3 Steps to Presenting Your Vision in a Powerful Way

Brief 

Delivering a vision is only the final step of a long process of getting clarity, combining facts and inspiration, and setting a personal example in pursuit of organizational goals and dreams, writes Paul Thornton. “The more time you spend clarifying your thinking, the more confident you will be when presenting your plans,” Thornton writes.

Insight

Every week, you communicate a variety of messages to your bosses, employees and customers. Many of your ideas are aimed at creating a better future — that’s what leaders do!

But will your ideas work? Will they be understood and acted on? You’ve likely witnessed or lived through change initiatives that don’t achieve the desired results. Why is that? In some cases, the leader’s ideas weren’t fully vetted. In other situations, the poor results were due to ineffective communications.The following three steps will help you achieve better results.

Step No. 1: Clarify your thinking

Trav worked for one of the major insurance companies. He was a brilliant visionary leader who spent significant time thinking about his ideas and creating his telecommunications vision. Trav touched base with other thought leaders to create dialogue and get feedback on his ideas. Those discussions helped him fine-tune his goals and plans.

Trav also expected his staff to do some independent thinking and come to meetings prepared to explore all aspects of his vision. He was particularly interested in the best ways to simplify and communicate his ideas to a larger audience. Trav was open to new insights and exploring questions that helped him consider all aspects of his ideas.

When discussing current operational performance, Trav would always incorporate his vision into the discussion. Interestingly, this approach kept his management team focused on implementing the vision while effectively managing current operations.

Bottom line: Like Trav, you need to spend a significant amount of time thinking about your ideas. For some leaders, being constantly busy has become a substitute for thinking.Test your ideas with other experts. Involve your staff and evaluate your ideas from every possible angle. The more time you spend clarifying your thinking, the more confident you will be when presenting your plans.