Imagine a vision that might take twenty years or more to realise. Imagine a purpose that never fades, nor becomes unfashionable.
I spent last week with all the Principals from the Taaleem Group in the UAE. Their vision is as ambitious as they come: to be the most respected provider of early childhood, primary and secondary education in the Gulf region.
What’s surprising is that, in 16 years, it’s never been changed. And it may take another sixteen years (or months) to realise that.
What I love about it, is that being the most respected in your field depends on others’ perception of what you’re doing. You can’t call it yourself, you can’t blow your own trumpet. And there’s no rigid KPI for finding it out - others simply have to tell you that you’re there.
And the group’s mission is proper ‘get-out-of-bed’ inspiring because it’s so simple and actionable: to inspire our students to identify their passions and talents.
Simplicity is hard to achieve, but gets you the best work from your team.
My former boss, Don Ledingham, wrote this month about another stellar vision from one of his partners, an undergraduate student accommodation company. They chose a strategic intent that I can see inspiring thousands of ideas across the myriad of properties they operate:
To give students their best year yet.
Imagine what you’d do if you managed a student apartment block in Glasgow or in Greenwich, in London or in Loughborough. Different places with different people and different cultures all have different needs. But meeting those different needs locally is the only way for the whole organisation to achieve the goal of giving students their best year yet.
When you’re leading a team, the simplicity of these kinds of goals is what will inspire people to create great ideas that are just right for their corner of the organisation.
You can’t tell people what to do if you want the best from them. And your ideas will never be as good as those developed by those closest to the action, who understand their people best.
Your job is only to set a clear north star to guide them, and make sure they’ve got the capabilities and systems they need to succeed.
That’s the start of real strategy.
What is right for students in an international school in Abu Dhabi is different from what works for local students in a more remote region of Ras Al Khaimah. The ideas that work best for an English department of a high school in Newry are quite distinct from what the same school’s Entrepreneurship class might need.
What’s the singular north star you’re sharing with your team this week and next, and the week after that?