How do we get from here to there?

A leader is like a navigator: they are the one with a map and they are the only one who has a notion of where you are going at the start of the journey.

The leader must be a competent and confident navigator because the route may well need to change as circumstance change. As the journey continues, the destination may well need to move too, but the leader is the person who needs to get the team there.

To be effective, the leader can’t just keep all that information to themselves. They must be able to explain the route to the group and this is all about communication: they need to articulate what the route looks like so the group can engage with the journey and take pleasure and satisfaction from its progress.

This means that there are some obvious questions that need answering:

What does the road look like?

What are the likely obstacles?

Where are you going to find those new customers? New products? New markets?

How are you going to make those changes to move along the road?

It is only really when you have given these questions some thought and put together some credible answers that you can move on to the next stage: planning.