Communicate Intent

“As a leader you must take actions to build a plan,” writes Admiral William H. McRaven (U.S. Navy Retired), “communicate its intent, inspect its progress, hold people (and yourself) accountable. Together, qualities and actions are the building blocks of great leaders.”

For this to happen, we, as leaders, must be humble, respectful, and do the right things for all involved. We need to plan our work, and then to work our plan. However, the challenge is to communicate its intent in such a manner that all understand it. 

Jim Mattis, retired U.S. Marine Corps four-star general and former U.S. secretary of defense (2017-2019) and Bing West in their book, Call Sign Chaos: Learning To Lead (Random House, 2019), write, “I was taught to use the concept of “command and feedback.” You don’t control your subordinate commanders’ every move; you clearly state your intent and unleash their initiative.” Mattis taught his direct reports to say, “Sir, here’s the issue. What’s your intent?” And then, he could state his intent or the plan’s intent so that all involved could move forward accordingly. 

I believe the difficulty of the post global pandemic period is that we have plans in place and we are creating new plans. We also are inspect our progress and are holding people accountable for getting things done. But, I do not think people are clear on intent. I think people just have hope that it will all work out. 

Nevertheless, as the late football coach Vince Lombardi noted: “Hope is not a strategy.” It also is not an intent. Clarity and action are interrelated. When we understand intent, we grasp at a deeper level something that Taylor Swift said: “Just because you made a good plan does not mean that’s what’s gonna happen.” With clarity of intent, we can overcome normal obstacles and difficulties, especially when we find ourself in the trough of chaos. We can be prepared and plan accordingly as long as we can clearly communicate our intent. And when this happens, others will notice and choose to partner with us through thick and thin. 

FYI: To be continued on Wednesday. 

Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257