Create the vision. Creating a vision of what the organization desires to happen now or in the future is central to being a visionary leader. The vision is a touchstone to be able to determine what to be aware of, and upon what to focus actions.
Awareness - be on the lookout for opportunities. To be a visionary leader, hold the vision in your thoughts and be aware of what shows up around you to provide input about what action to take.
Action is necessary to make your vision happen. Without action the best of
dreams will never see the light of day. The most effective action originates
from vision combined with awareness. When you take action based upon your vision
and awareness, you have a clear way to make choices about how to allocate your
time and energy, how to prioritize and solve problems, and what resources to
obtain or use.
Is it possible for a single person to arrive at the vision for an organization?
Its possible, but unlikely, that any one person could have all of the information and ideas necessary to create an organizational vision (Bryson, 1995). What I have found from my research with organizations is the best way to get ownership and buy-in of the vision is to get input from the organizations primary stakeholders during the vision process.
Engage stakeholders in a process of dialogue
A process that includes as many employees as possible assures that the vision will incorporate a broad range of ideas. Nanus (1996), who wrote Visionary Leadership, asserts that "the combined knowledge, judgment, and imagination of a group reduces the likelihood that significant factors or trends will be overlooked in the search for a new vision" (p. 22).
It is important to note that: when people share ideas, they may not end up in the vision as they were originally stated. A comment by one person may stimulate additional insights by others. This allows for many perspectives to be brought to the process. These perspectives bring a quality to the vision that would be missing if stakeholder input was not considered (Nanus, 1996).
Who is a stakeholder?
A stakeholder is anyone who has the power to exert influence on the organization in some significant way. A stakeholder could be staff, board of directors, patron, vendor, or another organization. Each has a unique involvement with the organization with different interests, priorities, and expectations.
Ownership and Buy-in of stakeholders
A vision must have the ownership and buy-in of the organizations primary stakeholders; otherwise, the vision becomes an exercise that turns into a document that sits on the shelf. Creating a plan without ownership and buy-ins creates a document that may have little or no chance of being implemented. A vision is an empty dream until it is widely shared and accepted (Nanus, 1992, p. 134).
There are a number of ways to get ownership and buy-in. I did research with one company where the CEO was also the owner. He didnt believe in much input by his employees as to the organizations direction, but he strongly believed in buy-in to his vision. He sold the vision often, when he brought new people on board he asked them if they could commit to the vision, and had clear ways of measuring progress toward the vision. He asked people to leave if they didn't believe in the vision and were committed to work hard to help him attain it.
Creating shared vision
What happens when, instead of a shared vision, each member has different ideas about the vision and values of the organization? This can be compared to a rowboat where one side of the boat is rowing forward and the other side is rowing backwards; the boat will only go in circles. The boat is moving, and everyone is busy, but neither side is moving in the direction they want to go. At some point, people are most likely going to lose interest and motivation. However, if all rowers are rowing in one agreed-upon direction, the boat will move in the direction they want to go. When people experience some movement toward something they desire, they are more willing to continue their efforts. The chances of actualizing the vision become more possible.
So, by having ongoing discussions during the vision process, different views that people have about the direction of the organization can be brought out into the open. The different views that people have can be better addressed, resulting in their interest and motivation being more engaged and provide a more unified effort toward the vision (Nanus, 1992).
A teambuilding experience
Creating the organizational vision can be a teambuilding experience that brings the staff together as a unit, giving them more power to accomplish the vision. Through input, people hear what others are thinking and their interpretations of the vision. This helps people personalize the vision within the context of the larger vision. With input, disagreements about the content of vision can be worked through. Otherwise, there can be resistance to the vision.
A Russian folktale entitled "Stone Soup" best illustrates this idea.
