When things don’t go as planned, it’s tempting to point fingers.

After all, we chuckle at the cynic’s view of the six project phases because there’s some truth to it.

Those six project phases are:

1. Enthusiasm
2. Disillusionment
3. Panic and hysteria
4. Search for the guilty
5. Punishment of the innocent
6. Praise for the nonparticipants

Do those six phases match to any degree the phases of a project in your organization?

The way work gets done – or doesn’t get done – in your organization provides a glimpse of your culture.

And your culture is shaped by you and your fellow leaders.

The impact of culture
It’s the job of leaders to move the organization from Point A to Point B.

To do this, you need a plan, or strategy. Once you’ve developed your plan, you must then execute it. How the plan is executed – or not – reflects your culture.

And where these components converge determines the results you will get.

What results are you getting?

Are they positive results? Or unfavorable results?

I leave today for the U.K. where I will speak to groups of CEOs and key executives in England and Wales over the next 12 days.

These half-day workshops are sponsored by Vistage International, the world’s leading CEO organization (http://www.vistage.com).

My expectation is that the joys, fears and opportunities we will discuss know no boundaries.

So I’d like to share a video with you addressing the leader’s role in developing and nurturing an organization’s culture.

The Art of Possibility
The video is an excerpt from one of Benjamin Zander’s keynote addresses to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Zander was born in England and won the Harkness Commonwealth Fellowship for postgraduate work at Harvard. He became Music Director of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra in 1979, a position he continues to hold. He has led 12 international tours and recorded numerous, highly acclaimed CDs. He has an uncanny ability to bring out the best in his players.

He shares his thoughts on leadership in his book – The Art of Possibility (Penguin Group, 2002) – which has been translated into 17 languages.
Click on the link below for a two-minute excerpt as Zander poses a key question all leaders must ask themselves.

The Art of Possibility – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrGAJ7hVh10

What’s your answer to the question?