My window from my hotel here in Buenos Aires overlooks one of the city’s mass transit areas. In the morning and in the evening there are thousands of people and cars moving busily back and forth to their various destinations.
I am high enough up to have a macro view of the world on the street below. The rows of cars and people are all moving with purpose, there is no lollygagging around. Everybody is very clear about where they are going and they are moving in the right direction as quickly as they can.
The Power of Clarity
I am not surprised by the clarity that these commuters possess. It is not unexpected that a person on her way to work would know the way and feel certain about how she is going to get there. Yes, knowing how to get to work is not that spectacular.
Still, as I watch the movement below, I realize that most of the challenges that we face are the result of a lack of clarity. Yesterday, the transportation service that I use, sent a driver who did not know how to get me to the office. Even though he had GPS device, he could not find his way. It was a very nerve wracking ride. I knew where we were supposed to go, but he was too stubborn to listen to me and kept looking at his GPS believing that it would eventually give him the right answer. It never did, and he finally listened to me. His lack of clarity frustrated me to no end and added about 35 minutes to my trip.
The same type of frustration is felt by those who find themselves following a leader who does not know where he is going. There are many leaders who fall in this category. They may know their way to work, but that is about it. They are thinking about what needs to be done today, instead of the big picture.
Big picture thinking is one of the most important characteristics of leadership. It is what allows the leader to identify and express a vision. Until the leader expresses a vision, the people following feel like they are wandering to and fro. They have no clarity, which results in an inability to walk with purpose.
Finding Your Vision
I have been hired by many of my clients to develop vision statements. The first thing we get clear on is that he or she is the source of the vision, not me. This is challenging at first because there is usually some level of belief that a vision is something you can borrow or purchase from somebody else. It is not.
The leader, must be the source of the vision. It is usually there, but sometimes there is a little uncertainty about expressing it. There is no need to fear. When those in supporting roles see the vision of the leader, they are energized and easily become engaged in making it a reality. This is generally true about all visions that are expressed clearly. It is uncertainty or a lack of vision all together that turns most people off.
The most important thing you can do as a leader is to express your vision in a clear and precise way. In order to do that, you must know what it is. If I ask you, "what is your vision?", you should be able to immediately answer me in a way that I can understand. Most people can’t do this.
Powerful Questions
You find your vision by asking the right questions. The answers to those questions, must connect you with your long term goals and personal values. This is what it means to begin with the end in mind. You must know where it is you want to go, before you can get there.
One of my clients recently said that his vision as a leader is that he wants everybody that works with him to be able to say when either he or they move on, that he helped them grow. This is a great vision. He knew that if that was true, they would accomplish the other important goals such as generating revenue and increasing market share. He felt this area was key and decided that he wanted to focus on it.
He knew that he was not there yet, so we began to ask the questions that would get him there. How do I need to behave to make this a reality? What do I need to give my people that I am not giving them now? How do I go about communicating this vision to my people? What if they get so focused on this that they forget to produce results? How will I measure my success during the course of the journey? How can I correct people and still be seen as helping them grow?
There were many more questions that we began to ask and we still are engaging in discovering even more powerful questions to arrive at this destination.
What Does Your Vision Look Like?
Whether you find yourself in the role as a Leader with a capital "L" or not, it is still very important for you to discover your own vision. What do you want out of life? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? What do you need to do to get there? Are you certain about your vision? Certain enough that you can walk right to it like the people I described leaving the train station this morning? If you are not, then it is time to get to work.
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