Leadership Skills

What is a Vision?

Avision is nothing more than something in the future that others should aspire towards. When you are going to college, you have a vision of a life and career upon completing your degree—that is a personal vision. The “vision” helps keep you focused on the goal and motivates you to continue towards it. If the vision becomes fuzzy or meaningless, then you will stop moving towards it..

Some people use vision boards to create a graphical representation of the vision, and vision boards work best for individuals rather than teams. Vision boards are often personal in nature, and it is difficult to have a personal connection to someone else’s graphical vision. A shared vision is best created using words rather than images.

A clearly stated vision sets a goal and creates enthusiasm for reaching that goal.

Here are some steps to help create the shared vision for your team:

What is not working, i.e., what do you need to improve? Make sure you have facts, evidence, and justifications for making changes.
What would an ideal solution look like? This step is crucial because to identify the solution, you must ask your team members and anyone involved in the situation for their ideas. During your research, listen closely for aspirations, needs, dreams, and feelings about how to make improvements.
What is the shared vision? Now, using everything you have heard and seen, create a vision that combines everything. Use key words and phrases that you heard. This is not about you, the leader, but rather, it is about your team’s ability to reach those goals.

When you and your team talk about your shared vision, everyone understands the purpose and the reasoning behind it. There is no pulling in different directions, and everyone is headed to the same end. Probably the best example of a shared vision in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech.

Leading & Motivating
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Velda Arnaud, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Lead, Educate, Serve Society
leadeducateserve@gmail.com