By Lisa Petrilli
I have very strong opinions regarding the importance of vision in leadership, and if you’ve been reading my blog since its inception you’ll understand the depth of the truth in that statement.
As you may know, my very first blog post – which published on May 18th of this year – was titled, “What CEOs Can Learn From the Goddess of Vision,” and focused on the dramatic difference it makes to a business to have a clearly developed and articulated vision. Thus in this, my last blog post of the year, there is divine symmetry in going back to the topic and to making it the inaugural topic for #LeadershipChat in 2011.
What is your dawning vision for yourself, your business, your career, the “all of you” for 2011, and can you clearly articulate it?
This question goes well beyond New Year’s resolutions and much deeper than business goals and objectives. It’s about envisioning – creating a picture in your mind – of yourself and the entirety of your life at its richest and most fulfilling state and then being able to clearly articulate this picture to others.
Can you do that?
If not, chances are small that you’ll bring this vision to life. You need that picture in your mind to serve as your guide when making daily decisions on priorities, strategies and tactics in every part of your life.
Just as when a CEO does not have a clear vision of where she is leading her company strategies and tactics become misaligned, so too with your own personal vision. Without clarity around it it’s easy to find yourself far afield. I’ve seen this all too often in business.
It’s likely you’ll need a bit of guidance to get started… I’ve put my heart into the blog posts listed below to help you create a vision and to better understand its importance and the concrete role it plays. I hope you’ll find them helpful:
- What CEOs Can Learn From the Goddess of Vision – on the importance of having, and being able to clearly articulate, a business vision
- The Business Altering Difference Between Vision and Mission
- How Vision Drives $Millions: A Real-World Example
- How to Screw Your Business in One Easy Step – The importance of aligning your strategies with your vision
I implore you, once you understand the mechanics of creating a vision and laying the path to bring it to life, you must think big – and dream bigger – about your own…
As I was learning more about ancient Egyptian mythology this year and researching Isis, goddess of Vision, I came across the following mind-altering quote in the book, “The Passion of Isis and Osiris” by Jean Houston:
“What is unique about our time is that our lives are not amplified by reflection in the cultural mythic hero or heroine. Our lives are as mythic as theirs, we are direct participants in the story of the soul of the world.”
Mind-altering when you absorb it. Visionary.
How will your life be mythic in 2011? How will you participate in the story of the soul of the world?
Envision it – and then bring it to life…
I want to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for your readership this year – I am touched and honored to have you here with me.
AND PLEASE JOIN Steve Woodruff and me Tuesday night, January 4th, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time on Twitter for #LeadershipChat where we’ll discuss the importance of vision in leadership and kick-off 2011 with the #LeadershipChat community. Bring your insights and questions and please don’t be afraid to share – we learn so much from each other every Tuesday evening! Looking forward to seeing you then…
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Photo is Sunrise in Winter by FriaLove.
19 Response Comments
Lisa,
Great article. Love the phrase “Envision” it. Reminds me how Jack Nicklaus used to visualize the perfect golf shot ‘before’ he hit it. Starting with a clear vision, is indeed critical to success.
Mark
Thank you, Mark – and thank you so much for your friendship and support this year! It’s such a pleasure to be colleagues! I appreciate that you like that phrase – seems I use the word “envision” all the time, so I can understand how Jack would have made it a habit as well. A very Happy New Year to you!
Lisa,
First and foremost congratulations on wrapping up the most amazing year! This has certainly become one of my “must-reads” – and of course you know how aligned we are philosophically.
On this topic, I share a particular passion. I used to teach – just-out-of-college kids about setting their business goals and creating their life – and I used to use a phrase which I think is particularly apt for this post:
If you can write it down – you can make it real.
And – maybe even more importantly is your challenge to make life mythic. I could go on and on on this topic – but for now I’ll just leave with something I find a lot of comfort in which is… all of the levels of reality in this universe are in harmony… But the fact is *our reality* is often not. But it’s the same force that destroys that harmony that is used to put it back again. That’s free will.
Happy New Year My Friend!
~rr
Thank you so much, Rob. I can’t tell you how honored I am to know you call this a “must-read” – most particularly because of how aligned we are. Your comments have been a genuine gift to me this year – and I learn from your wisdom every time you leave one! I love your very simple advice to others. It reminds me of a quote by William Arthur Ward that I had in my bedroom growing up that said, “If you can imagine it you can achieve it, If you can dream it you can become it.” I have held that quote in my head for many years now!
Thank you, for everything, Rob – and wishing you a very joyous New Year!
a nice summary of three key pripicnles of GTY leadership, read Lisa’s blog post this week (Greater Than Yourself Leadership: How to Change the World). Then join us at 8 pm ET and get to know the extraordinary community that is LeadershipChat on
Happy New Year Lisa and thank you for offering such inspiration and being my “go to” spot when I need a lift. Your posts always inspire me and this one especially to envision 2011 with renewal and “height”.
May you be well and happy.
Thank you so much, Heather – that means so much to me. Thank you for sharing your story and providing such a lift to me this summer – I share that story often when I’m meeting with executives “in real life.”
Thrilled to know you’re envisioning such a beautiful 2011 – looking forward to sharing ideas often in the New Year!
