Here To There
A good friend and I share a boat in Vancouver that we use to cruise through the Gulf Islands off the coast of British Columbia. These waters are some of the most spectacular cruising waters in the world.
When cruising in ocean waters you need to know how to navigate effectively. When we first began our boating adventure we used paper charts to plot our courses to navigate through the waters of what is known as the Salish Sea. Navigational charts are very large and can be a bit cumbersome to utilize. You need to use a number of navigational tools with the charts to plot your courses.
After doing this for a number of our trips I was told about a navigational app we could download to replace all of our charts and navigational tools. I have since discovered that “Navionics” is an incredible tool for anyone wanting to pilot a vessel in complicated coastal waters.
To plot a course with the app I simply select the automatic route option which prompts me to select our port of origin, and our desired final destination. The app then calculates the route, all of the compass bearings, water depths, estimated time or arrival, and elapsed time of the voyage, the number of gallons of fuel we will consume, and provides all tide and current tables.
It’s amazing. I simply enter the port of origin – “here” – and our destination – “there” – and it provides everything in between we need to pilot a great journey – the “to”. Navionics enables, equips and empowers us to move from “here to there”.
This is really the essence of leadership: Here to there.
Leadership is about helping people be better. It’s about shifting people from here to there. There are 3 key components to your leadership:
- Here
- To
- There
Here: You need to know what your current situation is. What are your current resources? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What are the capabilities of your team?
There: You need to know what your objective is. What is the goal? What is the vision? Where do you want to get to?
To: This is the process by which you get to your objective. What is your strategy? What are your tactics? What is your course? What are the factors you need to consider that could impact your course – market factors, competitive factors, etc?
No matter what the nature of the change is that you want to lead, it’s important you know you’re here, your there and your to. Your awareness and understanding of each of these aspects of the leadership journey is necessary to ensure you are successful.
Without a clear understanding of the current state of your team, including your human and financial resources, the nature and state of your company culture, and the depth and capability of your leadership team, you can embark upon a journey that could actually “sink” your company.
We all know that without clear goals and objectives, your company simply cruises around aimlessly until it finally loses its course all together and you end up somewhere you never intended.
The true challenge of leadership is understanding how to get from here to there – your strategic plan. This involves both strategy and tactics. The famous Chinese warlord and leader Sun Tsu said,
“Strategy without tactics is the slowest road to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”
Both strategy and tactics are necessary to arrive at your destination. Your strategy is your overall plan to get you from here to there, while tactics are numerous executional elements that make up your strategy.
It’s amazing how many small businesses have set sail on a journey, yet they don’t have a strategic plan. You may know your “here”, you may have an idea of what your “there” is, but if you do not know your “to” – your strategic plan to get there – you will end up “lost at sea” at some point in time.
Effective leaders understand their role is all about “here to there”: inspiring, enabling, equipping and empowering people to move forward.
How are you moving from here to there?
