A Vision, The Vision Statement and the Visionary Leader
Gary Rush IAF Certified Professional Facilitator Master
Transforming your workforce by developing collaborative leadership increasing performance 'n engagement | 5X LinkedIn Top Voice - Facilitation, Team Facilitation, Team Management, Team Leadership, Team Building
I’ve read numerous posts and articles in LinkedIn regarding a visionary leader needing to be able to communicate his or her vision to the staff.? I’ve always commented that instead of communicating ‘to’ the staff, engage them and communicate ‘with’ the staff.? I strongly support the idea of a visionary leader, so I want to clarify what I mean.
A Vision
A vision is a very broad direction, such as,
“Our company will be the leading edge of technology.”?
That is a vision from a visionary leader.? Communicating that to the staff is important, but difficult to set goals.? It doesn’t tell the team what it means, how it feels, or what it looks like – they will not recognize it when or if they reach it.? They will have difficulty setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, and Time-based) Objectives because it is too vague.? It is a Vision; it is important but not yet complete.
A Vision Statement
To make the ‘vision’ complete and meaningful to the organization and team, a Vision Statement needs to be crafted.? This is when the truly visionary and collaborative leader engages the staff in creating a Vision Statement that they all can own and support.? The visionary leader together with his or her staff collaboratively creates a statement that articulates the ‘vision’ in a way that it meets the following…
A vision is a desired position reached specified in sufficient detail so that an organization recognizes it when they reach it – it is its aspiration.? It sets the overall direction for a business.? Effort is directed towards attaining the vision.
The first sentence is critical.? A vision that is impossible to know if you have achieved it can cause an organization to aim for different, often competing goals and they will disagree whether they have met it.? Therefore, a Vision Statement for the above Vision may look like…
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“We create innovative IT technology that others in the industry are copying to keep up.”
The organization can know if they have reached it, and it is a statement that enables the organization to define SMART Objectives setting targets towards reaching the Vision.
Visions also need to be long term.? There are companies with 50- to 100-year Visions – they are leading their industry.? Shorter than 20 years creates a reactive organization.? The more volatile the business, such as high-tech and those that may change with new government administrations, the longer term the Vision should be – it changes an organization from being a follower (reactive) to a leader (proactive).? Many organizations set ‘5-year visions’ some even shorter.? That puts them continuously in a reactive mode.? Lead and make other organizations follow you.
I worked with a high-tech client who was merging with another company that had bought them.? The merger was happening in 6 months.? I encouraged him to set a 20-year vision.?He asked, “Why?”? I explained that if he did not set a long-term vision, when the other company took over, he would be following their vision (victim syndrome).? If he set one, when the other company took over, they might decide his vision was excellent and follow the vision he set (proactive).? He had nothing to lose by setting a long-term vision and everything to gain.? His organization set a 20-year vision and when the other company took over, they followed his vision.
A Visionary Leader
Leaders should be visionary to set bold directions for their organizations – they set a Vision.? They also need to be collaborative and engage their team and their organization in defining and supporting the vision – they collaboratively create a Vision Statement.? That way, a visionary leader doesn’t communicate ‘to’ the organization, instead communicates ‘with’ the organization.
About Gary Rush, IAF CPF | Master
I’ve been a facilitator since 1983 and training others ‘how to’ facilitate since 1985.? I’ve written numerous books on facilitation, collaborative leadership, business data modeling, and strategic planning.? I teach ‘how to’ create a Vision Statement in my 4-day FoCuSeD? Facilitator Academy .? Contact me for more information.
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4 个月Gary para este tipo de declaraciones, se hacen por hacer pero esta diferenciación de los temas dan una claridad de lo que es necesario no perder de vista
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4 个月Gary Congratulations, on an outstanding article! You offer an insightful and comprehensive perspective on effective leadership within an organization. Your emphasis on distinguishing between a 'vision' and a 'vision statement' is particularly enlightening. Gary argues convincingly that a vision, while providing a broad direction, needs to be complemented with a collaboratively crafted vision statement for it to be actionable and meaningful. As the quote said, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” Gary's examples vividly illustrate the importance of long-term planning over reactive short-term goals, setting a precedent for forward-thinking leadership. By advocating for communication 'with' rather than 'to' the staff, Gary underscores the importance of engagement and inclusivity in leadership practices.
Co-Founder @ LA CAJA MIAMI | Visionary Designer, Creator, and Consultant with over a decade of experience in Financial Services. Let's build the future together!
4 个月Agreed! 5 year goals, 10 year plans, and multi-generational visions!