Finding a vision’s “true north”
ByHave you ever been part of a team that didn’t seem to make any progress? Maybe the group had plenty of talent, resources, and opportunities, and team members got along, but the group just never went anywhere. If you have there’s a strong possibility that the situation was caused by lack of vision.
Great vision precedes great achievement. And every team needs compelling vision to give it direction. A team without vision is, at worst, purposeless. At best, it is subject to the personal (and sometimes selfish) agendas of its various members. As the agendas work against each other, the team’s energy and drive drain away.
In contrast, a team that embraces a unified vision becomes focused, energized, and confident. It knows where it’s headed and why it’s going there.
Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, a leader of troops during World War II who was called a “soldier’s general,” wrote that “every single soldier must know, before he goes into battle, how the little battle he is to fight fits into the larger picture, and how the success of his fighting will influence the battle as a whole.” People on the team need to know why they’re fighting. Otherwise, the team gets into trouble.
If you lead your team, then you are responsible for identifying a worthy and compelling vision and articulating it to your team members. However, even if you are not the leader, identifying a compelling vision is still important. If you don’t know the team’s vision, you can’t perform with confidence. You can’t be sure you and your teammates are going in the right direction. You can’t even be sure that the team you’re on is the right one for you if you haven’t examined the vision in light of your strengths, convictions, and purpose.
For everyone on the team, the vision must be compelling. But how do you measure that? You check your visionary compass. In fact, a team should examine the following five compasses before embarking on any journey.
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A team’s vision must be aligned with…
1. A moral compass (look above)
A moral compass brings integrity to the vision. It helps all the people on the team to check their motives and make sure that they are laboring for the right reasons. It also brings credibility to the leaders who cast the vision – but only if they model the values that the team is expected to embrace. When they do, they fuel the vision, keeping it going.
2. An intuitive compass (look within)
A vision must resonate deep within the leader of the team. Then it must resonate within the team members, who will be asked to work hard to bring it to fruition. That’s the value of intuitive passion. It produces the kind of heat that fires up the committed – and fries the uncommitted.
3. A historical compass (look behind)
Anytime you cast vision, you must create a connection between the past, the present, and the future. How? Tell stories. Principles may fade in people’s minds, but stories stick. Tell stories about the people who have been in the organization a long time, and they will feel valued. At the same time, stories from history give newer team members a sense of security, knowing that the current vision builds on the past and leads to the future.
4. A directional compass (look ahead)
Poet Henry David Thoreau wrote, “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Vision provides direction for the team, and part of that direction comes from having goals, which give targets to aim for.
5. A strategic compass (look around)
A goal won’t do the team much good without steps to accomplish it. The value of a strategy is that it brings process to the vision. It identifies resources and mobilizes specific members of the team. People need more than information and inspiration. They need instruction in what to do to make the vision become a reality.
The vision of a team must look beyond current circumstances and any obvious shortcomings of current teammates to see the potential of the team. And a truly great vision challenges people. The great artist Michelangelo prayed, “Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.” If you can confidently measure the vision of your team according to the above compasses, and you find them all pointing in the right direction, then you’ll know that the vision is worth stretching for.
One word.. WOW…
Always amazing. Great way to start a Monday
Thank you, John for writing this article. It’s perfectly timely! This is the piece of advice I need most for this year!! You’re amazing!!
Mr. Maxwell,
Excellent article as always. I really appreciate the depth and detail of the article. Your point is so relevant in so many ways. A lot of leaders do not simplify and communicate their vision very well. Not only is communicating the vision important, simplifying it I think is often over looked. Some believe, incorrectly I believe, that vision or mission statement has to be complected. Simplifying your objective is a lot easier and enables the whole team to get on board for the big win. I’ve written a lot about Leadership and ways to do it better in my blog, Voices of Leadership. Voicesofleadership.blogspot.com. I appreciate your article and the time you invested to prepare it. Have a blessed day.
Gregory Farley (Voices of Leadership)
Great clarity on leadership, Max! As I read this, it made so much sense for relationships as well. Each person in the relationship needs to be on the same page and walk out the same vision for the relationship. Our own agendas and control can greatly affect the progress of the relationship just like leadership with a team.
Vision is indeed crucial, yet I find so many who don’t or have never even thought about having a vision. I find this to be sad.
There is a lot of truth “where there is no vision, the people will perish..”
Without vision there is no life.
With vision there is a goal, faith, purpose, dream and the energy to keep going forward even when you get knocked down.
Another crucial part is who is in your inner circle?
I have learned to become very thankful, grateful that my Mentors make up my Inner Circle.
