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Sam Adeyemi: How to successfully communicate any vision

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Conventional wisdom indicates that individual or small group conversation is too time consuming and low in leverage. But leaders realize these are unconventional times, and that commitment by others to a vision requires both, an understanding of the message and faith in the leader.

Through more personal, direct communication, the leader is able to provide more clarity and context, while instilling new hope and trust within all levels of the organization.

Not only does this send a clear signal throughout the ranks that the leader actually seems to care about the individuals, it also creates an enormous source of new ambassadors, who will carry the intended message much further, faster and with perhaps even more credibility, to those many colleagues who have not enjoyed the benefit of a private dialogue with the leader.

Leaders know that when it comes to the relationship between themselves and their constituents, communication is at the heart of it all. Therefore, they must continue to personally get to the heart of all levels of the organization, or their visions will never be fully embraced.

Why Do You Need to Communicate Your Vision?

No one can decide to follow you until they know what direction you are headed towards.

Sharing a vision is a central role of a leader which gives people a bigger picture of what things can be like. It inspires people raise their hopes and expectation. When people are inspired, they are more likely to work on something. Imagine how ineffective an organisation would be if the company’s leaders and staff didn’t comprehend their vision. Each individual would be figuring out what’s important on their own. It would be like a shooting range where everyone had a different understanding of where the bull’s-eye was located. People need to know exactly where the centre of the target is; that’s exactly the information that a vision provides.

One of the major tasks of a leader is to successfully communicate clearly and repeatedly the organization’s vision with the intent of helping every person involved understand what work needs to be done and the role of everyone involved at achieving the set goals.

In addition to clearly articulating your destination and defining the target, an effective vision paints a clear picture of our desired future. According to Walt Disney, an effective vision has a way of helping to create that desired future. “The future is not the result of choices among alternate paths offered in the present. It is a place created – created first in the mind and the will; created next in activity.”

How do you Successfully Communicate Vision to Others?

I.       Paint the Picture Courageously:

In order to successfully communicate our vision to others, we must be courageous enough to paint the big picture without missing words. However, we should note that people may want to attack us because our vision may be the one that will fundamentally create changes that frightens people. Such category of people may actively try to campaign against us and may try to make our personal problems or shortcomings the issue, rather than focusing on the real issues.

II.       Develop the Details of the Vision:

When we conceive the vision, we should develop the details. There is a need to give people some specifics as to what the big picture will mean on a day-to-day level. We also have to tell people what steps will be taken to get there, i.e., develop a work plan. People may think the big picture is a meaningless mirage if they don’t get some ideas as to how it will work.

III.       Encourage Others To Take Ownership of the Vision:

We have a responsibility to help others buy in to our vision and make it their own. This is an important step in bringing people together to work towards a common goal. We must recognise that members of our organisation need to have a sense of ownership in order to be committed to the organisation; this is key in helping to retain members in our organisation for a long time. On the other hand, people don’t need to agree with all the details of the vision in order to follow our lead because of different ideas about how to put a vision to use. However, in order to work together as a team, people need to share an overall vision and some basic goals.

IV.       Balance People’s Expectations:

We should be conscious of people’s expectation while communicating our vision to them. Often times, people tend to be concerned about what they stand to benefit from the vision, coupled with their personal expectations. If we observe carefully in our own environment, people are greatly concern with their daily survival. In such an instance, it becomes difficult for people to really want to take ownership of our vision if they cannot recognise what they really stand to benefit as members of the organisation. It is important we communicate the parts of the vision that relates to peoples expectation in order to establish our trust to them.

V.       Model The Vision:

Simply communicating a well-formulated vision is not enough to guarantee results; we must ensure we visibly “walk the talk.” As part of the communication process, leaders need to reinforce the vision’s inherent values through consistent and animated positive role modelling as well as in the way they select and work with others, acknowledge changes and reward successes.

VI.       The Power of Stories

Jesus used parables to teach eternal truths. In the same way, we can use everyday stories as powerful tools to help people understand our vision. Remember, not everyone relates well to a written vision statement. Look for the events in people’s lives that paint living examples of your vision. Find ways to communicate these examples in prominent ways. Be consistent about telling stories of how lives are touched and changed.

Conclusion

You can never underestimate the amount of energy and frequency you must give to vision casting. In many ways, vision is like leadership; it’s caught more than taught. Visions are never cast in concrete. They are living, breathing reflections of an approaching destiny.

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