Episode #179: Personal Visionary Leadership

Normally we think of a visionary leader as someone who shows us the way forward, who motivates, encourages and inspires us. The entry ticket to becoming a visionary leader though, is to have a clear vision for yourself. We are all notorious spruikers of pungent advice for others, none of which we normally adhere to in our own lives. This is where the visionary leader’s personal credibility bit sails right out the window.

Visions should be backed up with goals. Leading an “intentional life” is a good starting point as an aspiration. This means we don’t aimlessly wander through the decades, directionless or often becalmed. We choose to garner ten years of experience rather than achieving one year of experience ten times. We choose the way forward and we choose to work hard to realise those goals we have set for ourselves.

What is the timeframe to realise the vision? Where can we start? Let’s leave the company vision thing aside for the moment and concentrate on our personal vision first. This makes sense, because if our own life is a meandering mess, then how do we imagine we can magically bring order to the corporation? If you don’t have your own act together, then the people working for you know that and your credentials as a visionary leader look a bit torn and tatty.

Normally, our future vision is an extension of how we want to see our future life. Where will we live, in what circumstances, who will we be with, how will we live, what will motivate us, entertain us and fulfill us?

In corporate life, we spend considerable time, effort and money to define the brand we want to establish for a new business or a business being taken in a new direction. We can do the same thing for ourselves. We might think about the most desirable location for our house. Which city, which part of the city and maybe even which street? We can collect myriad magazine photos for our vision book of beautiful houses that have elements of our dream home.

We should determine the house colours, the exterior, the interiors, the approach to the house, the scale of the property, what is in the house, what is in the backyard. Going to this level of detail makes the whole exercise more concrete and more likely to be realised, than a vagary like “I want a nice house”.

If we are to live intentionally, we must visualise our objectives in concrete detail, to make the whole process as real as possible. We also look into our future state and see how we will live. What sort of person are we to become? Who are we with, how do we get along with them and what do we do? How are we regarded by others and how do we treat others? Where do we travel to, in what style do we travel and what experiences do we have? What sort of car do we drive? Which restaurants do we frequent? What are our fashion flourishes?

We create a combination photo and word picture description of the future state we want to realise. We now have to consider the goals which, when they come to fruition, will supply the vision objectives we have set for ourselves. Goal setting works best when broken down and linked to our roles in life. Often, we only consider our corporate goals and forget about ourselves in this process. We are multifaceted beings and so should be our goals. We have our company role, but we also have our family role - wife, husband, son, daughter, father, mother, brother, sister, etc. We have financial, health, friendship, personal development and lifestyle goals we want to achieve.

The point is to link these goals back to our personal vision. The vision is the direction, but the goals are the vehicle to carry us along the road to realisation of the vision. We have set an overall timeframe for the vision achievement, so the goals have to have milestones too, to be able to back up the timetable we have set.

Zig Ziglar had a great quote, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want”. If we want to be a visionary leader for our team, we need to be able to help them realise what they want. First step, stop kidding ourselves and let’s get our own act together. The sheer focus that process will bring, will establish our credentials to help others achieve their own goals. When we can do that, we gain willing cooperation from our team and we become a true visionary leader.