How to Practice Vision
 
When I coach organizations and individuals on the importance of vision, I tell them to start their visionary thoughts with the words “I see…”  “I see…” statements are followed by vision thoughts that are:

• Intense – vision invokes strong feelings.
• Personal – vision is unique to the one envisioning.
• Vivid – vision often takes on the properties of a mental picture.
• Passionate – vision is something that we must do. 

Stepping back and contemplating vision has birthed businesses, started great philanthropic works and helped people like you and I understand our own personal life mission. Jonathan Swift wrote “Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.”  I have found this process to be nothing short of POWERFUL!

Jack Welch, who started on the shop floor and later ran General Electric, had this to say about vision: "Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion."  Never underestimate the importance of focusing on vision.

What is Your Vision

Beginning to Dream
 
Michael Hyatt wrote an article describing his journey of taking a struggling company from an “ash heap” to a place of success.  He acknowledges his natural bent to think too small. He says, “Through the years, I had learned that if you think about strategy (the “how”) too early, it will actually inhibit your vision (the “what”) and block you from thinking as big as you need to think.”… “The problem is that people get stuck on the how. They don’t see how they could accomplish more, so they throttle back their vision, convinced that they must be “realistic.”

Taking Hyatt’s advice, to dream big we need to discipline ourselves to focus more on the “what” instead of the “how.”  The level of discipline to do so varies from person to person depending on their personality type.  As an example, I must be very disciplined because I am a strategic thinker. I have to resist the temptation to jump prematurely to strategy.  People with personalities different from mine find it easier to focus on the “what” and avoid jumping to the “how.”

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."

Harriet Tubman had this to say concerning vision when she said, "Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."

It All Starts With Vision

What Do You See?
It was Warren Bennis who said,"Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality."
Vision is a picture of what we believe the future will look like.  It is a reality that we anticipate and a belief about what should be.  

While I have led organizations and individuals through the steps of strategic planning for some time, the issue of vision is a more recent discovery for me. I have learned that while an organization or person may have a plan for success, if I have them place a greater focus on vision, their strategy becomes better and they are more successful.