(Part 1 of 2)

Virtually everyone agrees that vision is an essential component of leadership.  Call it forward looking, inspirational or vivid–the message is the same.  Leaders must concern themselves with what’s next.

In order to accomplish this, leaders have to scout the territory.  When pioneers were exploring this country, they had scouts, parties who would go before the rest of the convoy to determine the best way forward and forecast danger when it lay ahead.

That, however, was not the most essential part.  The absolutely indispensible action was circling back to inform and brief the rest of the party before riding on again.

Failing to “circle back” causes many leaders to fail.

My wife and I have just agreed terms for the purchase of a home.  It is, of course, an exciting time, but it is fraught with uncertainty, and promises certain difficulty.  I’ve decided it is not unlike pioneering in many ways.

In our family, I am the scout.  I tend to see further into the future than my wife does, and I am also much more inclined to enjoy change (even change for change’s sake).  And therein lies the leadership problem: if I fail to “circle back” to reassure her that we are making the right decision financially, socially and geographically, she will begin to lose heart, and will rightly conclude that I am not supporting her adequately.

Imagine what it would have been like for those in a pioneering convoy if they had not heard from their scouts for an extended period of time.  Surely they would begin to wonder if something catastrophic had occurred.  They would also begin to doubt their own prospects for the future, and that is the first step toward losing hope.

Wherever we are leading, our role as leaders is to scout the territory, and then, more importantly, communicate what we have seen effectively.

But it doesn’t end there…