Have you ever played the board game Pictionary? It is a derivative of charades but with drawing skills instead of re-enactments. The team is responsible for stating a phrase or word based on the clues the drawer provides. As the game starts, you may have noticed that before any recognizable image is drawn, the participants start screaming out answers. Most if not all answers are shots in the dark that often don’t even have a similarity to the correct answer. As the image becomes more detailed and clear, the answers start to consolidate and the team starts converging on the correct response until they arrive at the answer. This has a lot to do with the next Leadership Condition, Vision.

Like the Pictionary game, Leaders must figuratively draw detailed images of where they are trying to lead the team. Without that descriptive vision, followers will focus in multiple and different directions like the first few moments of the game. In a former post, I defined Vision.

This final condition, Vision is when direction emerges. Sometimes it is the successor of Malaise. As Vision is imposed or shared collectively by a group, other conditions may be initiated that stimulate Leadership.

Vision is the start of the rulebook for the game.  Without Vision, it is difficult to stimulate followership and results. Every Leader must be able to communicate the existing Vision or create a Vision to help their team gain traction and move in the proposed direction. Vision without clarity is an idea not a Vision. A Leader’s Vision must come into focus before it can be ranked as Vision.

Many great companies are catapulted to that status in part to their Vision. Starbucks Corporation is the story of a company with vision.  Wikipedia states, Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world. That ranking doesn’t come easy. They have over 17,000 stores in 49 countries. 11,000 of those stores are in the United States. Starbucks grew to this size from a single coffeehouse in Seattle. In his book, Pour Your Heart Into It, Author and CEO Howard Schultz doesn’t start with explaining the company’s origin through financial statements. In the book, Howard Schultz states,

“The other (how the company was formed, the first being commitment to coffee) is the vision and values I bought to the company: The combination of competitive drive and a profound desire to make sure everyone in the organization could win together. I wanted to blend coffee with romance, to dare to achieve what others said was impossible, to defy the odds with innovative ideas, and to do all this with elegance and style.”

If you are a Starbuck’s fan like me, it seems that Mr. Schultz accomplished his vision. When I go to Starbucks, I experience my coffee unlike pulling up to a convenience store gas station for my caffeine fix. The two experiences couldn’t even be compared in this fan’s humble opinion. Based on Starbuck’s growth, it seems I don’t stand alone.

Earlier in my career, I was managing a sales team. Like any team and organization, we had challenges ahead of us. In this instance, I was in a position to hire each employee, train them, and deploy them to their territories. Some would call that a luxury as opposed to adapting an existing team. Both have their pros and cons which I will have to make a point of writing about in a future blog post. Before I could proceed to hire my team, I had to build my Vision. Strategically, this wouldn’t be different from the companies and every level in between. However, it needed to be drawn with detail relevant to my team and our micro challenges.

I formulated a Vision based on what I felt the team needed to be successful. This wasn’t taken lightly either. It was one of my biggest priorities to get started and steering the team to it was just as critical as we began our day to day activities.  My Vision was, my team would be looked at by our clients as an undeniable and invaluable asset through our consultative posture.  I didn’t envision a team of 10 sales people. I envisioned a team of professionals who would help their clients navigate obstacles and solve problems regardless of selling a product. Selling the product was secondary. Selling the relationship was primary.  Turns out this Vision and the hard work of my team propelled our sales to the top 5 districts in the nation. Vision has incredible propulsion when it is clear and correct.

The headlines are riddled with organizations that have great Vision or are distracted from their Vision. The latter is usually followed by declining stakeholder value. A strong leader must take the reins and lead the beast towards a strong Vision. Think of times when you witnessed Vision.

• What was the event?
• How did you or the Leaders approach it?
• What tactics were used to keep the Vision in focus?
• Was the Vision aligned to higher levels in the organization?
• Did the Vision become a reality? Why or Why not?

Vision is often forgotten or given a low priority. It is very easy to become distracted by life instead your Vision. Day to day events can detour you, putting you in reactive mode. A Leader’s compass often starts with a Vision representing true north. From there, they can navigate the rough currents and find that evasive land mass called success.

You can follow me on Twitter @TerrenceWing and @LiquidLearn