Why It's Critical Our Leaders Have a Vision

Imagine you were sitting here 5,10,20 years from now. What would you say your life would look like? Some may say a family, house paid off or even sitting at a lake house retired with a beverage in their hand. As individuals, these visions of our future help us meet our goals and persevere through obstacles in order to achieve them.

Now, let’s say you were asked to come in every day and complete your TPS reports with the cover page included. The outcome here is that you will only get approached when you have made a mistake and the memo will be sequentially presented to you (hoping my Office Space fans will get this analogy).

In all reality, a clear and well-supported vision is crucial in building culture and achieving efficiency in the work place. Employees are much more likely to tie on to the emotional connections of a vision, than to commit to a quantitative or qualitative goal that they are being asked to meet. Why is this? That’s what the boss wants to hear, right? Of course, it is exactly what any shareholders or high-level leader would like to hear, but the problem then lies in sustainability. The temporary fix in turn creates excessive work, increased stress and elevated turnover.

People are longing for a vision that ties true to the work they are dedicating their lives to. After all, everyone likes to feel that their work is meaningful and contributes to the larger part of enhancing our society. Every day we leave our house and families to contribute toward making our lives a better place or to create a life we have always imagined. In doing so, the vision of what that may look like for each of us, pulls us into the office and into a mode of executing our workload. Imagine if the vision of the organization was so strong that it clearly aligned with your personal and professional goals. The vision itself moved you so much that you were no longer executing your workload or typing TPS reports, instead you were working efficiently and productively toward enhancing the future of your organization.

A leader that enters an organization confidently, with well-defined morals and values, typically sets a clearly connected vision for the people he/she is wanting to follow them. Although we know that the vision is not the only attribute that makes a great leader, but it does grab the attention of a workforce to urgently enhance outcomes. An inspiring vision sets the tone for the team and clearly defines the work the new leader is asking the organization to aspire toward. 

Teams tend to struggle in times of adversity and lean on their leaders as a visionary to redirect the mission and bring everyone back to a sense of stability. During times of change an organization longs for a visionary leader, someone to set the stage and deliver the sense of stability that has been missing. Now, if the leader fails to communicate or deliver a vision, the workforce is left in turmoil, a sense of burnout and lack of motivation. The failure to communicate a swift and clear vision can impact a team in a negative manner by delaying action, increasing turnover and causing the leader to lose respect at an early stage.

Aside from setting goals and asking for TPS reports, it is critical that leaders take the time to formulate their vision to ensure employees are bought into better outcomes. So, how do we do it? How does a leader begin to develop the vision? Below are four main components that are necessary for building a clear vision.

Effective leadership and implementation of change must begin with strategically building your organization's purpose. Including key stakeholders and utilizing proper communication channels is key towards organizational alignment, as well as execution. As leaders we must ask ourselves what we are striving for daily and it's critical in the evolution of developing our teams towards success.