Vision

Vision seems like a really easy thing to understand. "This is where we want to go." Unfortunately, a lot of lesser leaders tend to leave it there. They have an idea, or a set of goals and they think that by simply articulating that to the team that maybe or hopefully things will work as intended. Or they lack the forethought to explain in more detail. There is another very important and underrated part of vision and that is ensuring that the team that you are responsible for possesses the tools, resources, experience, and skills necessary to complete the task or build towards what is trying to be accomplished.

Let's break each one of those down. Tools are devices or implements used to carry out a particular function. This can mean physical, technological, or the infrastructure necessary to complete the day-to-day work. Resources, while seemingly vast can be thought of in most cases as the human capital and financial means to meet the needs of the current and short-term future state. Experience is fairly self-explanatory but cannot be understated. The need for true and balanced tenure in today's workplace massive. The ability to lean on real life observations and past involvement during work is absolutely invaluable and in a lot of cases becoming scarce. Lastly, skills meaning the ability to do something at a high level consistently.

If you or your organization are not able or prepared to meet the criteria above, then the vision regardless of the how well it is communicated is going to be difficult achieve. But I think that in itself is the whole point. You as the leader have to see the desired outcome, the things needed to reach it, and the way in which you want it to be done. If any of those things are missing, then the vision isn't complete, and you are setting the team up for potential failure.

When I think about some of the biggest mistakes that I have seen made it almost always comes back to a lack of strategy or vision. Failing to understand who your most important people are, being unwilling to spend money in the face of current and known incoming growth, staffing challenges due to shortsighted thinking, and wanting to do things the same way they have always been done when the operation is in desperate need of change are all tell-tale signs of a group that wants to talk but has no real foresight for the future.

The real question as a leader is can you see the forest through the trees? Are you willing to empower, encourage, trust, and push your team to where you and they want to go? If you answered yes, then think about your vision and how you articulate it. Then make continual bold and positive changes to both. Hope this helps.