Creating a Vision

Contents

Vision and Effective Leadership

Demystifying Vision

Five Building Blocks

The Big Idea

The Values

The Story

The Growth Factor

The Change Factor

Putting It All Together

A Different Perspective

Journaling

Using Images

Collecting Information

Improve Your Delivery

Vision and Resilience

Suggested Readings

Background

Key Point Summary

Lead Contributors

Ideas into Action Guidebooks

Aimed at managers and executives who are concerned with their own and others’ development, each guidebook in this series gives specific advice on how to complete a developmental task or solve a leadership problem.

LEAD CONTRIBUTORS	Corey criswell
	Talula cartwright
CONTRIBUTORS	Anand Chandrasekar, Craig Chappelow, Michelle Crouch, David Loring, Ellen Van Velsor, Philip Willburn, Meena Wilson, Jeffrey Yip
DIRECTOR OF ASSESSMENT, TOOLS, AND PUBLICATIONS	Sylvester Taylor
EDITOR	Peter Scisco
ASSOCIATE EDITOR	Karen Lewis
WRITER	Rebecca Garau
DESIGN AND LAYOUT	Joanne Ferguson
CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS	Laura J. Gibson Chris Wilson, 29 & Company

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

CCL No. 447

ISBN No. 978-1-60491-075-9

Center for Creative Leadership

Post Office Box 26300

Greensboro, North Carolina 27438-6300

336-288-7210

www.ccl.org/publications

pfeiffer.com/go/cclguidebooks

The Ideas into Action Guidebook Series

This series of guidebooks draws on the practical knowledge that the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) has generated, since its inception in 1970, through its research and educational activity conducted in partnership with hundreds of thousands of managers and executives. Much of this knowledge is shared—in a way that is distinct from the typical university department, professional association, or consultancy. CCL is not simply a collection of individual experts, although the individual credentials of its staff are impressive; rather it is a community, with its members holding certain principles in common and working together to understand and generate practical responses to today’s leadership and organizational challenges.

The purpose of the series is to provide managers with specific advice on how to complete a developmental task or solve a leadership challenge. In doing that, the series carries out CCL’s mission to advance the understanding, practice, and development of leadership for the benefit of society worldwide. We think you will find the Ideas Into Action Guidebooks an important addition to your leadership toolkit.

Executive Brief

If you want to be an effective leader—at any level—you should pay attention to vision. Leaders who communicate a strong vision are seen by their bosses and coworkers as more effective in several important areas than those who do not. The content of your vision affects employees’ perception of your organization. Your articulation of the vision affects their perception of your leadership effectiveness. Taken together, vision content and vision articulation give your employees, colleagues, and other stakeholders a powerful image of how good your organization is and how skilled you are as a leader.

Vision and Effective Leadership

If you’re not a CEO, top executive, or business owner, you might not spend much time thinking about vision. You’re busy managing others, delivering on goals, implementing specific tactics, building a team, or focusing on financial performance. Creating a vision is not your priority.