periods between require ongoing innovation, adaptation and consolidation following the disruption. Putting this metaphorically: leaders used to lead their people on a path with occasional steps separated by long flat sections. Today, the path is steep - and slippery. Leadership has become quite literally an uphill struggle.

For this reason, Renewal is critical. Whether your team or organisation is new or well-established, you need constantly to be on the look out for changes in the environment and what this means for your organisation's strategy, its operations and your own leadership approach. In sum, for many of us, Renewal (like Culture) is still a relatively new area and merits special effort and attention as we work through our leadership planning.

CONTEXT

Before developing a Leadership Action Plan, it's important to understand both your Organisational Context and Personal Context. As a team leader within an enterprise, the first helps you understand the broader organisational marketplace and priorities, which constrain your job and leadership options. The second throws light on your personality and inner being: including biases and preferences, which make you filter or avoid certain information and actions. Together these outer and inner reviews will help you select better leadership actions. If you proceed without them, you may choose actions, which say more about your comfort zone than the needs and situation of your team.

Here are links to those resource modules: [Your Organisational Context]; and, [Personal Context]

Dr. Timothy Pascoe AM
PhD (Cambridge), MBA (Harvard), BE & BEc (Adelaide)
Creator, V|E|C|T|O|R Leadership^®

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