Toolkit
Leadership
Visioning
What
Systematic process to use your imagination as a leader to create a compelling future for your team and organization to pursue.
Why
Visioning is the number one practice of a successful leader. If you aspire to be a visionary leader, your most important job is to create the North Star for your work and paint it in sufficient detail such that people get excited to participate in co-creating it. It HAS to be bigger than what you can accomplish alone and people need to also see the space in it for their full expression. That means having a bold-enough vision that people are wowed by the prospect of achieving it and not so bold that they feel it is impossible.
How
Ideally, you develop an internal clarity about the boldest possible version of the vision you are creating, but you publicly stand in the boldest version that team members or allies can believe is possible to achieve. Then, as you demonstrate success and momentum, you can reveal more. Because most people have a hard time seeing themselves accomplishing things far beyond where they are right now, your job as a visionary leader is to be expanding and lifting everyone’s sense of what’s possible…
… AND identifying clear pathways for making it real.
Reflect on your deeper purpose and the deeper purpose of the organization. (see discovering your purpose). Clarify your intent.
Get quiet and begin to reflect on what the world would look like, if your purpose (as further operationalized by your mission and goals), was fully realized.
Make note of what you see in your mind’s eye. Focus on details that inspire you and that are aligned with the deeper purpose of the organization. Really feel into it and allow yourself to make an emotional connection.
If you are struggling or not coming up with anything compelling, consider a change of location or physical orientation. If sitting, consider going for a walk. If sitting, consider lying down. Repeat the reflection steps.
Reflecting on your vision, consider steps required to achieve intermediate milestones to make the vision seem challenging, yet achievable. This may be useful in recruiting others to your vision.
Surrender your vision, let it go, in a state of relaxed optimism that your vision will come to pass.
Attributions
Grant Hunter, inspired by Life Visioning: A Transformative Process for Activating Your Unique Gifts and Highest Potential by Michael Beckwith
by Montaia