Without Vision, I believe humans are left blowing aimlessly in the wind—rudderless in turbulent water. That being said, a company’s strategic vision describes what? Let's frame it up a bit together.
vi·sion
/ˈviZHən/
Think of Vision as your unique guidance system, a GPS that keeps you on course and free from all the shiny objects. At the executive level, this Vision is critical for success. These shiny object distractions derail us on our journey, depriving us of our true purpose and why we exist. They steal the impact we could have on others and those we serve.
If assumption is the root of all communication evil, distraction is the thief of Vision, purpose, and impact. This is big stuff, yet it gets minimized by the weeds of the day-to-day!
As an executive leader, your personal vision statement must align with the corporate organizational vision statement at the personal level. Therefore, to me, strategic vision always starts with personal vision.
To Create a Strategic Vision, First Define Your Personal Vision
The first task is alignment with professional/organizational relationships and responsibilities for many reasons. Without that alignment, how can an executive drive organizational vision effectively and effortlessly, without burnout and stress?
If the personal vision is not in alignment from the start, how can there be success? The dilemma is that most corporate executive leaders and small business owners do not have a clearly defined personal vision, let alone a written Vision Statement – I think you know where we are going by now!
Why do most executive leaders lack personal written Vision Statements?
This happens because most executives do not have a personal vision. They are drifting, reacting to what is around them, and painfully doing nothing to reset the course and enjoy a fulfilling life. It is all they know. They lack a support network, courage, ability, the desire to change, and the ability to do it, so they drift into misery. This is not a slam but more an observation of overwhelm and burnout. Yes, that was intended to be overly dramatic, but we know it is true. If you don't have a vision of your own, you are only living someone else's Vision. Think hard about that one.
Sometimes as an executive business coach, I have seen others mock an individual executive leader who dares to share their Vision of themselves for the future. This requires conviction and courage, and to be brave enough to share this personal, intangible truth with others is daring – only to be shot down and mocked is disheartening. This represents poor culture at best—an opportunity for improvement and another conversation for sure.
" If you don't have a vision of your own, you are only living someone else's Vision."
- Jeffrey A. Rogers, CPMBC
What is Strategic Vision Defined as?
An organizational Vision is a picture of the desired future; having a vision is having the ability to think about, imagine, or plan for the desired future. A life vision is, therefore, a picture of the dream life that you would love to live today and every day on the personal level.
The ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.
What are the main characteristics of a vision? Research on visionary leadership suggests that visions have five characteristics: a picture, a change, values, a map, and a challenge (Nanus, 1992; Zaccaro & Banks, 2001).
An Executive Visionary Leader is someone with a strong vision of the future.
How to become an Executive Visionary Leader
This concept informs us - Someone with vision is out of the weeds, in the helicopter, and aware of happenings around them. Visionary Executive Leaders dare to reflect, maintain awareness of their strengths, have the integrity to engage authentically and have courage enough to stand alone if required to harvest the results of the Vision.
Interestingly, the visionary leadership style was first introduced and described by Daniel Goleman in 1995 with his book Emotional Intelligence. He introduced the world to EI here, and we value his work today. At the time, maybe not so much – he had Vision.
Today we add AI, Adaptability to the equation. Why? It turns out that Executive Visionary Leadership is legendary for the Ability to uncover hidden trends in the marketplace and position their organizations for future success. This is not by chance but by intentional effort. Executive Visionary Leaders are free from the weeds and are intentionally aware of what is around them.
More importantly, Executive Visionary Leaders translate this information into action for future success. They are experts and connect the dots, understanding correlations and developing the next right action steps for success. These Executive Visionary Leaders are innovators, and they are creative problem-solvers. They do not stop when obstacles identify themselves. Instead, they thrive on solving the problem.
As with any style, there are pros and cons, and let's explore them together.
| JRCI Pros of Visionary Leadership: |
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· Natural Ability to inspire others |
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· Pursue long-term action |
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· Respects the team and trusts them to do the job |
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· Provides big-picture thinking |
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· Empowers others |
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· Provides focus and priority |
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JRCI Cons of Visionary Leadership |
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· Often fail to communicate the Vision Effectively |
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· Often lose track of the day-to-day operations |
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· Can sometimes not be realistic |
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· Sometimes gets too in front of the team |
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· Other's ideas can be discounted |
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· May not always listen well |
My big idea here is that Executive Visionary Leadership is critical for success. An Executive Leader will go nowhere without clearly envisioning where they want to go. That simple.
