Peter Barron Stark Companies Helping CEOs, Managers & HR Professionals

One Manager Questions the Value of a Vision

During a recent leadership seminar, a participant stated that he felt this “Vision” thing was highly overrated. He went on to add that although it may have value for the executives to create a vision for the organization, there is little value for managers or supervisors to create their own visions.

To define the term concisely, a vision is a clear mental picture of a desired future outcome. A vision is like the picture on a jigsaw puzzle box. It shows you exactly what you are trying to create. Call it a vision, mission, purpose, philosophy, or values…the labels vary, but they usually describe the same thing: the overarching purpose of an organization. Some organizations even give employees laminated copies of these carefully crafted, highly worded sentiments, which get placed in a wallet or purse, or better yet, are used as the bookmark for the corporate policy manual.

The problem with the “vision” thing is twofold. First, some organizations do not have a clear vision of where they are heading. Second, other organizations have a stated vision, but they are not living the vision or bringing it to reality. Both of these problems will cause motivation, morale, and productivity to decline.

The participant who asked the original question in this blog was right–the vision thing was overrated. At the participant’s company, the executives passed out nice little cards with the new vision. That was the last time the employee heard about the company’s vision. Even worse, the actions of managers at the company were the antithesis of what is in the vision.

But even in organizations where visions have floundered, a vision can be an incredibly powerful tool for managers and supervisors. Managers and supervisors find it helpful to create visions in two areas.

First, it is helpful to have a Personal Leadership Vision. This is a clear mental picture of how you want others to see you as a leader. It is important to note that this vision has nothing to do with your department’s vision. An example might look like this:

“I am a leader who truly values the contributions of my people and cares about them as individuals. I am also an enthusiastic leader who has the reputation for taking responsibility, getting things done, and who can take calculated risks when necessary. Last, I enjoy the work I do and create an environment where people have fun!”

Some suggestions for creating your Personal Leadership Vision:

• Focus on what you would like your employees–your followers–to say about you as a leader.
• Write down what you want…not what you do not want.
• Make daily decisions that support the vision.
• Do not share your vision until you have “walked your talk” for at least a year.

Second, you will also find it helpful to have a vision for your department or area of influence, a Departmental Vision. This vision needs to tie into the organization’s vision or mission. Unlike your Personal Leadership Vision, you will find it helpful to involve your team members in creating this vision. The more the people on your team participate, the higher the chances are that they will feel ownership. An example might look like this:

“We are a department who gets the job done right…the first time. We have a ‘can do’ attitude and work incredibly well as a team–both interdepartmentally and cross-departmentally in the organization. We are recognized as a great department to work in by others in the company because we do a great job, have high productivity, and have fun doing our work!”

Some suggestions on creating a Departmental Vision:

• Get others in the department involved.
• Get people to focus on what you want to create, not what you want to avoid.
• Shoot for a vision the group will be proud of attaining.
• Tell the group the vision is not about the realities of today, but about working toward creating a better tomorrow.

If you do create a Personal Leadership Vision and a Departmental Vision, you will find that your employees are more motivated. Most people get excited and will direct their energy to creating something better. If we are not working to make things better, than we are working in environments where things are staying the same or where things are getting worse…situations that are definitely not motivating.

When created from the heart, visions are well worth the effort…both personally and professionally.

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