Three hungry soldiers arrived in a village as they made their way home after an unnamed war. They go from house to house seeking some bread, but each villager claims that the postwar cupboards are bare, that even the townspeople are starving, so there is nothing extra for strangers. In despair, the soldiers go to the town square. One of them suddenly announces that he will have to make Stone Soup, and asks to borrow a cauldron and water. Curious onlookers bring these items, and watch while the soldiers located one fine, large, round stone--a zesty soup stone. Others gathered wood quickly and brought embers to light the fire. As the water comes to a boil, a ladle is offered for the first tasting. The lead soldier congratulates the growing crowd on the excellent soup stones they have in their town. Pleased and proud, townspeople draw closer to the strangers and respond quickly when the soldiers suggest that a carrot and a potato would bring out the rich stone flavor. More vegetables, and then soup bones and a joint or two arrive, and then other villagers bring contributions as well. By nightfall, the hearty soup is ready, and it feeds the whole village their richest and happiest meal since long before the war. (Guadiani, 1996, p. 59).
Leadership's Role
The soldiers in this story had a vision of a good meal for themselves. They succeeded in bringing their vision to reality not by telling the villagers their vision, but by capturing the imagination of the villagers. The villagers then gradually became engaged in the process by giving something of their own, something they had resisted giving earlier. The process of Stone Soup enabled the villagers to see and value their assets differently. They became motivated to share their assets. Whatever small amount that they had to offer was more important to share with others, rather than to leave it in their cupboards.
The role of leadership in this story was to entice stakeholders to engage and contribute their talents to bring the vision to life.
A vision is a future state that an organization is moving toward; however, daily environmental influences can pull people's energies off track. By keeping the vision in the forefront of important decision making, there is less likelihood that these daily influences will pull the organization in the wrong direction or backwards to where it came.
Connect with people in a meaningful way about the importance of the vision.
After the vision is created, leadership needs to connect with people in a meaningful way about the importance of the vision. Leadership needs to help people feel that they have chosen to be a part of the vision and adopt the attitude and behaviors to bring the vision to fruition like the Stone Soup story.
Open and honest dialogue between colleagues can assist an organization in developing commitment to, and ownership of, the strategies necessary to bring about the vision (Nanus, 1996).
Vision Makes Decision-Making Easier
Vision is a filter to sort through the myriad choices that are presented daily. Vision keeps people focused on the opportunities that are more aligned with the organizations desired future. When people are aligned with opportunities that support the organizations vision, making the right choice becomes easier.
Lead by example vs. words
A visionary leader models trust, openness, honesty, commitment, enthusiasm, and a capacity to conceive the future.
Leadership leads more by example than words. Leadership must demonstrate by their actions their commitment to the vision and their willingness to take risks. If leadership models commitment and risk taking, the stakeholders are more likely to be committed and take the risks necessary to transform the organization. A visionary leader entices people to engage and contribute their talents to bring a vision to life.
When new people join the organization
When new people join the organization it is necessary for these new people to be made aware of the vision and to be provided an opportunity to give input into the vision. A vision is not static or, once created, set in stone. A vision is a dynamic image of a desired future. The vision can benefit from having the objectivity and ideas of new people joining the organization.
Tight on ends but loose on means
Tom Peters, who wrote In Search of Excellence, suggests that organizations should be: tight on ends, but loose on means. Tight on ends means creating strong commitment to the purpose and vision, while being loose on means allows the people in the organization to be independent and creative in their methods to achieve the vision.
It is important to know what ends the organization is working toward and have action plans to get there; however, it is also important to stay open to the opportunities that are presented that are different than the action plans. Sometimes opportunities and obstacles show up in unusual ways that can significantly move the organization toward a desired future.
Failure is a part of the journey to success
There needs to be a climate that acknowledges that failure is a part of the journey to success. It is important to recognize that on a journey toward the vision it is o.k. to fail occasionally. Periodic failure is essential. If one is not failing they may not be stretching enough or taking risks needed to make something different happen. If one continues doing what they always did they will continue to get what they always got.
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