Vision – Is it more than your sight?

 

“A leader’s role is to raise people’s aspirations for what they can become and to release their energies so they will try to get there.” David Gergen

Let’s start of with trying to define what is vision. When we talk about, that a leader has vision, we are referring to the ability to see the present as it is and formulate a future that grows. A leader with vision is able to see into the future without being blocked by the present or being somewhat near-sighted. In this post I am also writing about the vision of an organization, which looks at it from a slightly different perspective. A vision is an idea of the future, it is an image, a desire to get to a dream.

In order to really see into the future, you have to have dreams and aspirations to achieve what you can see, which maybe most can not. What are the fundamentals necessary for a vision to excite and motivate people to follow that leader? For me, I think the must have’s are:

• Clearly organized direction and purpose.
• Inspired loyalty and caring through involvement of the team.
• Display and reflect the strengths, culture, values and direction of the team.
• Help the team to believe that they are part of something bigger than just themselves.
• Regularly communicated and share with the team.
• Challenge the team to outdo themselves. Help them stretch and reach the teams goals.

How do you take this and apply it to your team? Putting your thoughts to paper and being able to share this vision with others. Practice with describing the vision with a mentor or coach to insure that you have covered everything. Then take it to your team. Sharing your vision with your team, you’ll let them know they have a leader who is thinking of the organization’s future and of each team member. Share the vision with your superiors, by doing that you are demonstrating that you are an innovative thinker – not content with the status quo. Keep sharing the successes and hiccups with the team. Getting to your vision should be a journey – that you and your team enjoy.

 Thoughts?