Championship Vision: From The Football Field To Your Team
I’d like to start off by mentioning that I am continuing to read High Road Leadership and really enjoying it. Please follow me on LinkedIn to read about my AHAs I share in my daily journal posts there. John C. Maxwell compels his readers to be givers first – and I wholeheartedly agree. Leaders cannot walk around this world with a closed fist. When your fist is closed, you cannot take on anything more. Rather, you need to walk this world with an open hand, ready to share what you have with others. Furthermore, when your hand is open, you can also receive much more. And that is really how you live in abundance and exemplify great leadership.
This week, Gracie and I have been working on meticulously editing my manuscript for The Steady Leader, and specifically tightening up the concept of VISION and mini visions. I’ve read many books on vision and would say my personal outlook and practices with regard to vision have been influenced in some way by all of those talented authors. Today – since I am a sports guy and it is football season – I will also sprinkle in a bit of my love-of-the-game as I paint a picture for how best to cast a broad vision for yourself, your team, or your company and make it truly actionable.
Picture this: you are an offensive coordinator (the person on a football team who is the head coach of the offense). As the offensive coordinator, you are going to have a broad, overarching vision for what you want your offense to look like. This vision – what it looks like in the end when done right – is how the world will perceive your offense. When the analysts on College Gameday speak about your offense, what will you be known for? Do you want your offense to be a running offense, known for running the ball more than passing? (GO Army, Beat Navy!). Or, do you want to be known as a passing offense (picture this week’s number 2 team, the Oregon Ducks)?
But this big vision for the offense as a whole isn’t where the offensive coordinator stops. He must also create a mini vision for each position on his offensive roster. The vision for the quarterback will look very different from that of the offensive tackle position. After all, achieving success in each position looks different – a successful quarterback is one who makes sound, yet quick, decisions and completes most of his passes and handoffs for forward movement toward his endzone. An offensive tackle’s success is determined by his ability to protect the play-makers. Yet, every single player on the offense is integral to the success of each play and thus each game overall. These mini visions for each player nest up into the big vision for the running offense.
When these mini visions work together, they accomplish the big vision and games are won. These big vision and nesting mini visions matter because they give yourself, your team or your company direction. This direction allows for the creation of an accurate plan that will propel you in the direction you want yourself, your team or your company to move toward in the future. Creating a vision forces you to think, and it is also a powerful communication tool. As the leader, you must spend time thinking to determine where you want your company to go and how to get there. And when you communicate this vision to your team, you share actionable ways to achieve success even when you are not around.
So, the next time you sit down to do some visioning work, think like an offensive coordinator. Big AND mini visions are important.
Written by Schuyler Williamson
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God Bless!
~ Schuyler Williamson