Lisa,
What an inspiring post and timely for so many of us. It’s a very fertile time–the world is taking stock and regrouping as a result of one of the toughest financial periods in our lifetimes. Society is moving into a new paradigm and I think many people are in positions similar to my own–preparing to give concrete form to more collaborate ways of creating value for others and self.
Your message aligns so elegantly with that. Right now I’m deep inside the egg–going into the final stages of classes before committing to my dissertation topic. As this work starts to unfold and the egg starts to break open the need for a clear vision is critical. And at the same time trusting in the emergent nature of the process is equally important.
So where’s the balance???
I’m starting to believe that this balance is not a single “thing” or a set point. Between vision and emergence balance is an ongoing creation born through constant engagement and dialogue with a close circle of like-minded others. One’s tribe. That sacred circle where the alchemy of passion, vulnerability, and inspiration give rise to vision that heretofore could not be imagined.
So in the New Year my vision is to enlarge my tribe and work more closely with them as my vision likewise enlarges and unfolds. To that end, I hope you and I will get a chance to chat at some point.. Over the past few months you’ve been a constant source of encouragement and inspiration. Your example has helped affirm for me that great things are coming for so many of us. Sharing about it can only help bring it closer.
David,
Do you have any idea how much brilliance your comments send out into the world? I love how you talk about the importance of trusting the emergent nature of the process. So simple and yet sometimes when we’re stuck in “fear” – even tiny bits of it – that’s very hard to do.
But your vision is elevating and inspiring and I couldn’t agree with you more. What’s been most rewarding to me this year is coming together with others and collaborating in such a way that we bring something new into the world. Your sentence about the sacred circle is elegant and inspiring to me and I can’t thank you enough for it!
So thankful that you’ve shared with me here this year and looking forward to sharing more insights together in 2011,
Lisa
Absolutely. Vision is essential to realization of a dream. We must see it before it happens. It runs counter to the “I’ll believe it when I see it” mindset, but that doesn’t make it any less true.
I look forward to seeing and learning more from you in 2011! My best, M.
Thank you my fellow visionary – I look forward to the same in every way! Cheers to the happiest of New Years…
My vision for 2011 is a clarification of a lot of the things; new concepts, new mindsets and new practices we have been discussing, dissecting, reviewing and even trying out in 2010. And beyond this clarification & dipping our toes in, will be the real implementations and possibly directions of implementation we are only beginning to consider or visualize.
Many of you know how much I love to cross pollinate, so for more details check out my comment on the Blue Focus Marketing Blog 2011 New year’s Resolutions from Our Adland Galaxy: http://www.bluefocusmarketing.com/blog/2010/12/27/2011-new-years-resolutions-from-our-adland-galaxy/
I’d like to thank you for many things in 2010; including your blog, conversation on twitter, introductions, #leadershipchat and sponsoring me for MENG.
Cheers to all and please shift into high gear for 2011.
@CASUDI
Caroline,
It sounds like you have a splendid vision! Thank you for your willingness and interest in cross-polination and for being such a great source of ideas and conversations! I’ve learned so much from you this year – starting with #blogchat and now via #LeadershipChat, MENG and our wonderful Twitter interactions. Thank you for being such a blessing to me – in so many ways – during 2010. I look forward to new collaborations in 2011… Wishing you a very abundant New Year!
Boy, that’s a lot to say and think about, my friend.
It seems like the concept of vision is on a lot of peoples’ minds the last few days, but I think you verbalize really well the true core of envisioning rather than just the kind of meaningless exercise of saying, “Oh, okay, here’s my plan.”
To me, an important part of vision is what kind of energy you’re sending out into the world. I have experienced in my own life the phenomenon, as weird as it is, that the more negative energy you send out, the more negativity comes at you, if only because you have your negative colored glasses on. When you are looking for your vision with your visionary glasses, and when you are sending out positive energy, things seem to go better.
That’s not to say that wishing makes it so, but some planning, some confidence, some good thoughts, and some vision mixed in sure do give you a flying start.
Happy New Year!
Margie,
Absolutely – vision is about so much more than a plan. And you’re right, it is infused with energy in every possible way. I’ve only recently begun to truly understand the impact of the energy that I put out into the world with words and thoughts and intentions. Giving energy to your vision empowers it to come into being…
I look forward to learning and sharing so much with you in 2011! All the very best to you for an abundant year. 🙂
Thanks, Lisa 🙂
“The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but has no vision.”
– Helen Keller
It’s quite clear Lisa that you have both sight AND vision, which are not always one and the same…
My vision for 2011 and beyond is to keep trying to better myself as a person, father, husband, friend, brother… I dont think one can ever stop trying to be a better person.
On the professional side, my vision is to keep writing, as much as I can, whenever and wherever I can… I want to do more of this http://bit.ly/hHx9UC which was my first foray for Ad Week…
I’m also going to be speaking to a group of college students later this month for the first time… very much looking forward to that.
Writers write… I need to keep reminding myself of that sometimes…
Thanks for the reminder!
All the best,
Steve O
Steve,
I just *love* your quotes – thank you for sharing them and thank you for the kind words. And Steve – you Rock! So excited for your Ad Week gig – you will light that place up! 🙂
Writers do write, I’m discovering that myself – think deeply about how you’re sharing your voice with the world. 🙂
All the very best to you for 2011, Steve!