So, what is a vision really? Well, simply put, if I am a leader of a group (or a whole organization), I need to get focused. And I need to help my work force get focused too.
Leaders find focus when they take the time to imagine what their life and business looks like at some time in the future. At the end of that rainbow what does the business look like? How are the clients responding? What are the employees doing? What are they achieving then that they may not be achieving now? You get the idea.
That’s the easy part. The hard part is keeping it simple, clear and genuine.
When you go to work on your vision statement you should (if it’s done honestly and with an open mind), be able to articulate it with
out having to memorize it or read it from a glossy marketing brochure. In fact it should be more like an elevator speech than a cluster of noble statements that may be hard to live up to. Here’s a link to a website that will give you an idea of what an elevator speech is about.
When you have created your simple, clear and genuine vision statement, you will be better able to create enthusiasm for it among the people you lead. And let’s face it, no matter how wonderful your vision is for your company or group, if you can’t bring the folks along with you, it will be a very lonely and disappointing journey. There will be more about that in upcoming posts. In the meantime…
Something to think about: How do you enroll people in seeing what you see?
Back on Friday…Hope you will be too.
You're Not the Boss of Me 
I think people make the mistake of getting attached to their words and turn a vision statement into a thing rather than treat it like the intro to a really wonderful conversation. Many execs think once they have created it they are “done” with a part of a process rather than seeing vision as a daily imagining exercise from which your vision statement is the “point of entry”.
I think you are absolutely right, Susan. New information changes everything and makes the notion of a “vision Statement” not a static thing but a dynamic one.
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