Creating Shared Vision

I absolutely love the energy that comes from visualizing a new outcome. This can be for a new work opportunity, envisioning a personal goal (and the ultimate success against that goal), or even starting a new vehicle restoration project or home project. Thinking about accomplishing something new, challenging, and that will take a bit of personal commitment and growth mindset sparks such creative and actionable energy – I might even label it as addicting! But with every yen, comes its yang. One of the most deflating experiences for me comes when I have all that energy and excitement, and then when I share that with a partner, peer, team-member, boss, or my spouse only for them to have a completely different vision. Wha wha whaaaaa… ??

What I’ve just described is a lack of shared vision. Peter Senge, in his book "The Fifth Discipline" describes a shared vision as "... a force in people's hearts, a force of impressive power....At its simplest level, a shared vision is the answer to the question, "What do we want to create?"?When shared vision exists, partnership and alignment can seem almost effortless. Goals align and are up-leveled rapidly, balance of effort and investment develops more organically, and appreciation, support, and advocacy all occur more equally. Roadblocks are navigated with a willingness from all parties that is almost palpable. When shared vision is lacking however, the smallest details seem to derail everything. There can be a lack of interest, support, or even engagement in the pursuit that, at its most basic level, is absolutely frustrating for everyone. I read a Harvard Business Review article recently called “To Lead, Create a Shared Vision” and written within that article was this excerpt:

“In an ongoing project surveying tens of thousands of working people around the world, we asked, “What do you look for and admire in a leader (defined as someone whose direction you would willingly follow)?” Then we asked, “What do you look for and admire in a colleague (defined as someone you’d like to have on your team)?” The number one requirement of a leader—honesty—was also the top-ranking attribute of a good colleague. But the second-highest requirement of a leader, that he or she be forward-looking, applied only to the leader role.”

But if creating and finding a shared vision is so critical to an energizing and successful environment, how do we create one? Below are a few ideas to get us started:

• Know Our Audience – Knowing our audience is the key to working with others quite often. This skill and step in these processes is about inclusion and thoughtfulness about the others we engage with when it really comes down to it. What are their past experiences we need to consider? What are their selfish ambitions, goals, and needs? What are the others being pressured to do, solve for, or accomplish? How do the members of our audience best receive information, ideas, and suggestions? These are just the beginning of the questions we must ask ourselves before sharing our idea/pitch/recommendation with others.

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• Choose Words Wisely – The words we choose when sharing our idea/pitch/recommendation with others matters a lot. This isn’t to say we need to be scripted or overly prepared with our messaging and communication, but it does remind us that we need to be thoughtful about the language chosen when sharing with others. Initially we must ensure our language is aligned with our vision. Context, communication style, structure, and embedding words that are illustrative are all essential. But so is being authentic to each of our own communication styles – nothing is a bigger trigger for the audience to put a wall up than feeling like they’re being fed a line. Practice with a trusted partner before when possible and ask them to share critical feedback about what the message evokes within them – this makes a world of difference!

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• Illustrate the Future – Illustrating the future is a core skill for those attempting to lead others (even if it’s down the path of a shared vision). As shared above from HBR, the 2nd quality after honesty that others want in someone leading them is the ability to be forward looking. Playing out various scenarios in our planning, solving for likely stumbling blocks, and considering the various interpersonal or interdependent items that may arise are all great initial steps to take in being forward-looking. Then incorporating those prepared elements into our communication being used to create shared vision demonstrates for our audience this quality.

So, imagine for a moment the thing that’s the most exciting for you in your life right now. Feel that energy that’s bubbling up a bit inside? Now think about transferring all that energy to the other person/people you need to align, support, or agree with the outcome you feel so stimulated by. We are transferring that energy by meeting the other(s) where they are in terms of their backgrounds, experiences, and potential hesitations based on challenged outcomes in their past. We are transferring that energy by sharing all the reasons and context that we already have which has created such enthusiasm within ourselves. And then we are painting a picture of the future and all the happiness, satisfaction, or appreciation that we will all share by reaching the envisioned outcome. Successfully doing all of this has just created a shared vision and along with that, the partnership and alignment needed to take our first through last steps on the journey to success.

Well done! ??