Technically Focussed Leadership Practice back to summary
All too often the leader, or driver of change, is locked into a singular vision of what it is they want to create. They turn their vision into something concrete by describing what it is they/we will have achieved by the end of the change process. A key part of their strategy is to share that vision with those with whom they work and over whom they have responsibility.
Some leaders attempt to promote 'shared ownership' of that vision by engaging in consultation and partnership with stakeholders and employees. Nevertheless, once that consultation process has been completed the vision is "set".
Having taken great care to describe the vision in great detail they create expectations in people's minds, and in their own, about the future. The problem comes when - as it inevitably will - when external circumstances start to mean that the detail of what it is they were starting to create is not going to be fulfilled. Technically focussed leaders will often be reluctant to shift from the original vision even if the change would be of benefit to everyone involved.
ADOPTING THE SCULPTING METAPHOR
The alternative to the technically focused leader's vision is to see vision as an outcome which is not 'set' from the beginning. Instead the sculptor has an idea; a notion; a picture in mind - e.g. to create a sculpture of a human form - but as the sculptor commences work the final outcome may be very different from what they had in mind at the beginning but is all the more successful for that variation.
What the sculptor is doing is to constantly check on the quality of the developing work. By checking it against a desire to produce the "best" work possible the sculptor shifts the vision rather than carrying on working towards something that will not be as high a quality as what will be created through a more flexible approach towards the final outcome.
Here is an example of how this metaphor might be interpreted in an educational context: (to follow)
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