The 5 compass types analogy brings it home as all those elements are key ingredients to formulating not only a vision but more importantly a successful one.
Dear John,
A master piece , as usual. It seems that the vsion serve as a thread that knot down all the beads like in a neckless. Actually, in my opinion, the five compases are five beads that tie up the people in the organization. There is a very beautiful verse in persian and it goes like :
Mir Sipah na Saza
Lashkarian Shakasta saf
Aah woh tir-e- neem kash
Jiska no ho koi Hadaf
Meaning,” if the leadship lack vision, there will be discipline among the followers and they will be like a half stretched arrow which has no target and goal.”
Again, John, thanks for these gem and jewels.
Excellent post on leadership! Thanks!
Hi John,
Thanks for this article. I’ve had a number of discussions with people about vision over the past couple of months. What I find particularly interesting is the people who say they are not particularly interested in the vision of the organisation they work for, or that ‘that vision stuff’ doesn’t do a lot for them. They’re content to do their job and be left alone.
Sometimes I think this is a result of organisations or teams that have a vision, but the vision is either unachievable (i.e. they want to be the best “x” in the world, but for whatever reason they are not going to be the best general “x” – though they might be able to be the best in a more specified area) or unrelated to what the organisation/team actually does well. I think that’s where both your 2nd point (intuitive compass) and 5th point (strategic compass) become so important. It is not just about having and communicating a vision, it is having and communicating the right vision that resonates with people and has a sense that it can be achieved.
Having a wrong vision for the team or organisation will create mistrust of the leaders, of the potential for the team to work towards the vision.
Excellent teaching, as always – thanks!
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Thank you John. Casting the vision for the team is something that is more challenging than I expected it would be. This is a timely post for me. I appreciate it!
Gabe
Thank you for sharing this awesome word!!!!
Terry
Thank you John for simplifying the Vision and one without it.
Your one minute Video is awesome. http://www.JohnMaxwellTeam.com
Thank you & God Bless…
I enjoyed your article. I found it to be very profound. I don’t think we often look at our moral compass because it requires questioning our motives. We do spend a lot time on the strategic compass because we care most about what is around us.
Hi John,
I find this article very useful and practical. These 5 compasses are great guides for those who are starting out and good reminders for those who need to regroup and get back on track.
Again, thank you for this wonderful article! God Bless you more!
Dear John…! So Thanks for this article… it’s really awesome, i can not speak so much in english but i will write you in spanish what i think…
Es Verdaderamente Cierto, como tener una Visión Clara y establecida te da la oportunidad de ir a algún lado, puesto que como se sabe, si no tienes una visión, una meta, un objetivo, harás cualquier cosa, sin realmente hacer nada…Ya he tenido la oportunidad de leer 4 o 5 libros tuyos, tengo 21 años, y es de verdad importante tener una visión clara de adonde quieres ir, porque de esta manera encuentras sentido a la vida, y no se hace monótona y aburrida.
Muchas gracias por aportar tiempo para nosotros (los lectores), cada vez que leo un capitulo de alguno de tus libros, Mis GANAS DE SER UN LIDER CRECEN! Usted junto con mi mentor, de verdad le han dado un vuelco a mis “paradigmas”, “creencias”, y a mi vida!
Muchas Gracias… desde Venezuela… Hno Randy Albornoz
My dear John you always have been a wonderful blessing to me! your teachings are great!! thanks thanks so much for sharing what God has gave you!!
I am from Peru, and my first language is Spanish… thanks God that I can understand (reading and listening) English very well, but, I have been thinking if you can get somebody who speak, read and write good spanish to translate your articles in my language, I would like that my friends from Peru and other spanish speaking language can be blessed with all your teachings… please, do something about it!! I would like to help you, but still I am struggling with some words that you use in English, I have to go to the dictionary and translate it so I can be able to understand all you say! The google translation is really bad, it doesnt make sense when we translate your article… hope you can do something!! thanks again!! hugs!!
Today we learn that the vision of the leader is tied to true North. And the compass direction and confirms the attraction of Magnetic North. The view draws the team as a whole.
Amazing. What can i say?
John, thank you for this insightful post about a visionary compass – the five compasses are so simple, yet so profound. As I reflect on how to use these to be a better team leader, I realize they also can be used to be a better self-leader. To expect others to share in the ownership of our team vision, we must first discover and acquire a deeper understanding of our own “true north”.
No. 3 really resonated with me. I took my last job without hearing a single success story about past and current employees. Turns out, there weren’t any. Everyone got run out of town under the name of “they just didn’t GET it.” Needless to say, I unwittingly found myself joining their ranks. Beware the organization that doesn’t have a single star player to boast about!