How to Enroll Your Team into a Vision

In times of uncertainty, we look to our leaders to have clarity of vision. To see a version of an ideal future that is beyond today's experiences of fear, anxiety and frustration. As we celebrate President's Day, we also celebrate the visions of our most impactful presidents and their leadership conversations that enrolled the support of a nation.

At Valley Forge, George Washington revealed his vision for America through the image of an "angel upon whose head still shown the word UNION, and who bore our national flag in one hand, and a sword in the other"

After the Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln declared his vision for a reunited America: "this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

In the early days of the Space Race, John F. Kennedy shared his vision of America as a global leader in science and technology: "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we’re willing to accept."

A critical leadership communication skill is enrolling your audience to your vision for the future. Let's explore how President Kennedy used his heroic voice to enroll America to win the Space Race, and identify best practices for your leadership conversations and presentations.

Define the Journey

"We shall send to the moon 240,000 miles away, a giant rocket, more than 300 feet tall on an untried mission to an unknown celestial body, and then return it safely to Earth."

At the time of President Kennedy's speech, America was losing and losing often, coming in second in the major milestones of space exploration. He humbly admitted, "we are behind, and will be behind for some time in manned flight. But we do not intend to stay behind, and in this decade, we shall make up and move ahead."

Effective leaders start by demonstrating their solid grasp on today's challenges and the core issues that we face. They highlight achievements to recognize outstanding effort and to convey confidence. They also highlight failures to eliminate inefficiencies and to spark new levels of creativity and performance.

This introduction provides your team with the intellectual clarity to understand where we are today. It also provides emotional clarity and the desire to move beyond today's fear, anxiety and frustration.

Continue the conversation with your vision for the future. In President Kennedy's mind, he saw an astronaut standing on the moon and planting the American flag. This image sparked the minds and touch the hearts of every member of his audience.

What is your vision for tomorrow? In the workplace, picture a boardrooms filled with diverse knowledge, experiences and ethnicities. As an organization, picture winning "Best Places to Work" as an annual achievement. For each team member, picture them doing their best work, powered by the trust and autonomy to choose where and when to work.

NASA/LARC/Bob Nye. "John Houbolt explaining the LOR concept"

Resources and Skills

President Kennedy took the stage to highlight all of the resources that have been collected and committed to this vision. "During the next 5 years the National Aeronautics and Space Administration expects to double the number of scientists and engineers in this area, to increase its outlays for salaries and expenses to $60 million a year; to invest some $200 million in plant and laboratory facilities; and to direct or contract for new space efforts over $1 billion from this Center in this City."

As a leader, what resources have you gathered in support of your vision. Use your heroic voice to deliver leadership conversations that generate money, support and reputation. Money comes in the form of investment, revenue, donations and grants. Support comes from partners, sponsors, policy makers, and team members. Reputation comes from word of mouth, published articles, media interviews, and company case studies.

Once your audience is confident in the present and future resources available to them, they are ready to hear your plan. Specifically, they are primed to hear how they can personally apply their skills and resources to contribute to the vision.

NASA Engineer Jon Houbolt, delivered many presentations about the Lunar Orbit Rendevous (LOR) mission mode, a plan to fulfill President Kennedy's vision to land an astronaut on the moon and return them to Earth. His plan successfully optimized rocket and spacecraft technologies, saving billions of dollars.

As a leader, how do you plan on using the resources you've generated? Some key elements to share with your team: a detailed budget to fully fund each milestone, a hiring and recruiting strategy to assemble a world-class team, marketing and partnership plans to accelerate the pace of achievement.

Win Today and Win Tomorrow

"The growth of our science and education will be enriched by new knowledge of our universe and environment, by new techniques of learning and mapping and observation, by new tools and computers for industry, medicine, the home as well as the school.?"

In this final section of enrolling your audience into the vision, your objective is to communicate the urgency of the current challenge, and the necessity to take immediate action. President Kennedy challenged the audience, "No nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in the race for space."

As a leader, communicate the financial, societal, and emotional costs of the problem at hand. Include the projected costs of delaying the effort to solve the problem. In the workplace today, organizations are faced with team members who are leaving for a multitude of reasons. If this trend is allowed to continue, it will certainly threaten your organization's performance, reputation and viability .

To effectively close the conversation, bring your vision to the forefront. Take the time to reconnect with the hearts and minds in your audience. Help your audience envision the finish line, celebrating the intellectual and emotional wins with each other.

Finally, borrow from President's Kennedy example of all of the future opportunities to win. By winning the space race, it would lead to significant advances in science, medicine and education. When you and your team achieve the vision, what other doors of possibility are opened? Your audience is motivated to win today, and are even more motivated with opportunities to win tomorrow.

The Workout: Enroll your Audience

Use this framework to shape the vision for your team, organization or industry. Share your vision in a way that communicates trust, creates connection and builds relationships.

DEFINE THE JOURNEY

Start with the question "Where are we today?" Highlight both the achievements and failures to demonstrate your solid grasp of the challenge at hand. Answer the question "Where are we going?" with a picture that connects with the hearts and minds of your audience.

COLLECT THE RESOURCES, CREATE A PLAN

As a leader, set your team up for success. Share the resources you've generated and committed to support the efforts of each team member. Share your plan to optimize and utilize these resources to achieve the vision.

START THE JOURNEY

When you've successfully delivered your message, invite your audience to take immediate action. Highlight the costs of not solving the problem. Close with the invitation to win today and win tomorrow.

Expand the Capacity of your Heroic Voice

To accelerate your mission and magnify your impact, consider joining our?Presentation ROI MasterClass. The program prepares you for your most important presentations and conversations. Compose 7 leadership presentations, elevate 6 essential message delivery skills, record your signature presentation.

Schedule an appointment?with one of our executive communications coaches, and learn how the MasterClass will prepare you to generate money, support and reputation from all of your leadership presentations.