Vision - the Missing Critical Piece of your Career Plan and How to Create It

Note: I wrote this article as the world was monitoring the health of Queen Elizabeth II and as we learned of her passing. I'm inspired by the example of service, impact, and grace that she set for all of us.? May she rest in peace.?

It's become almost a cliche to say that every career needs to be guided by a strong vision.?That "if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there", per the words of Alice in Wonderland.?However, in my observation working with almost a hundred mid-career women in tech roles,

very few understand what "vision" really is and even fewer understand what it feels to have a strong vision to guide them in their careers.

And yet, I have seen the power of a strong vision is not just transforming professional women, but giving them clarity, direction and purpose that is unstoppable.?It's like igniting a perpetual engine inside of them that keeps going and going and going.?

Of all the foundational steps you can take to further your career, creating a strong vision is probably the most important thing you can do.

The benefits of having a clear vision are hard to dispute.?We all know people in our lives who are unfazed by daily challenges and setbacks, and who keep their spirits up no matter what happens. They are able to remain above all the fray going on in their lives, they take everything in stride and seem to always keep the big picture in perspective. That's what comes with having a strong, living vision inside of you.?They rise above the petty grievances and resentments and come across as the "bigger person", radiating grace.??

You can't define it but you know it when you see it - in the examples of people like the Queen of England (whose death was just announced as I write this), Michelle Obama and other inspirational leaders.??

Be careful not to label a "vision" as not for me

There's a danger in admiring public figures who display strong visions.?And that is - you may conclude that a "vision" is not for you.?That you're not big enough and important enough to have a vision. That you have bills to pay.?

A vision is a fire that can be lit in every one of us. I would argue that finding and cultivating?a strong living vision is the single most important foundational step you can take to gain clarity, direction, and momentum in your career.??

There are three unique challenges to connecting with your strong vision.

Challenge 1: The distracting gravitational pull of everyday urgency

Life and work are like swift-moving rivers that just carry us on their currents.?It's too hard to pause, reflect and calibrate - there's always something pressing, something urgent that demands our attention and distracts us from thinking about the future.??

It's extremely important that you create intentional space for the vision and allow yourself to dream freely. That could look like an hour a week, an afternoon in a month, or a weekend over the course of a year.?Whatever it is for you, be intentional about creating this space and allow yourself to get inspired and energized by what's possible.

Challenge 2: Our inability to emotionally connect with our future selves

I recently came across some fascinating research from UCLA and Stanford that sheds light on the reason so few people save enough for retirement.??

A surprising contributing factor is that most of us don't emotionally connect with our future selves. The researchers explain:?

"[The scientists] compared the neural patterns in the brains of subjects who were asked to describe their current selves, their future selves 10 years hence, as well as other people. Across the board, the neural patterns evoked from thinking about the future self were most similar to the patterns that arose when thinking about another person.

In other words, on a brain level, the future self “looked” like another person. And, the research participants who had the biggest differences in brain activations — that is, the people for whom the future self looked most like another person — were the ones who were the least patient about making a financial decision during an exercise, meaning that they weren’t willing to wait for larger financial rewards later."(source: UCLA )

So, taking the time to envision your future self and develop a relationship with her, not just intellectually, but more importantly - emotionally - will go far in directing your actions in the present, and act as an emotional north star for you.

Challenge 3:?A vision is not the same as a personal achievement plan?

Finally, I would love to take inspiration from the late Queen Elizabeth II's monumental life and example.?She spent her whole life in service, all the way up to 2 days before her death when she fulfilled her constitutional duty of appointing her 15th prime minister - one who was born more than 100 years after the first prime minister appointed by the Queen - Winston Churchill.?

Visions that truly inspire us and sustain us through all of life's challenges have one thing in common - they're not about us. They're not about "what's in it for us", what we get to achieve and "get".

The strongest and most powerful visions are about others - about our impact on the larger world, about the mission we've been called to fill, the legacy that we're creating, and the mark that we'll leave once we're gone.??

So, think - What are the communities you feel passionate about and want to serve? Who do you want to make a difference for? If you know how many days you had left on this Earth, what cause would you choose to serve? How would you spend your precious time? What legacy would you like to leave?

These are important, foundational questions that can't be "hacked" or answered lightly.?These are profound questions that require introspection and the cultivation of a relationship to your inner self over many days, weeks and years.?

I urge you to start cultivating this relationship immediately so that you develop your own private and authentic answers to the fundamental question of "who do you want to serve?".??

Crafting a career vision is one of the fundamental results that multiple dozens of professional women in tech have created in our 3 month Denali Executive Accelerator . Applications for the 7th Cohort are now open at www.executiveaccelerator.co through Sept. 19th.?This is the last time we'll be teaching this Program live before we transition it to an evergreen model.??