Vision (not the Superman X-ray kind)

I’d like to take full credit for this blog post, but I have to credit Lisa Petrilli (@LisaPetrilli) for co-creating the #leadershipchat conversation on Twitter.

Actually, I should really thank Amber Naslund (@AmberCadabra) for pointing out that the conversation was happening, and directing her Twitter followers to “check it out.”

#Leadershipchat is an online conversation that happens once a week. The particular one I took part in, or at least listened to, occurred on January 4^th. The topic of conversation was “vision”, and had around 200 people participating.

To me, the truly amazing thing is I have never met Lisa, Amber, or any of the other 200 participants. I know almost nothing about the backgrounds of the people participating in the conversation, except for those whom I chose to do some research on. But, even a digital immigrant like myself was able to learn a thing or two from the conversation.

Now my computer skills, typing skills, and tweet-reading skills are passable. I’m not great, but I am also not as bad as most people my age. Being of average tweet-conversing skill, it was initially challenging trying to keep up with the conversation. But after 10 minutes of following the dialog, I got into a rhythm and it became much easier to keep up.

I understand the sheer volume of participants tweeting the hashtag caused Twitter to hiccup a time or two. (To me it was more like a rather juicy belch…there was no activity on my screen and then BURP! - 30 tweets scrolled down in rapid succession.)

If you want the transcript of everything discussed, I'm attaching the link. I’d suggest reading thru it because there were several great points made throughout the night. You might learn a thing or two about leadership and vision. (Transcript Link)

My favorite definition for vision is: the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be. When the talk is about leaders and their vision, especially using this definition, I can’t help but very closely associate another important leadership skill -“execution”.

If a leader has the power to anticipate "that which will come to be", it doesn’t just happen, does it? I mean there has to be more than just "having" the vision, right? Leaders have to work at making the vision “come to be”. That sounds like the very definition of execution, doesn’t it?

I searched the transcript to see who initially brought up the idea of a shared vision -developed and therefore more readily embraced by a team. I can’t directly attribute it to anyone (you know I would name-drop if I could), but I’m not sure I agree with the concept.

A leader needs to "own" his vision completely. Sure, outside forces such as personal experience, employees, etc., will help shape the vision. But that vision should be the leaders alone, no?

If you want a team-building exercise, have them collaborate on the steps necessary to achieve the leader’s vision. A team can continuously evaluate their progress, making sure they are moving closer to making the vision a reality.

But the vision belongs with the leader. If you don’t believe me, go ask General Patton. He would tell it to you straight.

Hoorah!