As a leader, do you feel as though you are being pulled in too many different directions?  Consequently, has your vision become blurry and so far in the distance that it’s no longer clear? My last blog was about setting the vision; the next step is to keep it clearly in full sight.  If you don’t keep the focus on your vision, your leadership effectiveness will suffer. You can’t just set a vision and hope it will happen on its own.  It needs to be fed, and you are the one to feed it.

A strong and clear vision requires intentionality.

What are the main culprits of an anemic vision? Often, we have too much on our leadership plate. As outlined in Lumina Learning’s leadership model, effective leaders who set compelling visions need time to learn, create, set strategy, and last, but certainly not least, inspire and energize the team with the vision. This takes time. Intentional time!

The answer to a healthy vision and leadership effectiveness is to fine-tune your schedule and set boundaries. One can’t happen without the other. They rely on the each together to be successful. It might sound simple, yet may be harder to implement in the long run. Below are two key ways to guarantee the accomplishment of your goals and your leadership savvy when it comes to vision.

 Time Management

Your use of time is the nutrition that feeds your vision. Are you and/or your team suffering from starvation? An over-booked schedule results in an anemic vision. Make sure you are paying attention to which items in your schedule feed the vision and which are needlessly burning too many healthy visionary calories.

Take time each week, each month, and before each project, to organize your time ensuring that you prioritize the tasks that will fulfill the vision. Experts encourage us to schedule morning time for assignments that require clear thinking and optimal brain activity. Working on your vision is one of those assignments that require brain power.

Also pay attention to your natural behavioral energy needs.  Your introversion requires quiet, reflection time in your schedule.  Your extroversion is energized by interactions with others, literally talking to think. Be intentional about scheduling your talk/think time.

Then don’t forget to analyze how you spend your time throughout the year to confirm you are spending most of your time focused on the vision.

Set Boundaries

As a leader, to implement a clear vision, you will need to set boundaries. Boundaries are like horse blinders; they keep the horse from being distracted so it can travel where it needs to go.  Setting boundaries is the human equivalent. Without boundaries, your vision will too easily get side tracked or derailed altogether.  With clear boundaries, you can ensure that you have plenty of time to step out of the day-to-day tasks and fuel your leadership vision with strategy, information gathering, and innovation.

Having time in your schedule to feed the vision will make certain you and your team are off to the races. The energy gained will continue to inspire your team and accomplish the exciting vision you have set.

Brilliance will abound and the world will be a better place because of it. Well, at least your part of the world. Here is to a brilliant world!