Prime
What drives our engines?
Author: Jerome Emanzi. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Vision is what one would like to be tomorrow but has passion for today.
Let us start by pausing some questions. How many of us would want to work for a company that has a vision? How many business owners do not have a vision for their business? Like the majority, before applying to work for any company, I tend to do my research to find out what the vision of that company or business is. I believe it is because there is comfort in knowing the direction a company is going before deciding to take your seat in that vehicle. The question to ponder then is, how many of us have a vision for ourselves?
In John Maxwell’s book Developing the Leader within You 2.0, he talks about a vision. John says, “Vision is the indispensable quality of a leader” and you may recall that we agreed that there is a leader within each of us because leadership is all about influence. I believe that is why it is critical to set a vision.
You will agree with me that sometimes vision can be used as a buzz word. Most companies on their website, brochures, etc... or in selling themselves to a prospective customer, often use the vision statement as a capturing phrase. In my view, there tends to be a creative process to coming up with such statements. The focus is not on companies or businesses but on creating a vision at the individual level. Each of us operates with some aspect of a vision. We are either operating on a vision set by us or set by someone else. In my case, I prefer to be operating with my own vision rather than someone else’s.
So, what is a vision? The standard dictionary definition I came across was, vision is the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom. This definition sets a good framework around the idea of creating a vision statement. So, how does this tie into a personal or individual vision? To have a creative personal vision statement for ourselves, there are fundamental guiding principles that are helpful in the process. Vision is about intentional thinking and planning the future with imagination. Over the course of my personal and leadership growth journey, this definition is what has helped me to create my vision statement.
Vision is my highest conscious awareness of action steps that I could take, that are in harmony with my purpose, and that would bring forth my purpose.In other words, my vision statement is a detailed description of me living in the full achievement, and presence of my purpose.
In the process of defining my purpose, vision, and goal, creating a vision statement is where the rubber meets the road. Engaging in the creative process of coming up with a vision statement has been one of the most powerful productive activities in my personal growth journey and most challenging, especially as I navigated past some of my limiting beliefs. I find that one’s vision statement tends to change as our awareness and understanding expands, so do our belief and self-image.
Vision is what one would like to be tomorrow but has passion for today. This is the driving engine within us. Vision is about creating and being flexible. When setting a vision, we need to embrace a mindset of abundance and not scarcity. This is very critical in the process because the vision is about tomorrow with passion today. In other words, an abundance mindset of the future that has the passion today. I would like to believe that these are some of the key ingredients to creating a sustainable vision statement.
Let’s bring this in for a landing. As leaders, I believe it is imperative that we take the time to write down a vision statement sharing the futuristic achievement driven by desire to fulfill our purpose. Our vision evolves as we evolve, therefore, it is a continuous journey to re-evaluate the vision statement as we grow and develop throughout the journey. A leader develops the purpose, a leader creates a vision to fulfill their purpose. I believe in you. In virtue and wisdom lead the world.
Jerome Emanzi is a transformational leader Coach with the Maxwell Certified Leadership Team. [email protected]
