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Help Make Their Vision a Reality

WE ALL HAVE dreams and aspirations. It’s safe to assume that many of us have yet to realize them. However, the more you know about the dreams and aspirations of those with whom you work, the better you will assist your team members along their respective journeys.

There are several leaders with whom we have worked as consultants who have taken this strategy and really run with it. One leader asked her team members to write a short memo regarding where they would like to be in their careers. She asked them to do this from two contexts—from within the organization and from within any organization. One may wonder specifically about the second context. The reason for this is that individuals are often hindered when one considers only the current organization. By truly exploring outside the organizational boundaries, true visioning can occur.

In the situation mentioned above, she (and her team) discovered many components important to career success. In general, they found that some of their assumptions about where they were or would like to be were erroneous. Second, they discovered that they could get there faster by first addressing this vision in incremental steps. Third, team members found support from others as they shared their visions, found common components to them, and offered each other as resources in selected circumstances.

We hope this story helps emphasize the notion that visions are not illusory. By considering both in-organization and outside-organization contexts, sharing these with others, and breaking them down into manageable steps, visions can be realized more quickly.

Finally, aligning your team members’ vision with the needs of the organization can provide a concrete base for one’s own vision. Helping team members see that their efforts now can link to their long-term goals and objectives has great power.