Supporting Another Leader's Vision

What would you rather do: See your own vision put into action and come to fruition, or help others fulfill theirs? For people who want to lead, the answer is usually the former. Rare is the leader who is comfortable "leading from the second chair." Leaders see possibilities and they want to seize them. Most of the time they would rather work to fulfill their own vision than someone else’s – unless that other leader’s vision is really compelling and captivating. Most leaders, however, face the challenge of being a champion for a vision other than their own. In fact, the reality is that all the people in the organization other than the top leader are going to be asked to fulfill a vision that was not their own. Even though your own vision may excite you more than someone else’s, to get the opportunity to pursue your own dreams, you will almost certainly have to succeed in achieving the dreams of others. There are a number of ways people respond when leaders cast a vision and attempt to enlist the support of others. The following represents a progression from the most negative to the most positive: 1. Attack It – Criticize & Sabotage the Vision Not everyone is going to buy into the vision of an organization, even if it is compelling, and even if the leader does a fantastic job of communicating it. That’s just a fact and it isn’t always because the people are bad followers. In many cases it is because the leaders fail to communicate the vision and/or connect with the workers. The following are the most common reasons people fail to adopt a worthy vision: They didn’t help create it. They don’t understand it. They don’t agree with it. They don’t know the vision. They feel unneeded to achieve it. They aren’t ready for it. Do any of these describe your situation? Are you being asked to support and implement the vision of another leader? This blog will be continued tomorrow with the second response many people have to a vision they did not create: Ignore it. If you are in the middle of an organization and struggling to support and implement someone else's vision, Truth@Life can help. Call 248-396-6255 or email me at curtis.songer@gmail.com for a FREE consultation. For more info on help I can provide check out http://truthatlife.com/