Communicating a leader’s vision

You should be congratulated for having developed a clear vision for your team and leadership style. However, there’s little point in having a great vision if you haven’t told anyone about it. Visions are a tool that bring people together and ensure the whole team is heading in the same direction. Therefore, people need to know about them.

Communicating your vision is all about structuring your thinking so that you can sell the mental picture you have developed for your company or team’s future, and get others excited about the opportunity to go with you on your journey to achieving it.

What does it look like?

Most visions are made up of general terms like ‘effective’ and ‘delivery.’ Using these general terms when describing your vision – without further clarifying what you mean specifically – can lead to different perceptions as to what your vision practically looks like. These differing perceptions can lead to your staff having diverse ideas about where your organisation’s future lays, which is undesirable, as you need your team to unite around a shared vision.

When describing your vision, include an overview of what it will look, sound and feel like on the ground. Ensure you can answer questions such as, what will people be doing? How will they be interacting? What will their day-to-day tasks be?

If you can paint a picture, then your organisation will have a clear framework with which to make day-to-day decisions.  Furthermore, if you convey your vision properly, it can prove to be a very powerful point of motivation.

What’s in it for me?

As the leader, you may be fully aware of the positive benefits gained by moving your organisation towards your vision. Consider for a moment however, that your employees probably aren’t aware. Even thought you may explain it well, to assume that everyone sees the benefits of your vision could be a costly mistake to make. Your employees evaluate your vision of the future by asking themselves one question, "what’s in it for me? "

When you are describing your vision, clearly highlight the benefits of achieving it for both the business and the individuals working on making the vision a reality.