Creating a vision is an important step for a leader to communicate to their team or organization. Leaders need to be able to confidently articulate the vision for their team or organization in such a way that people believe in it and see that it is possible. A vision is defined as a high-level outcome that you want to attain and should be shared in a way that people feel inspired by it, connected to it and want to reach it. Some leaders may be better at communicating a vision than others, but it is important to share it.
The best way to state a vision is:
- Project something that you want in the future
- Dream big
- Stated in the present tense
- Includes your values
- Is inspiring
- Uses clear and concise language
- Is a maximum of one or two sentences
Once you communicate it, you have to start moving down the path as a group to reach it. I have seen leaders share a brilliant vision and everyone believes in it. They are excited about it and agree that it is the right thing to do. However, if the leader doesn’t back up the words in that vision with the actions to get there, people will question where the organization is actually going. If things have changed that impact the vision then the leader needs to go back and recommunicate the change to the vision. If people are no longer connected to the vision, then the excitement that everyone had begins to fade and morale begins to be impacted. People will be patient for a little while, but if they don’t see that anything is going to change, they will leave the company. Remember people leave managers, not companies.
Changes that have impacted your original vision may be overlooked because of all the other things that you are dealing with on a daily basis. Check in periodically and ensure that you are still heading down the same path that you communicated to everyone. Ask for feedback to see if people still believe in your vision and nothing has changed for them. It is far better to be transparent and share changes along the way than to realize that no one believes in where you are going or what you are doing anymore.
Speaking of creating a vision, have you been thinking about joining the ReVISION Program? Now is the time to get signed up. Here is the Re-VISION Program link for more information and to add your name to the sign-up list.