3 Steps to Powerfully Communicate Your Vision

The Power of Communicating Your Vision

“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet. ”
Hesburgh

You are an insightful and collaborative leader. How can I help? Wouldn’t it be great to hear these words immediately after you communicate your vision on an important topic? Have you ever wondered how great leaders become so effective with the way they communicate? Let’s face it. A leader’s communication style is a large part of your ability to get others to take action.

Without action, a vision or strategy is nothing more than a beautiful set of words. It may sound good, but do your words create such an effect that people are compelled to want to know how they can be a part of it? If not, you need to determine the steps needed to powerfully communicate your vision.

If you appear unsure of your message by the tentative way in which you communicate it, you will struggle with getting your team, your peers, and definitely your boss to believe in what you are saying.

On the other hand, if you aggressively try to engage people in an attempt to make them listen, they will definitely tune you out. So what is the magic answer to get others to listen, understand, and engage with you to bring your vision to life?

I believe the power of communicating your leadership vision starts with the ability to build a collaborative bridge that compels people to want to know more.

Here are some examples:

When you need to get your peers to buy into your idea, you must first be willing to openly acknowledge that you need their help. Hold on before you say no way. That simply means you must make sure your initial words communicate your desire to partner with them. If your vision is truly going to have any chance of being accepted, you must make your message about them and not you.

When you need to get the boss to allow you to take some unproven steps to get the result(s) you know you can achieve, you must immediately communicate your visionary message in a manner that describes how they will benefit. Trust me. Without this step, they are not really listening.
When you need to get your team or staff to take action on your vision, you must first clearly communicate ‘why” you need their help. Don’t tell them ”how” they can help until you are assured they understand why you need them to be a part of bringing your vision to life.

Did you notice an unspoken theme in each of the examples? In order to bring your vision to life you must be able to communicate to others that the end result is not about “I” or ‘me”. The collaborative key message must be how “we” can take action together, so that everyone wins.

What message approach do you need to rethink in order to ensure your vision is acted upon?