Casting Vision

According to John Kotter the role of a leader is to “define what the future should look like, align people with that vision and inspire them to make it happen despite the obstacles.”
In our organizational culture work, we’ve found that the lack of clarity and alignment is a barrier to peak performance.
Three questions a leader should ask to enhance clarity and alignment:

1. Is the definition of the future simple, clear and compelling?  – Your future should be defined and described in 3D. The dimensions include beliefs, behaviors and results!
2. Does everyone understand how they contribute to achieving the vision?  – make sure every member of your team knows how they connect to the big picture. Being productive in ways that do not contribute to achieving the future vision wastes precious time and resources.
3. How do I translate the measures and metrics we use to report performance in a way that is meaningful to the whole organization?  – Pictures are always more captivating than numbers or words. Use them to illustrate the progress you’ve made toward your compelling future.

Casting vision is a misnomer. People are not fish. You don’t cast a vision over them and catch them. Vision must be defined clearly and repeated often.
The goal of a vision is to ensure that everyone is going in the same direction to achieve the same outcome. Use these questions to increase the effectiveness of your vision and increase clarity and alignment.