What does it mean to have vision? We know it is important to be the leader of your life to know your values as this is your core and then from this core, you will develop your mission. This essentially becomes your mission statement. Just like every major organization or establishment, it’s imperative that you have a mission statement because after all, you are the leader of your life and you dictate your journey. We know that you can have multiple purposes and accepting that, leads you to finding your overall purpose and no longer forces a deep pressure to only one purpose. But what about our last pillar of being the Lead of Your Life, Vision?
Vision is essential in leadership, but also, in life and beyond imperative. Vision is a beautiful aspect of the four pillars of being the leader of your life. It encompasses your values, mission and purpose, and without these three pillars, vision cannot exist. I like to think of vision being built upon them and almost like a roman building. I think of when I was truly building and examining leadership for myself and when I begun with values, mission and purpose. I put up each column. Then, it came time for the fourth column, which it turns out is Vision. The thing is once there is a fourth column then you’ve built a sustainable foundation that can hold a roof, create shelter, you can build upon, and that’s vision.
Vision for leadership is one in the same as being the leader of your life. It’s the ability to focus on what really matters and why you must build your foundation first for vision with your values, mission and purpose. However, vision presents a larger picture for any leader but most importantly, the leader of her life. You must understand what kind of leader you want to be which is something I encourage all leaders to do before he or she ever even steps into a leadership role. In addition and beyond that, you must truly understand your past, present and future in every way.
Vision in leadership means you have accepted your past, you are aware of your present, and you have clarity for your future. That is exactly what you must seek to understand and find in order to be the leader of your life. The reason for this is because a great leader accepts what is in the past cannot be changed but knows that he or she can learn from it. Your past is also apart of you and shapes you. Your values, mission, and purpose will be determined by past experiences and to be naïve of that would not make you a strong leader, especially not a strong leader of your life. We know it is important to be the leader of your life first before anything else.
When we think of vision, we often think of future and where are we going as an individual, group, company, or whatever you are analyzing. However, vision is compiled of the past, present, and future. Once you’ve accepted the past and understand how it shapes you, your awareness of the present is key as well. How Intune are you with what is happening with your day to day? Are you aware of the realities of the world and not just your world? Yes, that will make you a better leader of Your life because you will be more knowledgeable. Awareness is vision in present time.
But, we mostly think of vision as thinking to the future and that’s not incorrect. Vision is also what you stand for and how you see your life going forward overall. It’s literally how you envision your life. We sometimes believe that we have “no choice” or that we “must” do certain things. The reality is that the clearer our vision is then those feelings dissipate. Vision is clarity and clarity brings us what we want in life. We find clarity based on the foundation of values, our mission, and purposes which build our vision. Our vision is essential our foundation as the leader of our lives.
