The power of the shared vision

Having a clear vision can help you achieve almost anything. Not only in business, but in private life too.

So, why is that we often don’t have the vision? I’ve heard a lot of excuses for not having a vision. Let’s discuss some of the most interesting.

The most frequent reason is that people simply don’t know anything about vision. They live “happily” in their world, work and plan activities for the day, month, even for a year. An interesting thing is that they are very good even in strategy. Still, one part is missing, the vision.

The second group is also a big one. People from that group know about the importance of having a vision but they don’t have the time to “create” it. Do we really have time to go in the wrong direction? To work hard to achieve something that we don’t want? Obviously, this group has.

The third, big group, is a group of people who do have time but don’t know how to set a vision. This article is probably written for them.

Setting a vision, the strong and clear one, isn’t easy. That is the moment when coaching could help. In business, executives are often afraid to admit that they don’t have a clear vision. That is perfectly normal. Just acknowledgment of the need for a vision is enough to start with the coaching process. This is crucial for the beginning of the process. That is the reason why the coach should ask powerful questions such as:

1) And you achieved your goal. What does success look like?
2) What do you notice? What do you feel? What do you sense?
2) Achieving your goal influences the environment … how?
3) What resources do you need to establish your vision?

In the business world, a leader is a person who needs a vision for the team. It often happens that the company has “quoted” vision, but is struggling when it comes to spreading the vision through the company. That is the main reason why a leader tries to create its own vision, which is “compatible” to the company’s vision.

Now, things are getting even complicated. The vision that a leader created isn’t a vision for the team. A leader should have a so-called “shared” vision if he wants the team to follow him.

This situation leads to another question. How to create a shared vision?

Hopefully, there is an answer to that question:

First, create your own vision. Make sure that the vision is perfectly clear and easy to explain to the others.
Secondly, you need to include your team and work with them – try to understand their aspirations and how engaging in your vision can help them achieve those aspirations.

Sharing your vision demands taking into account the team’s feelings, dreams, hopes. They should see themselves as a part of something bigger if you want them on your side. Once you have achieved that, a shared vision has full power to convert “company” to the “our company”. For that to happen, a leader should change the mindset, and just rotate for 180 degrees one letter in the word “ME”.

You are right, rotating “M” we got one more powerful word “WE”. Using the word “WE” you can move the whole mountains!

Be aware, you cannot just rotate “M”, you need to believe in that.

Without bringing the team in the process of creating the vision, shared vision, they will feel ignored and not valued. Of course, you can predict the result, they will not follow the vision in a way you would like them to.

The team members want to know how their goals and aspirations can be fulfilled by achieving a shared vision. Finally, that’s the power of a truly shared vision.

Some tips and tricks for creating a great shared vision, the one that team members will “die for”:

If you want to create a strong shared vision for the future, you will need to focus on the present. A leader should develop deeply connected relations with the team members.
Also, a true leader should focus on listening, not talking. Only trough listening, a leader could understand the needs and aspirations of the team members.
At this stage, a team coach or a leader should ask one powerful question: ” What do WE want to create and why is it so important to us?” You’ve probably noticed, we changed ME into WE.

If the team members feel like they are part of the vision, and also that they can help to make it happen, they will be far more likely to give their energy and time towards the outcome.

If the team members can see themselves in that final picture, they will invest their feelings, minds, and hearts in that shared vision.

The shared vision is one of the most powerful drivers of the change we want to happen.