Is ‘leadership vision’ hippy drippy nonsense? Does it really matter?
Well, 92% of people never achieve their goals*…
Perhaps a distinct goal and vision is more important than we all realise…
Recently, I’ve been reading ‘Vince Lombardi on Leadership’ by Pat Williams.
Vince Lombardi was a hugely successful American Football coach… he went from relative obscurity to winning the NFL championship five times.
(Don’t worry, this email is NOT about American Football)
One of the first lesson in the book is the importance of vision for top performing leaders
“Great leaders have the ability to envision what the future should look like and the ability to chart a course for getting there”
Why do leaders need a clear vision?
1) Clear vision gives you powerful focus
It helps you zoom-in on what you REALLY want to achieve. And when you know your destination, it’s a lot easier to remove the distractions and noise that aren’t helping.
2) Helps you inspire and rally your team
Your team wants to be led by a competent and confident leader. When you have a clear vision, you sub-consciously transmit both traits to your team.
3) Helps your team make better choices
When your team knows the vision, they’re able to make smarter decisions. “I’m wasting time on this project, it’s not helping us become the market leader in Home Security Automation” or “Now I know why Martha (the CEO) wants us to do X”
4) Gives you a blueprint for success
I spent the early part of my career pre-visualising what big film sequences would look like. These visions would become the guide for everything that the film production needed to do in order to execute a project.
They helped the business…
- Hire the right people
- Choose the right equipment
- Schedule tasks and projects in the most effective order
- Predict barriers to success and reduce their impact
Having a clear vision saves film companies millions of dollar and reduces production time. And having a clear vision can do the same for your business.
Now you might be thinking…
“Well, Andrew that sounds great, but how can I put this into action?”
Here are steps that will help you Take Action with your ‘vision’…
#1 Dream bigger
Allocate yourself a decent amount of time. Close your eyes and visualise where you would love your company to be in five years from now. Who would you be working with? Where are your offices? What projects are you working on? Who is on your team? What is your role?
#2 Do a divergent and convergent thinking exercise
Get in front of a whiteboard and expand on your dream. Put everything down. Don’t hold back. Once you’ve emptied your mental tanks… take a break. Then come back and start converging your ideas, until you have a clear and focused vision for your future.
#3 Think of 3 achievable things you can ACTION to make progress with that vision
In reality, there are probably hundreds of things you could go… but you and I both know that overly ambitious plans never get done. So just choose three simple and achievable action steps…
For example:
-changing how you hire people
-changing the tone of your blog
-changing who you invite onto your podcast
Remember, it’s easier to start small and build momentum. You can come back and work on bigger actions later.
#4 Communicate your vision with a video
Bring your team with you by creating a video that explains your vision. Share why the vision is important, why your team should care about it (what’s in it for them), and how you are going to move towards it.
“Physician, heal thyself”
Recently, I took a dose of my medicine and clarified my vision for our podcast, The Interstellar Business Show. This has been a really empowering process….
A clearer vision has given us improved clarity on:
-niche/audience (Technology CEOs)
-guest we invite
-topics we cover
-format of the show
This development work isn’t just theory, it’s born out through practical actions we are taking… creating new welcome videos for guests, streamlining onboarding for guests, new marketing copywriting.
The process of creating a bigger vision for the podcast has helped me become a big believer in the importance of vision.
Do you believe in the power of ‘leadership vision’ or do you think it’s nonsense?
Send me a message and and let me know.
Have courage, own your future, take action.
Andrew
(*Statistic come from here: https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/science-says-only-8-percent-of-people-actually-achieve-their-goals-here-are-7-things-they-do-differently.html)
