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Do you have Vision

Written by: Roger Ingbretsen

Article Overview: Visioning is about imagination and discovery versus analysis and forecasts. Vision, coupled with passion, are key aspects of leadership because they inspire people to be creative and innovative. One of the distinguishing characteristics of a good leader is the ability to create an exciting picture of the future or a strong vision, which can capture the imagination.

Do you have Vision

Where there is no vision, people get confused, lose heart and do not perform at their best. A vision defines a “desired future.” It clearly describes the organizations future desired state. The vision builds upon and enhances or expands the stated mission of the organization.

The vision must be explicit, bought into, short, and in writing, so all stakeholders operate on fact rather than assumption. A vision generates a unity of purpose by capturing the hearts and minds of an organization. For this reason, the vision should ideally strike an emotional cord rather than be an intellectual statement. A vision acts to align all individuals towards a mental image of the future. Vision is the imagined possibility, stretching beyond today’s organizational capabilities. A vision eliminates status quo thinking and transcends day-to-day thinking and actions by providing an inspirational bridge from today to tomorrow. A well thought out vision is simply the articulation of a realistic, credible, desirable and attractive future for the organization.

A vision is the preferred future. It is a passionate expression of optimism despite sometime having evidence to the contrary. It is a crucial element in defining the future of an idea, concept, direction or project. It’s all about clarity of purpose. Visioning is also an important factor in long-term organizational performance. Visioning is about imagination and discovery versus analysis and forecasts. I believe that, vision, coupled with passion, are key aspects of leadership because they inspire people to be creative and innovative. One of the distinguishing characteristics of a good leader is the ability to create an exciting picture of the future or a strong vision, which can capture the imagination.

Photography is a visual language. In photography, it is said that vision without technique is blind. Technique in photography is the intelligent use of cameras, films, filters, lighting, subject, technology and creative imagination. The language in photography is the capacity of the picture to show or describe the reality of what was captured on film. Visionary leadership can also be expressed as the visual language in the “words” used to paint a picture of the future reality. The imaginative and clear use of words is a technique, which can be used by a leader to help set direction. When there is clarity in organizational direction, then the actions it takes and the decisions it makes will be congruent with the intent of the organization.

As a semi-professional photographer, the process of bringing images and concepts together in a meaningful way is most intriguing. I attempt to clearly communicate a feeling, convey a message or stir the imagination in my photography. I don’t take pictures… I create pictures. It’s been said; a photographer who’s able to communicate intention has developed a creative style. Without creative style, photographers would fail to communicate the simplicity and beauty of their vision. I believe the same holds true for a leader. Creative style is important because all leadership-visioning processes focus on creating visual messages of what will happen in the future.

The leader should also develop the ability to communicate that vision with passion to those who will make the vision come true. The techniques used to create a vision can come from special insight, research, brainstorming, and experience or from customer input. The more clearly detailed the vision, the more powerful it is. The more powerful the vision, the more likely it is to succeed. A well articulated vision captures the imagination.

Imagination is a key ingredient in any type of organization in that it allows creativity and innovation to take place in support of the vision. A word of caution, people do not follow your technique, they follow the vision, which has been developed by your technique. Like a good photograph, it’s not the technique used to produce a picture that captures the eye, it is the great visual result painted by the lens, which captures the emotions of the viewer.

The steps that lead to the development of a vision should be built upon the known strengths of an organization along with addressing the weaknesses that must be overcome to make the vision become a reality. Developing a “shared” vision is the best approach because it allows for everyone to more fully buy into helping to create the shared images of their collective future. People follow best that which they help create. Additionally, a shared vision helps to generate a force within an organization that is greater than the sum of the individual components or members of the organization.

A good vision of a clear idea helps organizational members act quickly and independently by giving them a shared vision of what they are trying to accomplish. A well-constructed and thought-out shared vision allows people to be acutely focused. Focus is a very important key to success. Also, the focus of a shared vision of the future with all players will enhance and support ownership by all, rather than just by a select few or the leader.

Focus and ownership are very powerful ingredients in the chaotic world in which most organizations now find themselves. In addition to focus, as a leader you must have a very good idea of what the customer wants and be able to continually and quickly make adjustments to the product or service as new customer needs or desires surface. Because circumstances change, an idea that was good yesterday may not be so good today. When this happens the leader must change or modify the idea and then get the organization working to achieve the new idea and direction. This can only be accomplished with everyone being connected within a strong information network and the leader sharing a new vision.

People desire a strong vision of where the organization is going. People want to know that they are not a member of a dead-end organization. They want to put their energies into a winning organization. People want to be proud of and feel pride in doing something that is recognized to be worthwhile. People want to make a difference, be the best, win, admired, be a top performer, serve a greater good, and be a member of an organization, which is recognized as great. Visions that embrace these themes inspire individuals and organizations to move to a higher level of performance.

My vision of the future of leadership coaching is that “leadership coaching will be viewed as important and natural in organizational life as it is in professional sports.”

Using the benefits of a group brainstorming session, develop your organizations vision statement of the future. Use what has been presented about vision as a guide and try to keep your statement to less than twenty words.

The following examples can be tailored to fit your vision of the future of your organization.

• We will be the recognized premiere provider of innovative services to the medical (banking/education/retail/transportation/etc.) community.
• Every customer we serve will be a great personal reference for our products and services.
• We will rewrite the book on patient care/customer service.
• We will double our profitable business in three years.
• We will be the premiere supplier of IT services and cost effective systems in our specialty.
• We will be widely recognized as the best provider of innovative products and services in our industry.
• We will be the undisputed leader in our industry.
• We will grow into a world renowned organization.
• Our organizations products/services will be the recognized standard in our business sector.
• When people think of or desire (your product or service, as an example computers) they will think of or want (your company/organizations name, example Dell®)

P.S. Do you have a personal vision of your future? Do you have a picture in your mind where you want to be in one, two or five years? Is this personal vision so strong it is driving you towards your preferred future? If not – why not start today!

Copyright Information:

You MAY reprint the information contained in this article as long as no portion of the contents are modified and it used “exclusively” within your organization. You must also give credit to information by including the tag line...

Roger M. Ingbretsen, Author, Speaker, Leadership Coach, Organizational and career developer For more information, visit www.ingbretsen.com or call 509 999 7008.

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Article Tags: articulation, aspects of leadership, assumption, characteristics of a good leader, clarity, creative imagination, discovery, evidence to the contrary, future vision, hearts and minds, mental image, optimism, organizational capabilities, organizational performance, passion, passionate expression, quo thinking, stakeholders, unity, visual language



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