Visualize, Share, Act and Reflect: Four Essential Steps for Exceptional Results in Leadership
How do you know which path to take when you don’t know where you want to go?
In business, as in life, it is typically a good idea to know where you are headed before embarking on the journey. Exceptional leaders always align their paths with the outcomes they want to achieve. As an HR professional, I have been an active participant in the formation and development of countless leaders throughout the years. What I learned is that the leaders who consistently get the best results are those that Visualize, Share, Act and Reflect.
“Thoughts become things, so choose wisely”
Visualize
Exceptional leaders always start with a vision. There is an old adage that says, “Thoughts become things, so choose wisely”. The idea is that thoughts aren’t just words, phases or ideas playing in a loop within our heads; but rather they are actual signals to the universe about what we are becoming. We are literally building our future through the thoughts we choose to have and to focus on. So, it stands to reason that if you can visualize your future, think it through, and focus on it— eventually you will achieve exactly what you have imagined. A similar concept, shared with us by Stephen Covey is that we should “begin with the end in mind”. Covey challenges us to start each journey with a clear vision of the “desired direction and destination”. This is why vision boards are popular, they help us to clarify our direction and to paint a tangible picture of our destination.
In the game of chess, the players visualize the game in their head, including the multiple steps that it will take to win the game before they even move the first piece on the board. Whether you are an aspiring business owner, currently managing a team or an executive of a major corporation, being able to visualize your end goal is the first step on the path to sustainable success.
“Once you have a vision for your life, don’t keep it to yourself”
Share
There is power in speaking your dreams. Gandhi said, “Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny”. It has been my experience that you can speak the results you want into existence. Once you have a vision for your life, don’t keep it to yourself. Share your vision with friends, family, peers and even random people on the street. The more you talk about your vision, the more real it becomes with each conversation.
By sharing your vision, a couple of things inherently happen. The people you tell become a part of your tribe, working to help you perfect the vision. Also, by sharing your vision with others, you create a network of accountability. Each person you tell will have a different perspective or their own resources that you can leverage to help you on your journey to achieving your end goal. These same people will be curious about your progress. They will want to know how things are going. You can use this energy and curiosity to keep you focused on moving your vision forward. In a sense, you become what you speak.
Good leaders can articulate someone else’s vision. An exceptional leader has the ability to share their own vision and engage others in the fulfillment of that vision. In my experience, the best leaders are visionaries that invite their people to come alongside them and to take the journey with them to make the vision a reality. In order to do this effectively, the leader must be able to share the vision in a way that resonates with and inspires others to want to be a part of the journey.
“the very best and most creative visions simply do not become reality because of failure to act”
Act
An expansion of Covey’s philosophy of beginning with the end in mind is that everything is created twice- once in our minds and then again through our actions. While thoughts and visualization are extremely powerful, we still must take action to realize the outcomes we would like to achieve. The good news is that through visualizing an outcome, we have already created the roadmap to get us there. I remember being a freshman Psychology major, creating the roadmap for my next 3 years while making the long trek across campus to the Psychology building. Specifically, I envisioned that I needed to make that building my home away from home and not just attend classes, but also get involved in as many research projects as possible. From that day forward, I acted in accordance with the mental roadmap I had created for myself. As a result, I ended up with not one, but two degrees in the field of Psychology.
I am an Insights-licensed practitioner. Insights is a solution designed to help individuals gain a better understanding of themselves and those around them; using a simple to remember and easy-to-apply four-color model. The premise of the Insights program is that there are four color energies that we all tap into. However, we all have a stronger preference for one of the four color energies; and these preferences are what shape our personalities, communication, decision making and working styles. One of the four color energies is “cool blue”. The hallmarks of cool blue energy are caution, precision, deliberation, inquiry and formality. When I facilitate Insights Discovery workshops, I often use a particular example when describing individuals that lead with cool blue energy. Individuals that have a stronger preference towards cool blue energy are often very adept at and enjoy the process of planning and organizing. The example I use is about planning a party. In the example, the individual with a high preference for cool blue energy will create a plan for a flawless party, with just the right touches to make every guest feel valued and comfortable. During the planning process, they might even share the details of the plan with those around them with great enthusiasm. However, because it is the planning and organizing that holds the true value, they may never actually take the action to send out the meticulously designed invitations. The end result—there is no party. The lesson is this: the very best and most creative visions simply do not become reality because of failure to act. The downfall of the most prolific visionaries is the inability to execute or to build a team that can execute on their behalf.
“Exceptional leaders create space for alternative solutions and course corrections to achieve optimal results”
Reflect
Reflection is often a key tool that exceptional leaders use to continuously achieve exceptional results. To reflect can mean to “cause a change in direction”, “to exhibit an outline”, “to make manifest or apparent” or to “think quietly or calmly”. Creating space to evaluate what’s working or what’s not, and being able to course correct are essential to continuous improvement. Even when everything goes exactly according to plan, it is important to understand “why” something worked, so that the success may be replicated in the future. Many project leaders refer to this process as the post-mortem. It can be a single meeting or a short series of meetings with everyone involved to discuss what went right, what went wrong and what could be done better.
Creating time and space for reflection is not just useful at the end of a project, initiative or journey; but during the process as well. While you are striving to achieve your objectives, it is important to set and acknowledge key milestones. This helps you to know whether or not you are still on the right track or if you need to course correct. One of the definitions of reflection is to “cause a change in direction”. Upon reflection, you may determine that a change in direction is required. This does not necessarily mean that your objective or destination has changed, but the path for getting there may need to be reimagined. There are an infinite number of ways to get to the same result. Exceptional leaders create space for alternative solutions and course corrections to achieve optimal results.
The cat responded, "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”
In order to achieve exceptional results, it is essential for a leader or business owner to take intentional steps to plan for the outcome they desire. In Lewis Carroll’s classic story, Alice in Wonderland, Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?". The cat responded, "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to." The exchange continued with Alice asserting that she didn’t much care which way she went. To which the Cheshire Cat wisely responded, "Then it doesn't matter which way you go." The moral of this part of the story is, if one cannot visualize, act, share and reflect their desired destination, they will never actually get there. Good leaders can often get good results, but exceptional leaders that have mastered the act of visualizing, acting, sharing and reflecting consistently achieve exceptional results.
Have you established a habit of visualizing, acting, sharing and reflecting? If so, I bet you are getting phenomenal results and those around you would describe you as an exceptional leader. Are you struggling with one or more of these elements? Let us help!
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