Tip 671: The Need for Vision

From the Leadership Workshops: The Need for Vision

Leadership involves movement. Leading from one place, one situation, one status, to another. 

But movement and knowing where to go. 

Some call this vision, the ability to see and state a worthy objective.

Note these three pairs: 

John Wooden and the UCLA basketball team: 

  • “Win the National Championship” 1

    “Learn how to put on your shoes and socks.” 2

John Kennedy and the Apollo 11 Flight Plan:

  • “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”

    “127:43:35.7: Execute 4.2-second retro burn.”

A Utah Credit Union and Its Vision Statement

  • “Build homes in our communities, put children through college, and allow hard-working people to retire well.”

    “Greet every customer with a smile.”

So what do you notice?

Each pair identifies an objective and a critical step in reaching that objective.

The pairs demonstrate the riddle: “How do you eat an elephant?” and the answer, “One bite at a time.” (Elephants are sensitive about that riddle.)  

Where would you like to go? Where would you like to take those you serve? You’ll need an objective to get to and the critical steps to get there.

That’s vision.

We love this stuff.

Kurt Weiland