IF YOU CAN’T SEE IT, THEY WON’T FOLLOW
I recently delivered a speech at a conference of highly motivated professionals, each a leader in their craft . Th e message was about being crystal clear in their goals. Th is is so important that I had them do what I called a starter-kit exercise wherein they identified some specifics in what they wanted to accomplish in their area of authority.
Details were to be filled in as they returned to the exercise on their own. The most important part of this kind of exercise is to bring specifics in the greatest of detail to light in what they wrote. You see, once we have clarity in what we have as a vision we can then devise a way to communicate that vision to others.
It is the strictest of duties we as leaders have, to communicate our vision of the future. Th e future is what we are all working toward and without a clear vision of where you are taking your team they will not follow! Once the vision is clarified regarding what you are working to achieve considering, for example: financial goals, professional reputation, or culture, you can start the journey down the road of communications.
My focus was upon the creation of the clear vision. My colleague, Kim, in a post-lecture summary we did with the audience, really put her fi nger on where the rubber meets the road—communication.
What she pointed out was the fact that too many of us assume other people get what we see. Th at assumption kills the realization of many visions because team members are not truly on the same page—we just think they are.
We all think in pictures, not words. If I were to say to you think of an elephant an image jumps into your head. You do not start to spell the word elephant. That image could be a comical rendering, a precise photograph, a memory of when you saw an elephant for the first time, a baby elephant, big tusks, et cetera. You get the point we all think a little differently and that is what we as leaders must be mindful of—that other people will see what they want to see until you supply greater detail to the picture you want them to see.
So, if you are trying to build a business in your local community or a worldwide enterprise, you need to start spelling out the details of what that looks like. First you spell it to yourself. Sometimes you might need a little help—I get help with these articles from our editor, Allison—as we all could use a fresh set of eyes to help with the clarification process. Then we can practice enunciating how that would sound declaring it to others.
Th en we can move to the phase wherein we can share that vision with others. That sharing of a greatly defined vision increases our odds at being successful in being the one who’s driving.
