To be clear, this post is for leaders of organizations or staff, not only for oneself. Talent and skill can allow people to succeed and profit on their own, but that doesn’t make you a great leader. It simple means you are successful.
Why the caveat? Leaders overcome their own shortcomings, their own preferences, and realize that they must serve the masses that follow them. Every single organization I have worked in or with have collectively craved and demanded a plan. Now I realize some were right brained or left brained, artistic or process driven, but altogether they cried, “Please tell us where we are going – give us a plan!”
So I cry from this blog: Leader, it does not matter who you are. You may be an artist or engineer. A plan is both. It inspires and makes simple the complicated (artist) while articulating the pragmatic approach that must be taken (engineer).
The best plans are laid; to deny this is folly.