Vision and Goals
So what is vision?
Is vision something you can see and describe? or is
visioning an ongoing process?
We often hear the term 'visionary' when thinking about leaders and leading. Leading is closely linked to vision.
Visioning can be like painting a picture: choosing the colours and applying them one stroke at a time and stepping back to see how the light reflects the paint back. How would you describe the process of visioning?
Stephen Covey in his book 7 Habits for Highly Effective People, says that we must be aware that when we are visioning, people's opinions 'like the crazy mirror at the carnival' distort what we see ourselves being able to achieve. They distort our vision.
Goals and Goal Setting
We all at one time or another talk about goals but do we feel excited by them or do they leave us cold?
Take the job interview. The goal, obviously, is to get the job, but how often do we find ourselves focusing on the the job or person specification - and how we don't fit it and worse still, what we are going to feel like if we don't get offered the position.
How much better might it be if we focused on the interview and the job itself as an opportunity to be authentic and true to oneself, imagining what that might actually feel like, as we fill in the forms and prep our powerpoint!!
In doing so, we might just realise that the job is not what we want, because it's not actually part of our vision!
Owning your goals, Driving your goals
Adrian Gilpin Chair of IHD (Institute of Human Development) says that goals should be OWNED
O - its your Own goal - not what you think someone else thinks you should be working towards
W - it's what you really Want - not what you want to avoid
N - it's framed in the Now - you consider it as 'if its happening now!'
E - it must be Energised and energise you!
D - u must Drive it through taking action.
Dreaming with Purpose
I have a dream - Martin Luther King
Dreams are interesting - and if they have purpose built into them, they can really move us forward.
Martin Luther King conjured his vision for us all to experience. In those few minutes of his seminal speech in 1963, we all 'lived' his dream - we felt it and more importantly, the Kennedy administration took note.
Metaphors can also help the visioning process. So if i was to think Grand Prix, I'd not be thinking goals, but pit stops along the way: places where I could think about the last few circuits, change a few tyres, re-fuel, speak to a few mechanics and polish a few surfaces, before getting back on track and so on...
What metaphors might you use to describe your own visioning process at the moment?
Moving towards our Vision
So how do we energise ourselves to make our vision real? Here's an exercise to help you.
Take an elastic band. If one hand is where you are currently, say the left hand and the other is where your vision lies, the right. Now, hold onto the band in your right hand more tightly, because it's what you 'desire' - it means more.
Now streeetch the band and when the tension becomes too strong, let go. The band moves explosively in the direction you want to go.
So what's the point? You need to create some tension around your vision, energise it and own the steps towards it.
Happy pinging!
Sarah Pickthall, Sync Coaching
