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Having vision for where you want to go allows you to create goals and a plan to get there. When you consider fundamentals of goal-setting and achievement, these principles hold true:
Create a goal or a vision
Put together an action plan
Take small steps toward the goal
Ultimately accomplish the goal
Celebrate your success
The same holds true for establishing yourself as a powerful leader in your organization, in your network, in your family, and in your social circles. When you know what kind of leader you want to be, you can consciously become that leader. Without that vision and idea of what legacy you want to leave behind, you will certainly grow but will likely only achieve only a portion of what you could accomplish with focus.
What is your leadership vision?
Imagine that you are retiring from your very successful career at whatever age you prefer to retire at. You’ve been able to achieve your professional and personal goals. You’ve seen great success and you’ve created a legacy that you are proud to leave behind.
Close your eyes and really envision what this looks like, what this feels like, and what this sounds like. Remove any barriers, rationale or obstacles that might come up and just dream for a few minutes. Imagine that you have all the skills and resources available to you to get exactly where you want to go.
Now write it all down. Create that picture and vision for yourself and really get a sense of what that feels like. Reflect on that emotion and what that world could actually be for yourself.
Now that you have a clear vision for what you want, take time to summarize your thoughts into a sentence or rally cry for the leader that you want to be.
Put it all together…
Now that you have the vision and an understanding of ways to achieve great success (aka goal setting), let’s bring it all together:
Look at your leadership vision statement and reflect on how much you are living that today (scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being not at all, and 10 being all day without question)
Based on that, consider what qualities or actions are missing that will allow you to get closer to that 10 and make note of these possibilities (note: if you gave yourself a 10 already, consider what stretch opportunities you might want to explore)
In your list of gaps/opportunities, create an over-arching goal for what you’d like to achieve as a leader in the next year (or timeframe of your liking)
Break down that goal into small steps in a SMART goal format to allow you to begin to take action
Consider an accountability partner and timelines to ensure you move your leadership vision goal forward
Achieve that goal – and celebrate!!! (Celebrate the small wins along the way too!)
As you continue to grow and develop as a leader, reflect back on your leadership vision and assess it from time to time. Understand how you’re growing and achieving that vision – and take time to reflect on whether that vision should evolve over time too.
And if you should need any help in solidifying that vision or action plan to get you there, WeInspireWe is here for you. Contact us for your free leadership strategy session today.