COMMENTARY: Lessons learned on "The Vision Thing"

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Seth R. Deam
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Judge Advocate
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  In its Jan. 26, 1987 issue, Time Magazine published an article by Robert Ajemian entitled, "Where is the Real George Bush?," which contained an anecdote from his vice presidency that is the source of the often-used quotation:  

"Colleagues say that while Bush understands thoroughly the complexities of issues, he does not easily fit them into larger themes. This has led to the charge that he lacks vision. Recently he asked a friend to help him identify some cutting issues for next year's campaign. Instead, the friend suggested that Bush go alone to Camp David for a few days to figure out where he wanted to take the country. 'Oh,' said Bush in clear exasperation, 'the vision thing.'"

This anecdote resonates with me and illustrates the demands often faced by leaders that squeeze the time in to develop a vision and give rise to challenges in communicating the vision.   

What I mean by vision is a broad sense of where you see your project or organization going or achieving in the future, not simply a broad vision statement crafted or revised in an annual strategy session.

A recent project I was a part of demonstrated some straightforward lessons I learned which were easy to understand but a challenge for me to implement. In short, I had a vision for the project which involved many members from my office that ended in some success, but experiences along the way caused me to reflect on my own leadership and provide an opportunity to share a few lessons about taking the time to develop your vision, articulate that vision and follow-up on that vision.

Carve out time to develop your vision.

This foundational lesson is easy to know but hard to apply given the seemingly constant stream of "urgent" mission-related, administrative, and personnel tasks faced by leaders. Many times our vision for a project remains unrefined until a deadline looms, leading to inefficiencies for those involved. Carving out time does not necessarily mean an off-site but should involve an uninterrupted period of time appropriate to the size of the project/organization to think through what success looks like. As you develop your vision, consider grouping the project in terms of areas you want to be accomplished in a specific way and areas where you want your team to exercise discretion and ownership in the approach. This will focus your efforts on key areas and both improve the quality and experience for your subordinates.

Articulate your vision, preferably in writing.

Having developed your vision, you still have to articulate your vision to those who are essential to achieving it. I realized after the fact that I did not do this effectively. The vision and expectations I provided in a series of meetings resulted in some gaps as key members were absent during a number of those meetings. To help avoid this gap it's important to write your vision down. It helps you better refine your vision; it helps decrease the gaps in communication; and it allows for dissemination with little or no loss in accuracy. However, simply emailing your vision without an opportunity for others to discuss may lead to misunderstandings as it does not provide a good forum for clarification and questions. My recommendation for a more effective approach is to send an email or memo and follow that message with a meeting for any significant project.

Follow-up regularly on your vision.

As well as you may do with developing and articulating your vision, you will rarely find perfect understanding or implementation by those essential to achieving it. Follow up at regular intervals to ensure efforts are aligned with your vision. Additionally, it is demoralizing for a team when their leader comes in at the eleventh hour with sweeping changes that could have been made as minor course corrections earlier in the process and saved many hours of misdirected effort.

"The vision thing" is tough for everyone from presidents to project leaders at every level. It takes intentional time and focus, but it is an investment which will pay dividends in getting to the left of challenges posed by increasing mission demands with decreasing resources.

Developing, articulating and following-up regularly on your vision as a leader at every level is essential for the 100th Air Refueling Wing in achieving our goal of being the best wing in the U.S. Air Force!