In this final feature on creating vision for the common good, the Council on Business & Society’s Christian Koenig and Tom Gamble cover the question of how a vision is created, how to roll it out and its impact on people, organisations and the wider environment.
Creating a Vision for Your Teams, by Tom Gamble and Christian Koenig.
“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.” Antoine de Saint Exupéry
Creating and implementing a vision
How do you create a vision? Where does it come from? Firstly, leaders that make a difference are set apart from the rest in that they have a certain sense of destiny, an energy that drives them to want to change things for the better – not only for themselves but for others too. It is a conviction that transforms into a calling or a voice that tells the leader he or she is meant to do something.
The source – where does vision come from?
Practically, vision can come from insight – a deeply felt understanding of an issue or a compelling truth that separates the probable from the possible to become an evident belief: this has to be done, this has to be changed, and this has to be reached.
Secondly, a vision can come from setback, trial or failure too. It is often during adversity, our darkest hours, that we search for new worlds and the ways to get there. Confronted with setback or even ridicule, it is the sense of indignation and battered self-esteem that can ignite our fighting spirit and send our imaginations into creating positive outcomes that we would love to see happen.
Thirdly, vision can equally stem from what excites and motivates us in our lives – this is how many organisations are born and grow. Serendipity, too, may spark off a vision – the fortunate discovery of something; error or misfortune which could send the leader into inflexion and a sudden encounter with a positive truth or opportunity.
In addition, vision may also be about leaving your mark. A leader looks beyond the present, over the horizon to the long term and wonders how he or she would like to be remembered and what positive stamp or trace can be left. This is linked to a leader’s sense of ambition and recognition which, when inspiring the mind to wander towards imagining possible goals, discovers additional benefits for others and becomes purpose, which in turn becomes a vision.
Finally, vision requires creative thinking. Analogy is a major source of creativity and visionary leaders can derive insights from a variety of inspirations, in particular in the arts or in history. Curiosity and the ability to learn and draw analogies from a variety contexts and situations are therefore a major managerial and leadership talent from this perspective.
Planning your vision for your team
Before any implementation of a vision, the manager-leader has to take a long, hard look at the impact of the changes the vision will make on his/her people and organisation. Insight, both emotional and logical, is a key factor here. How will the changes affect people’s roles and sense of identity, their values and beliefs, skills, behaviours and environment1?
How will the vision take people from the known into the unknown and what fears or resistance will this produce? What do they want from all this? How do they see the vision, the change? How can the roots, history and assets of both the people and the organisation be tied in to the future, so that people see change as a logical continuation of things?
What shared beliefs and motivations does the leader and his/her people have in common? It is by analysing and assessing the effects of the vision that the leader can then adapt it and begin to align people, resources, belief and commitment behind it.
Vision is constant
Once the vision is launched, the leader’s job is not yet done – far from it. Along the journey towards the vision, the leader will have to constantly show proof of his/her leadership skills which include listening to people, dealing with their fears and possible resistance, defending the vision in the face of criticism, rejection or ridicule, regularly communicating simple, effective and inspiring messages, providing managers or individuals with feedback on their efforts to reach the vision and showing flexibility to develop and re-adapt the vision in the face of changing events and environments.
Moreover, the leader faces as much a challenge with his or her own fears of failure and change as others. Under possible and perhaps constant internal and external pressure, what driving values and beliefs will rise to the occasion and push the leader onward? What resources and energy does the leader possess? What higher motivations will pull the leader towards the vision despite the possible risks, trials and dangers involved? Who can the leader rely on for advice, legitimacy and additional resources? These are the moments of truth for a leader. And they can prove inspiring for others at the same time.
Vision: Why you should imagine
To conclude, we need vision because we need meaning. We need vision because the world moves and changes; because we want to be part of that dynamism and change on the condition that it is positive and beneficial for ourselves and others. We also need vision because humankind is essentially motivated by hopes and a sense of creativity that pushes us to change and create improved systems, developments, ways of life or even worlds.
And finally, vision can pick people up from what may seem to them to be the limitations of daily trial and effort and turn the obligations of objectives and results into inspiring pictures of desired achievement, reward and recognition that benefit not only themselves but others.
1 See Robert Dilts/Gregory Bateson, the Logical levels pyramid.
Useful links:
- Read how to ensure your vision is for the common good
- Return to the first article in this series on the definition of a vision.
Learn more about the Council on Business & Society
The Council on Business & Society (The CoBS), visionary in its conception and purpose, was created in 2011, and is dedicated to promoting responsible leadership and tackling issues at the crossroads of business and society including sustainability, diversity, ethical leadership and the place responsible business has to play in contributing to the common good.
Member schools are all “Triple Crown” accredited AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA and leaders in their respective countries.
- ESSEC Business School, France-Singapore-Morocco
- FGV-EAESP, Brazil
- School of Management Fudan University, China
- IE Business School, Spain
- Keio Business School, Japan
- Stellenbosch Business School, South Africa
- Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
- Warwick Business School, United Kingdom.
