Executive Management Leadership:Lead Effectively

Executive management leadership is about how leaders mobilize others to want to make extraordinary things happen in organizations. It's about the practices leaders use to transform values into actions, vision into realities, obstacle into innovations, separateness into solidarity and risk into rewards.

It's about leadership that creates the climate in which people turn challenging opportunities into remarkable success.

Think of this post as a field guide to take you along your leadership journey.

How do you get other people to want to follow you? How do you get other people, by free will and free choice to move forward together on a common purpose? How do you mobilize others to want to struggle to achieve shared aspiration?

These are the important questions executive management leadership seeks to address.

Definition?

Executive Management Leadership is a person or group of persons having administrative, supervisory and executive authority that put plans or actions into effect in an organization or company.

Everything rises and falls on the executive management leadership. Therefore understanding purpose is the first and most important step of executive management leadership.

Principles Of Executive Management Leadership

The primary value of purpose is the translation of vision derived from purpose into a plan of action. This occurs through the setting of specific goals.

The presence of goals allows for both the development of a plan and the effective use of energy as all efforts are put into the fulfillment of the purpose. Purpose maximizes energy and gives time meaning. Purpose protects you from being busy but not effective.

Purpose that is translated into a vision causes things to happen and people to act. This is true because purpose creates vision, vision produces goals, goals permit the development of a plan and plan allows for an orderly journey.

Thus the realization of his goal through the implementation of his plan will take him from his present position to the desired end, so that his vision of completed track and his purpose of reaching the station are fulfilled.

Goals are steps toward the attainment of a larger purpose. They create priorities, determine decisions, dictate companions and predict choices. Together they form the preferred flight plan to the desired destination.

Application Of Executive Leadership

Imagine you want to start an airline company and your purpose is to provide safe air travel in the western Hemisphere with quality service at affordable prices. This idea was birthed as a result of poor airline services, canceled flights and delays caused by mechanical failures.

This purpose leads to a vision of planes servicing the entire western Hemisphere, flying from Canada to Argentina and everywhere in between. In his mind's eye, the soon to be airline executive sees his company's airline traveling through the entire western hemisphere and producing such quality services.

Fueled by his purpose and the accompanying vision, the originator of the vision calls in trusted friends and colleagues with whom he shares his thoughts.

Goals encourage the development of a plan

Having a vision and receiving what you have envisioned are two very different things.

Guide by their shared vision, the business man and his friends set goals for this cooperation, determine when the flight will begin, which cities will be serviced, what desired profit margin will be and who will be responsible for each facet of the business set goals for their specific areas of operation and develops plans to meet these more specific goals.

Goals dictate companions

After the primary and secondary goals have been set and plans have been developed to meet each objective, the founding committee begins to seek those people who can help them accomplish their purpose.

Guided by their purpose of offering quality service, they hire research firm to survey the present airline market and develop an operating budget.

Their aspiration to maintain safe, well equipped airlines prompts them to seek a highly experienced mechanic and a test pilot, hiring and management of company employees. Each decision is based on original purpose.

Goals inform decision

As each of these people becomes part of the management team for the new cooperation, they are charged with the responsibility of making their decisions based on the collective goals and purposes of the company. No one can pursue his own agenda if it detracts from the overall purpose and plan.

Goals predict choices

Purpose also serves as a guide for determining the best path to a predetermined end. Like a pilot's flight plan, it determines not only the final destination but also the best route on any given day to reach that destination.

Goals create priorities

Even as goals directed by purpose predict choices, they also create priorities. If the new airline sets the first of September as the target date to begin service on the west coast of the United States, the research firm will not focus their attention on east coast.

Provides a measurement of progress

As each target date on the master plan and departmental plans passes, the executive are able to determine how well they are progressing toward their goal.

The Bottom Line

With this example you can see how purpose has developed into a company, which began from the executive and founder of the company. Therefore purpose serves as a guide for a determined end.

1) Purpose creates vision

2) Vision produces goals

3) Goals determine the necessary steps towards the desired end

• Goals dictate companions
• Goals determine decision
• Goals predict choices
• Goals create priorities
• Goals provide a measure for progress

4) A plan incorporates and unifies the designated steps towards the      efficient fulfillment of purpose.