Develop A vision..............

[Jo Silvey]

From a motivational leadership perspective, the term vision means a couple of different things, all of them important.

When a leader is mentioned as having farsighted vision it means that she has a keen intuition into the future of her business and the marketplace where it thrives. When a leader is mentioned as being visionary or a leader of vision, it means that she is imaginative and strategically creative to the point where her inventiveness will one day intersect with some future customer need--resulting in great success.

If a leader has offered a vision to her team, it means that she has created a mental picture for them of a prosperous future, generating fellings of inspiration and hope among the team members and motivating them to work toward this vision's realization.

Leaders appreciate the need to create a VISION with their team, one that inspires and encourages them. They understand the importance of promoting that vision and cheering their team on. They understand the techniques for writing a motivational vision statement (offering an ideal) and a practical mission statement (offering a brief strategy for reaching the vision).

They realize the value of agreeing with team members on measurable objectives and timelines for completing the mission and striving for the vision. Offering your team a vision that they can embrace and get excited about is a necessity. It is the difference between getting your team members to act and simply geting them to go through the motions. Which would you prefer?

Sometimes, visionary leadership is associated with prophesy, sometimes with imagination, and sometimes simply with good planning. ("where do I want to go, and what logistical steps do I need to get there?") Having a leader's sense of vision means possessing a little of all those things. The common attribute of all these loose characterizations is that they involve a boss who is focused on the future, rather than obsessing over the present or nitpicking about the past. The truly motivational leader keeps people pointed forward in spirited fashion.

In the book A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge asks the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come, "Are these the shadows of things that will be, or are they the shadows of things that may be, only?" The question answers itself, doesn't it? When we can't see the future, we play victim to it. But by looking into the future, in a bad way like Scrooge did or in a good way like the motivational leader and her team do, we are instantly able to choose that future or a different future. The visionary leader does not simply offer a look into the present or imminent future, but she provides a much-needed glimpse of how things could be, if only the team accomplishes a, b, and c.

Perennial leadership authority Brian Tracy says that, throughout the 3,000 or so studies he has read, vision, as a management attribute, shows up more than does any other trait. He places it at the top of his list of common leadership qualities. A vision, suggests Tracy, generates hope, and hope is one powerful motivator.

A vision has an uncanny way of getting an organization moving in a positive direction. It provides an agreeable mental image that keeps people in "big picture" mode. Motivational leaders know how to create that vision, how to sell it to the team, how to add some authenticity to it, and how to help the team work toward it. They also unerstand that, once a vision becomes reality, the first thing they need to do is get the team excited about and working toward yet another vision.

King Solomon is considered by many to be the author of the Bible's "Book Of Proverbs." Perhaps that makes Solomon the first leadership consultant! After all, it is in Proverbs where we are first approached with the notion that people with no structure in their lives or hope for the future are doomed. The verse is Proverbs 29:18--"Where there is no vision, the people perish,"

Setting a vision should involve input from your team members, your bosses, your peers, and your customers. The more contributions you get from others and the more involved they feel in the process, the more likely they are to by in to the ultimate vision you offer them.

That's your objective, really: you want to offer a light that looks so compelling from a distance that people want to follow you through the woods to see what that light is all about.

Living with excellence,
Jo Silvey

[Gina Mahon]

GREAT!