The Global Leadership Summit this year has been held in about 200 locations, with 100,000 people in attendence

Margaret Spicer, Willow Creek NZ
This event has been under development and planning for a year. There are events being run in 11 countries today, as well as in the city of Dunedin (for the first time).

The aim is for developing leaders to lead where they are. Margaret encourages us to look for the transferrable principles from all the speakers.

Keynote: A Vision to Die For (Bill Hybels)
Visions that come quickly, are cast but not discussed, and have not been “owned” by the players are doomed to failure.

A vision is the most powerful weapon in the hands of a leader. A sense of destiny and purpose helps people rise above the day-to-day concerns.

But ownership of the vision is critical. There is a big difference between hired hands and owners, eg, at the first sign of danger, the hired hands will flee. Owners are willing to stay, and sometimes die for it. “Do I give mere assent to this vision, or am I willing to die for the vision?”

Key question: How does a leader build a deep sense of ownership in large numbers of people? For activistic leaders, they find the solution very difficult: PROCESS. It’s almost a cuss word.

If a leader does it all, the followers have a deep sense of defeat and not being needed.

Process for vision ownership:

1. Vision formation … There’s a big difference between the top of the mountain lone leader approach and the team approach. Here’s the key question for the team: What does our organization need to look like in 5 years? This question leads people to think, reflect and also to talk a lot. The latter takes a long time, but it builds community and ownership.

2. Vision refinement … There is a first draft and subsequent drafts. Common themes should emerge from the discussions that lead to a first draft. But that’s not the end. The first draft needs to be taken to key groups in the organization for their input. “This is a first draft … What excites you about this? What scares you about this? What counsel would you offer?” This takes time, but people feel valued and their ownership goes up. Also, the leader will learn better how to cast the vision and scare people less.

3. Vision declaration … The leader needs to pilot test the vision talk to some key groups so that it can be clear. And then it needs to be revised and cast to the wider group. Vision declaration is not a solo activity, but a team activity.

Two final things:
1. Vision leaks … You have to follow it up and keep refilling the vision buckets.
2. Celebrate the accomplishments along the way. Eg, milestones along the way.

Final question: How deep is the ownership of the vision? Are you willing to die for it? Are you only a hired hand, or a full owner? What wold it take for leaders not to be dissuaded from the vision?

If the leader doesn’t own the vision deeply, then followers won’t either.