Encyclopedia of Leadership

Levels of Statements Flow of Statements

HOW TO USE THIS LEADERSHIP TOOL

“Requiring everyone to continually ‘nest his or her vision’ in new practices or a continuation

of the old ... can produce increased understanding of what is worth doing and what is not.”

—Alan Wilkins, DEVELOPING CORPORATE CHARACTER

If you, as a leader, don’t provide any structure, people will feel that there is no mechanism or

process through which they can contribute. If you provide too much detail and structure,

however, people will feel that “It’s a done deal,” and their contributions are not required.

Thus, we suggest this minimal level of structure for designing directional statements:

 As the leader, start by defining your givens—the minimum specifications of either con-

tent or process that you feel are essential elements of the directional statements.

 Explain and discuss your thinking with your workgroup. Then ask each member of

your workgroup to draft each level of directional statement within the agreed guide-

lines on his or her own. The table provided here will assist in this process.

SECTION 2 TOOLS FORBIG-PICTURETHINKING 49

1. High-Level Statements
   Terms to select from:
   vision, mission, purpose,
   direction, values,
   mandate, operating
   philosophy, principles,
   charter, scope, long-
   range plan, overall goals,
   overall objectives, overall
   results, strategy, the core
   business, environmental
   scan. Colloquially, the
   big picture.


2. Mid-Level Statements
   Terms to select from:
   objectives, short-term or
   specific goals, targets,
   expected results, key
   result or service areas,
   accomplishments, core
   processes,
   accountabilities,
   measurements, customer
   service commitments,
   outputs, improvement
   targets.


3. Action-Level Statements
   Terms to select from:
   short-term plans, activity
   lists, critical events, tac-
   tics, roadmaps, process
   plans, next steps.

Time

Long-term,

enduring

Short-term,

update

frequently

Logic

Big

picture,

inclusive

Specific,

detailed

Commitment

Inspiring,

visionary

Action-

oriented

Amount of Detail

Connected to

External

Needs

Connected to

Organizational

Needs

Connected to

Day-to-Day

Needs