How To Lead With Your Vision

Tammy launched her small business five years ago and has seen exponential growth in four of the five years. However, things shifted this past year, and she has not experienced the growth she had anticipated. Instead, Tammy feels like she is constantly putting out fires and dealing with details that zap her creative energy. Tammy is stuck, and at times, she wants to quit. She’s ready to throw in the towel and return to her office management job.

BUT

Before giving up on her entrepreneurial dream, Tammy hires a life coach (Sharon). Tammy is desperate, and Sharon has a proven system to help Tammy regain her confidence and lead with her vision.

Tammy is stuck in a whirlwind, working on meaningless organizational tasks that zap her energy and creativity. Tammy has lost her passion and is very irritable (at home and in the office). In working with Sharon, Tammy evaluated her life, committed to five principles that would keep her out of the whirlwind, and focused on implementing her vision for her company.

FIVE PRINCIPLES FOR LEADING WITH YOUR VISION

Principle 1:  Have a Clear Mindset

Leaders with vision start with their mind and faith (faith in God and themselves). While working with Sharon, Tammy returned to that initial call in her life to become an entrepreneur. She also learned that God uniquely designed and gifted her with the task of leadership (Sharon had Tammy complete several assessments on strengths and personality).

Tammy also had to learn to coach herself, to stay motivated even when she didn’t want to (some days, she wanted to stay in bed). She had to get up and do the daily work.

Tammy started to believe in the process again. (Galatians 6:9 tells us that when we do the right things (process), we will reap a harvest of blessing (success) if we don’t lose (because of the whirlwind) hope. Tammy reviewed her organizational funnel regularly, so she didn’t get caught “living moment by moment.”

Finally, Tammy reminded herself that she GETS to do what OTHERS don’t; CALL THE SHOTS. And this kept her excited and focused on leading with vision.

Principle 2:  Have a Working View of Your Vision

As Tammy worked with Sharon, she discovered she hadn’t reviewed her mission and vision statement for over two years. The mission and vision got lost in the whirlwind of running a business. Tammy and Sharon reflected on the vision statement, and Tammy decided that it needed to be updated and modified. Tammy then committed to a quarterly review (and tweak if necessary) of the vision statement.

Principle 3:  Keep Asking, “What Else?”

Tammy started to experience success in getting out of the whirlwind as she worked on the plan of executing the vision. Sharon asked Tammy a simple question in the tenth meeting: “What else?”

Tammy’s brain started to race.

What else can I accomplish?

What else is needed?

What else does my team need?

Suddenly, Tammy’s creativity was back. She just had to get out of the whirlwind. Sharon could see when Tammy was ready for the “What Else?” question.

Principle 4:  Play Offense

Tammy realized that she had been playing defense too long. She was very reactive as she struggled in the whirlwind. During a session with Sharon, Tammy realized she had lost track of her vital behaviors in business. Moreover, she became passive, expecting everything to COME TO HER. That mindset doesn’t work. Tammy had to change and become aggressive and assertive; she had to play offense!

Principle 5:  Learn to Delegate

Finally, Tammy was reminded that she needed to delegate. There were several tasks on her To Do List that she didn’t need to be doing, and she needed to learn to say NO to them. What’s more, Tammy realized that she was procrastinating on her BIG projects. Tammy’s procrastination wasn’t about laziness; it was fear. Tammy feared that if she said NO to the simple tasks and started to focus on the BIG PROJECTS only, she would be held accountable for the success or failure of the BIG project – and that was scary to Tammy. Tammy could spend hours working on simple projects while avoiding her BIG project. When the big projects failed, she could claim that she didn’t have the time. Sharon helped Tammy see what she was doing – in a short time; Tammy learned to say NO to time wasters so she could say YES to the big projects.  Tammy learned to delegate simple tasks.

One Last Thought

Do you relate to Tammy’s story? Have you lost sight of your mission and vision? Let’s start working together so you can lead with your vision!