Personal vision and mission statements

With the New Year rapidly approaching I've decided to do some reflection on where life has taken me and where I want to be. Through this process I've explored my strengths and passions in detail, reflecting on the moments in life where I've felt most alive. These moments have usually been when I've had opportunities to fully be myself. I recently took Marcus Buckingham's StandOut assessment and was reminded that I'm a Connector and a Pioneer. Although I drafted my vision and mission statements before taking this assessment, I've been amazed at how much my vision and mission reflect these two qualities. In order to fulfil the vision I have for life I will need to continue to make connections with the people I come in contact with. In order to 'arrive' one day at the place where I want to be I will have to continue to pioneer my way through the uncertainty and complexity of the world in which we live. I'm looking forward to 2012. It's never too late for new beginnings. As a pioneer I love fresh starts. As a connector, I'm looking for those who will share the adventure with me. 

Feel free to check out my vision and mission statements on my site. 

Update on Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 12:10PM by Joel D. Supeck

I just discovered that the links in this post to my vision and mission statement required a login. I've change the permissions so that you can now view those statements by clicking the link. Alternatively, you will find the statements located under the "About Me" section on the left hand side of the site. 

A vision from the past

I found an old leadership assignment the other day.  It was part of my undergraduate leadership class at Penn State.  This vision "statement" (actually, it's more like a book) is twelve-years old!  I've done some of these things and I'm still working on others.  A 22-year old version of myself wrote:

As a leader in my home, workplace, community and world, I will strive to make a difference in everything I do. By working with people who are close to me, I will provide them with any resources that will help them succeed. By helping others reach their full potential, I will feel a sense of accomplishment in helping others realize their dreams. As a leader, I will be inspiring. I will take on the impossible, and make it possible. Doing the impossible is what motivates me to be better than I was the day before. I will be the kind of leader who looks at people and sees their full potential, and capacity, not their limitations and weaknesses.

In becoming this leader, I will continue to strengthen the abilities that I currently posses, such as my communication skills, my ability to get along with just about everybody, learning from my mistakes and turning them into opportunities and wisdom. Other abilities that will help me along the way are my vision for the future, what I see and what I feel I am capable of doing. I have used my listening skills to build a rapport between my coworkers and peers. By being willing to listen, and listen intently, people begin to trust you because you care. People always seem to admire and respect people who make them feel good about themselves. The world is bent on destroying and tearing each other down for personal gain. When someone is given a compliment, or told that they do something well, it works to build them up. Unfortunately this is not done often. By using these abilities, I will attempt to achieve these things. 

I will develop a network of family, friends, and associates that I will be able to utilize as I grow in my leadership style. Developing these relationships will take time and I will make every meeting, chance or otherwise, to establish some kind of communication or alliance. 

As a leader of the future, I will not forget where I came from, or the people who helped me achieve that success. Remembering those who have helped me is very important. They believed in me when no one else did, and I will be there to do the same for them. As I grow in my leadership roles, I will make this a focus point in my relationships.

Finally, through the observations of my life and those around me, I will extrapolate all that I can out of life, making life an endless pursuit of knowledge. I will always look to what I have learned for guidance in making wise decisions. I will never tire of chasing excellence, nor will I relent in the pursuit of happiness. In all these pursuits, I will above all else put others needs before my own, so that I don’t use or neglect anyone in the race that I have entered.  

Where there is no vision

"Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Proverbs 29:18, KJV)

What if there is vision, but no leadership? Will 'the people' still perish? This thought woke me up in the middle of the night. There are currently many struggles taking place at my work. I've been there for four years, and for the majority of that time we've been facing major change. There are more changes coming.

The change we've seen has been driven by a mix of economic, financial and industry challenges, but mostly, by vision. Visions are grand and lofty. They are meant to inspire and motivate. They should be just beyond our reach so that we continue to press on towards something 'better'. I've heard it said that there are good visions and bad. If this is the case then surely there are good ways to implement bad vision and bad ways to implement the good.

A vast amount of my work experience has been focused on helping visionary leaders implement their grand schemes. Many visionaries cast their visions and then quickly move on to the next. This 'if you dream it, it's done' mentality can be the greatest source of frustration for the visionary implementers. At some point every vision must be thrashed out, worked over, dissected and put back together again to ensure that it is in fact, implementable, sustainable and worthwhile for the organisation. For those who birthed the vision, I imagine that it would very frustrating to see your idea worked over by others. I haven't yet been blessed with the opportunity to have children, but I imagine having your vision challenged and pulled apart would be a lot like someone picking on your kid. I wouldn't be surprised if it elicited a similar emotional response.

There exist a different set of frustrations for those who work with visionaries as implementers. The implementer's frustrations come in the urgent and often unrealistic expectations that big visions can be implemented immediately. Vision is usually cast from the top of an organisation, therefore, there can be a bit of isolation between the vision caster and those who are most impacted by that same vision. So the implementers, in translating the vision, have to find ways of taking account of all the implications that need sorting out when working out the vision. The implementer needs time to do this. They usually have to rework existing systems, or invent new ones. This is an important part of any change project. But more importantly, they need to be active in shifting the 'people' who are affected. This is where the Proverb is most helpful. Without vision, systems don't perish – people do. So it is vitally important for the vision implementers to work with all individuals and groups affected by the change that vision can bring.

You may be wondering by now (if you're still reading) when I'm going to get to leadership. Hold on for a few more moments. Bill Hybels is the pastor of Willow Creek Church in Chicago. I remember hearing him speak on the topic of vision. His exposition on vision highlighted the importance of vision to an organisation. After getting the audience fired up and excited, he shifted to leadership. He said something to this effect – you should never put vision above people. This line has stuck in my mind for one reason. People need vision to survive. They need to be able to see beyond themselves and their own little worlds. They need to see a world filled with others just like them. Others who struggle, work hard, and who find joy in family and friends. So vision and people are intertwined. Vision is not something that can be cast and left on its own. It must be nurtured, fostered, rewarded and chastised. In order to do this we inevitably must focus on the people who will ultimately experience the benefit of the vision. But we must be careful not to cast a vision that can only be implemented at the expense of those who carry out the implementation.

So this brings me back to my opening question. What if there is vision and no leadership? What if there is a vision that people embrace, but ultimately ignores those it impacts the most? Leadership is required to translate the vision for the people who implement and receive the benefits of the vision. The rest of the proverb says this, "but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." When I read this verse I had to ask myself, "what law?" In the Christian tradition, the two greatest laws are these: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself'" (Matthew 22:37-29, NIV). Whether or not you are a person of faith, there is something here for all of us. Vision that focuses on systems and procedures and things other than human, will be impersonal. The vision caster and implementers may be able to ultimately fulfil the vision, but it will result in a heartless, soulless organisation because it will not contain people who wrestled with and owned the vision. Vision is about ownership. People must believe. Leadership must work to instil ownership in people in order to make this happen. In a 'Brand Me' culture, where everyone is looking out for themselves, the second law above is broken. When we love ourselves more than we love those around us, we cannot expect to be 'truly happy'. Note that the second law does not require us to love others more than ourselves, just 'as yourself.' Some of us love ourselves pretty much (me included). For those of us involved in change management and implementation, there is something in coming to grips with learning to 'love' others as much as we do ourselves. After all, it's the people we lead and manage who ultimately help us fulfil the vision that we (and our leaders) cast.