Friday Lesson in Leadership: Vision

I am starting a Friday routine, that will post a topic relating to Leadership and Character Development. Leadership comes in many forms, however before you become a leader you must first learn to lead yourself. This can be done through self-respect, confidence, good decision making and a commitment to developing yourself, personally, academically and athletically.

Once you have learned to lead yourself, then you must gain the respect of others. You must respect others in order to be respected. Respect is gained by understanding leadership from listenting and communicating with coaches and team captains.

This first lesson on leadership talks about vision. It was taken from a article posted on another site. Vision is a great place to start understanding leadership because it is the foundation of leadership on all levels...business, athletics, polically, etc. In order to lead others, you must provide them with a vision.

Discovering Vision
"Where there is no vision, the people perish"

A vision is a direction—an attractive and attainable picture of the future. And it is important that every individual, group and organization have one that they can articulate. A vision isn't a statement on a laminated card that everyone is to carry. It is meant to solve real issues and move people to new behaviors. As a leader, if you don't know where you are going, you are irrelevant to you followers. With a vision you can inspire and lift individuals and groups to new heights—an important function of any leader.

It is not merely a dream but a realistic picture of what could be. It should be pragmatic. In addition, it should be something that you are sincerely passionate about. If you are not passionate about it, it will be difficult for you to get others to get on board and sustain it.

The very essence of leadership is vision. The greatest motivational principle in the world is this: people do what people see. People don't follow a dream itself. They follow the leader who has that dream and the ability to communicate it effectively. A well articulated vision in the beginning of any process will make a leader, but for that vision to grow and demand a following, the leader must take responsibility for it.

One of the desirable characteristics of diamonds is that they have the ability to refract light. That is, diamonds turn white light into the colors of a rainbow as seen in the sparkle of a diamond in the sun or under a bright light. That sparkle is eye-catching; it grabs people's attention as do visionary leaders. When we break up the light of our vision into a colorful rainbow, a preferred picture of the future that can be visualized and understoof by our followers, then we have begun the work of a leader- to cast vision. Never underestimate your diamond-like characteristic to bend your light and break it up into a colorful picture of what is in store for those who are following.