Do You Need to Have Your Vision Checked?
In the 360-Degree Leader, John Maxwell shares about the Vision Challenge. The Vision Challenge is felt by leaders when they find championing a vision more difficult when they didn’t create it. There are many reasons why this challenge might exist. You may not fully understand the vision or perhaps not completely agree with it. More than likely, the real reason you may be feeling the Vision Challenge is a lack of clarity with your role or your team’s role in achieving the vision.
3 Tips for Championing a Vision You Didn’t Create
Assuming you know the vision for your organization, there are ways to make promoting and communicating the vision easier even though you didn’t have a voice in creating it.
- Adapt to the Vision: Do you and your team know how your work contributes to the company’s vision? One of the most important things a leader can do regarding the organizational vision is ensure that your department knows their role in the vision and why what they do matters.
- Champion the Vision: The only way the vision can be accomplished is through the efforts of many people. Strong leaders take the vision from “me” to “we.” You become a champion of the vision when you put the organization’s needs ahead of your own and keep the vision visible to the people on your team. You also increase your ability to champion the vision when everyone on your team knows their role in accomplishing the vision.
- Add Value to the Vision: You go beyond simply championing the vision when you intentionally look for ways to add value to the vision. Leaders add value to the vision when they look for specific ways to apply it to their department. Leaders can also add value by finding ways to focus the vision to make it more real for all involved.
When everyone on your team understands the vision and their role in fulfilling the vision, several things happen:
- Eyes and ears are open to new possibilities that align with the vision
- You increase your ability to separate the good things you could be doing from the great things you should be doing
- You improve execution, helping the team stay focused on things that really matter
Unless you are a top leader, it can be challenging to help others fulfill their vision for the company rather than working to put your own vision in action. Attacking, ignoring, or abandoning the vision is not an option. Great leaders find ways to adapt, champion, and add value to the vision wherever they sit in the organization.
Perry Holley is a coach and facilitator with the John Maxwell Company’s Corporate Solutions Group as well as a published author. He has a passion for developing others and seeing people grow into the leaders they were intended to become.