Get Going Community colleges across the country are decorated with framed vision, mission, and goal statements. Almost any president can pull from their shelf the most recent strategic or long-range plan. In addition, state-system printouts and institutional research reports often fill the cabinets of administrators, faculty, staff. The importance of having an action orientation is one of the most consistent findings in leadership and organizational theory for the past 80 years. From Mintzberg to the Fifth Discipline, renewal perspectives tout the importance of doing something once a team is together and motivated, using collected information in some meaningful way, and taking steps toward actualizing collective visions, missions, or goals.
Savvy leaders notice the connection between follow through and credibility in future renewals.
Conclusion Most leaders will readily recognize the processes of getting grounded, getting real, and getting going in what they currently do. Consequently, this framework is not meant to supplant or discount any existing strategy for organizational renewal. Neither is it meant to add a new strategy to the renewal ranks. Rather, this framework is offered as a way of thinking about what leaders must do as they tackle the massive changes that daily come their way. It is further intended to afford leaders greater flexibility in subtly synthesizing multiple renewal strategies to shape approaches to change in a way that makes sense for their organizations.