Good Leaders Define Reality

One of the critical roles of an effective leader is to define reality for the group they are leading. In doing so, they cast a vision for the future direction of the organization.  

Earlier this week, someone reminded me of what Max Depree wrote in The Art of Leadership: “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.” And, if you want a vivid example of two contrasting definitions of reality offered by two leaders in the same job, this Presidential Inauguration Week certainly provided a great case study.  Through their communications, the 45^th and 46^th President of the United States each framed the challenges facing this nation differently. By defining reality, the leader shapes the group’s understanding of the challenges it is tackling – and provides a direction for tackling them.  

As a startup leader, you are responsible for focusing your team on solving your organization’s critical problems. To provide direction, as a leader, you identify and describe what the real situation facing the organization is, what the essential goals are that must be achieved, and prioritize the critical problems to enable the team to focus their efforts effectively. By doing a careful job of defining what is important, the leader sets the team’s tone and direction.

So, you might wonder what I have learned about tackling this vital work? This work requires casting your vision out to examine the circumstances facing you and synthesizing what you see. Start by paying attention to the circumstances surrounding you, including the competitive landscape, the trends affecting your customers and suppliers, and the macro environment. Reflect on your startup’s foundational elements, such as the unmet need your startup is addressing, the innovative solution your startup is developing, and the stage of development you have attained. Consider or define what the next value-adding milestones are for growing your startup. Synthesize all of these factors into a coherent picture that defines the key elements of your startup’s situation, the target that you need to hit, the strategy for getting there, and how you will measure progress.

While you want to think in terms of at least six months to a year time horizon when defining reality for your team, it is certainly appropriate to revisit the vision periodically and certainly if there are material changes that occur.