Leadership: Sharing the Vision

Think about it, there you are, driving for hours and then suddenly, without mercy comes the shrill echoes “Are we there yet!?”

It is so strange. Are we not all in that same car, travelling the same road, going to the same place? “Are we there yet!?” What kind of question is that?

You knowing your vision is good. But if THEY knew it too, it could be so much better. Vision held close to the heart is fine, if you wish to carry the gargantuan load all by yourself. But if you shared that vision, then everyone can put in their little bit towards achieving it.

Better yet, don’t just share the vision, make sure that those you share the vision with also share the same convictions and have the same objectives. There is nothing more powerful than an entire team pulling in the same direction, dreaming the same dreams and striving towards the same goals.

Great leaders understand this. Sometimes, sharing the vision alone is enough to get the massive buy-in. Other times, the leader (that’s you!) might need to do a little persuasive work. The team might need to “be sold” on the vision. They might need to be inspired or sometimes, they might simply need more information. Always remember that as the leader, you have access to more information than the rest of the team. Knowing what to share, when to share and how to share the information is a powerful arsenal at the disposal of able leaders.

The leader must decide what to share. Simply throwing all available information at everyone really is not helpful. Some people might not have the training or the time to absorb the information. Information overload, mis-communication and garbage can bog down an effective team. While some leaders pride themselves on being TOTALLY honest an withold nothing, there are times when such behaviour is nothing more than laziness. You, the leader need to sieve through, filter and analyse the information before passing it on to the team.

Timing the information sharing is also important. The leader holds the vision, the road map and shares that with everyone. However, the team might not need to know all the details TODAY. This might confuse their priorities and might make some people have a nervous breakdown as they see the moutains, real and imagined, looming before them.

How you choose to share the information is very important. Sending out an email to everyone might be a very efficient way to share information. But really, really think abou this before you do it. Sometimes, it is better to talk face-to-face. Other times, it is better not to talk face-to-face.

However you choose to do it, sharing the vision is an important task. More important is to ensure that the sharing of the vision also results in a buy-in by the team members. It is hard to drag the carriage forward if all the horses are pulling in different directions.