To Declare One's Vision or Not

As is often the case for me, this latest blog post came directly from recent work with one of my executive coaching clients.  One of the angles we took in our work was around the advisability of publicly declaring one's personal/business or organizational vision.  In contrast to my own long-held belief that documenting and declaring a personal and/or organizational vision is key to moving strongly forward to a new and better future state my client had a contrary perspective brought to his attention.  This contrary perspective, backed up by empirical evidence, suggested that those who publicly talked about their intentions were less likely to make them happen!

From my personal and business standpoint this assertion has significant implications.  Not only does it have bearing on my own personal/business efforts and direction, it would also impact how I work with my individual and corporate clients.  As an entrepreneur I have just recently updated my own personal business plan, refocused efforts, targeted new avenues of work, and strengthened my marketing focus.  In similar fashion, whether working on individual plans for success or supporting strategic planning efforts with organizations, a key element is development and articulation of a vision statement and supporting strategies, goals and objectives.  So how to reconcile this contrary perspective with my current work and historical efforts?

The assertion made is that by announcing one's plans to others (e.g., colleagues, stakeholders) is that enough action has been taken and enough of an "emotional/intellectual" high obtained that you or your corporation's ego is sufficiently satisfied to obviate the need for actually taking action and achieving the endpoint described in the vision.  In essence, "we" are mistaking or substituting a declaration for achievement of the actual goal. To put it more simply, it's like me saying that I have a vision for completing an Ironman triathlon, getting a "high" off of the declaration, getting satisfaction from the accolades that come in from my friends and acquaintances, and becoming complacent in taking the steps necessary to actually get to the start line of the race.

When this "counter-factual" perspective was brought to my attention I rapidly dismissed it and its implications.  After further reflection, I'm not so sure now.  If I think about some of my own recent history (e.g., signing up for a half Ironman race in 2015 and not following through), there may be something to this theory.  In some respects, it may not be all that different from those of us (all of us??) who have declared a fitness or weight loss goal (sometimes associated with our annual New Year's resolution) only to fall off the wagon within a few short weeks of the often public declaration of the stretch goal. 

Yet, I'm not ready to give up the ghost so easily.  I know that my personal and business achievements have not come about due to silent reflection, hoping for the best or casting my fate to the winds.  Where I have strongly succeeded I believe comes from a strong declaration of the goal, the support of friends, mentors and colleagues, and a specific plan of action to move me towards my vision.  And perhaps it is this latter factor in particular that makes the key difference between delusional self-satisfaction and true outcome achievement.

In one respect then there may be agreement between myself and others who believe vision - or delusion - may be a dangerous thing.  I certainly can attest to friends and colleagues of mine declaring grand objectives only to recast them and boldly declare a new vision every few months.  In this regard, I can agree that vision is not enough.  Without action, concrete steps, perhaps even small steps, milestones, evaluation and re-commitment to a goal or set of objectives, vision is likely to amount to no more than delusion.

It is for this reason that I drive myself to develop very specific strategies, actions, goals and measures by which to track my own personal progress to my grand vision.  I also review the vision regularly and recast specific actions on an annual if not quarterly basis.  It is also why an executive coaching process should work with the individual being coached on developing an action plan as part of the overall process and as an outcome arising from each coaching session.  In a similar way, I work through a strategic planning process with organizations that goes from environmental scan; affirmation of mission, vision and values; through to the specific strategies, key results, individual accountabilities and key metrics that moves us from vision to concrete steps necessary to achieve that vision.  Otherwise, what we can be left with is a strategic plan that is glorious in its conception and glossy production but becomes no more than an expensive paperweight fated to be reproduced by another expensive process 2-5 years in the future.

So at the end of this you may consider me to be firmly planted on the fence on this subject.  Maybe you are right, but I hope that my commitment to vision - personal or organizational - is clear as is my commitment to what it takes to make a vision reality.  Your vision can be made real, declaration can be part of that commitment, but so too must real, short-term actions.  Without that real effort vision is in fact delusion.
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Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.