General Casey? A World Maker Leader to which the others want to belong to?

Who knows general Georges Casey?

We guess not a lot of people. He was the head of the army for the multinational force in Irak before he became the chief of Staff of the US army until 2011.

The American army is an example usually used in the management to describe extreme situations to manage and tight relations between the management board and the business world: leadership, execution culture, supply chain, decisions and motivations... this organization provides managerial inputs on these topics. 

General Casey, during his lectures on leadership at Cornell University, shares a very interesting experience on the transformation of complex organizations. Reader, this is your main field, and this is P-Val daily job!

How to define an efficient Expected World vision?

At the beginning of his four years mandate as the chief of the army, General Casey wanted to use his operational experience in Irak to reform this too bureaucratic system.

His testimony on how to create the expected World to synchronize again this organization and its environment is a humble example of the main flaws we face with our clients. Their expected World is often:

•          Either too closed to the current World, lacking stepping back and projection, as well as collective dynamism “nothing will really change”
•          Or very dreamlike, corresponding to the external World expectations, but completely disconnected from the current World transformation abilities

The general Casey knew how to listen to his teams and his organization, without losing the desire to transform… even if he needed to wear a Christmas hat.

When he arrived at his position, he had a flashy ambition and he said: “The American army, an agile and disciplined war team, dominating during all 21^st century conflicts”

After four years wandering through the current World, he understood he could not be more wrong !

He discovered an organization at the end of six years of war and with a 10 years ongoing troop deployment. This organization counted more than 3000 dead soldiers and 25 000 injured, without mentioning post-traumatic disorders impacts. He took stock of an unbalanced army, so focused on short term demands that it cannot take care of its soldiers and prepare its future.

Therefore he deeply thought over a transformation strategy around a new vision of the Expected World.

When you live a crisis, unbalanced, there is only one strategy: to restore the balance. His expected World became: «Put the Army back in balance"

It was not as bright as the initial thought, but this vision was very clear and was honored by meeting the team expectations. An important four years work enabled the US Army to find a good position.

This story is the perfect example of the leadership issue “Making a World that people want to belong to”.

The manager – World maker – needs to be able to understand the current World of his organization. He also needs to step back and to move into an expected World that he wants to embody and to explain clearly.

For those who would like to go further into the P-Val meaning of leadership, I encourage you to read the chapter 13 page 185 in the book “Changer de monde pour réussir votre stratégie” (change your world to achieve your strategy).

Laurent Dugas