Key Idea

Effective leaders create a vision that others will support with their hearts and minds. Simply stated, a vision is a description of an altered and improved future. Your vision need not be grand or necessarily innovative. However, it does need to be sensible, and to motivate people to achieve it.

A vision has three important purposes:

• First, it clarifies the general direction for the future: since people are often confused or disagree on the paths their group, unit, or organization should take, they can become mired in indecision. By establishing a clear direction, a vision helps people make decisions and move forward more confidently.
• Second, a vision motivates people to take action in the right direction, even if it is personally difficult: the alterations required to support a vision are often not easy. Often, people are asked to learn new skills quickly or work with constrained resources for a length of time. An effective vision helps to overcome people's reluctance to do what is necessary by providing hope and inspiration for the future.
• And finally, a vision helps coordinate the actions of different people efficiently: if you establish a clear vision, the people around you can often figure out what to do by themselves. Without a well-articulated vision to guide them, people spend valuable time constantly checking with others for direction.