Leadership – Have a Vision

This is the third part of my leadership series. Links to the first two parts at the end of this post.

If you have ever been lost going through MacArthur’s Maze or the New Jersey Turnpike, you know the value of having a map. Better yet, if someone who knows where he is going sits beside you, driving is such pleasure.

Soldiers without a map, buildings without an architect, lost child with no adults; all the poor souls in these scenarios beg for one common thing – direction. As a leader, this is one of your most important role. You are the one who should know WHERE everyone is headed for. To be an effective leader, you must have a vision.

This vision should not be confused with your personal values. It should be congruent with those values, but your vision should have a direct impact on either

• Your business
• Your staff

Many leaders confuse their ambition with their vision. Without going into a debate on this, let us define what a vision ought to be. With a good understanding of what a vision is, the leader is then better able to have a clear vision. So, what exactly is a vision?
A vision is a clear, fixed understanding of the future state.

A vision is clear. Leaders who claim to have a vague, somewhat surreal “vision” and encourages everyone to go with the flow, is likely making things up as they go. If you are not able to be precise and clear, that is not a vision; it’s a dream.

A vision is fixed. This is something many will have problems with. How can a vision be fixed when we live in a world so full of change that we do not even know if our favourite hamburger stand is going to be there tomorrow? All great visions are fixed. They do not change from one day to the next, or one year to the next. When visions become clearly attainable, great leaders usually celebrate that, and then create a new vision, a new peak to scale. After so much successes, Microsoft’s vision is still not attained – “A computer on every desk” (running Windows, no less!).

A vision is clearly understood by the leader. Others may look at it and think it is a dream. Gurus may comment on how impossible attainment is. But the leader understands the vision perfectly. He sees how it can be reached. Some leaders never live to see their vision fullfilled. But great leaders have always articulated clear visions and they all seem to know exactly how to reach it.

The most important thing to remember is that you must have a vision. It could be a grand vision or even a more humble one where you merely wish to be number one in the world; just be sure of what your vision is.

Our next installment will be on sharing this vision.

To catch up, here are the links to the previous two posts:

1. Articulate Your Personal Vision As a Leader
2. Putting Action To Your Words