For workplaces to attract and retain great employees, there needs to be leaders who have a vivid vision of the type of environment they want to create and how they can implement change that leads to a workplace where employees feel valued and the company thrives.

One of those traits is vision. The concept of “vision” is all about having a vivid mental image of what you want to accomplish. The vision in your mind should be so clear and strong, that it will help make your goal become a reality.

Many businesses or entrepreneurs will start their endeavor by carefully crafting a vision statement. These statements will communicate the overall goals of your business. But extraordinary leaders will also include how the workplace will feel and how they want to engage employees in the process.

In fact, a good vision statement includes three elements

• Your Purpose
• Your Goals
• Your Values

A great leader needs to start with a powerful vision for her goal. It is so much easier to lead people when you have a concrete idea of where you want to go. You can also build a team around you that will help you make that vision a reality.

Research shows that when employee’s find a vision statement meaningful, they are 18% more likely to be engaged than average.

The best leaders have a vision that follows the three elements above, and they will not waiver from its path until they reach their goal.

Why It’s Important in the workplace:

You need to have a vision for the workplace because it is going to keep you on track. 

Think of your vision as your goals or dreams. It’s what you want in business, and it gives you something concrete to build towards as you move forward.

Great achievers harness visualization as a powerful tool to

This vision you create will propel you towards success. When you constantly think about your goals, visualize achieving them and think about how you will feel when you reach them, you will find that your brain begins looking for things to help make that happen. It’s called the RAS system.

For those of you who want the full scientific breakdown, go Google. But for a quick study, it’s the Reticular Activating System (RAS) or your brain’s “auto-pilot.” Your RAS is the thing that analyzes what incoming information is actually relevant to you (and your survival), and lets only the most important stuff through – it actively blocks the rest of the info (so you are not aware of it. So if you are focused on your vision, your brain starts showing you and helping you connect more of the things that help you accomplish your mission.

I am not talking about some esoteric theory that thinking about your goals will manifest them in the universe. There is nothing wrong with that belief, but visualization itself is merely a tool. You don’t have to think about it on a mystical level. Your brain is already hardwired to help you do that. Having an overall vision of what you want in your professional life gives you something to work towards and helps you get there. You will face obstacles and adversity, your plans will change, but having an overall vision will help you meet any issues head-on. You will confront these obstacles head-on because you know exactly where you are heading. 

Vision Exercise

Create your unique Vision Statement!  Exciting right? This statement should reflect what your overall goal or dream is in your professional life. Below you will find a simple template you can use to help you along the way.

Who Are You? List the core values that you refuse to abandon along the way to your goals
(ex. I will always put family first, I’ll treat employees with respect, I believe in honesty, Integrity matters.)

What’s Your Purpose?

What is the overall purpose ? What is it that you want to accomplish more than anything else
(ex. I want to be the leading software deign company, I want to promote from within whenever possible, )

How Are You Going To Get There?
What are 3-5 goals that you will begin to work on to propel you towards your overall purpose? (ex. I am going create an employee advisory committee, I will implement a people-first culture, I will create culture centered hiring practices)

Now, put all of these together into a single paragraph below (be as creative as you want) and you will have your first professional vision statement.

Don’t be afraid to work on tweaking this as you grow and progress towards your vision.

Bonus Exercise:

Using your list of goals, create a vision board to help keep them in mind. Find images of your goals, online, or in magazines, and post them to a board that you keep in plain sight. Study others who are doing things well. Jot down what is working well for them. You can do this on your computer as well, and make the board your background image or something similar.

If you want more secrets to building a successful career brand, you can:

Join Successfully Ever After  an online course designed to help you create a personal brand designed with career success in mind within 30 days.

Booking now for speaking and training events.

Join my private Successfully Ever After Facebook Group for trainings and information designed for success-seekers.

Check out my audio books: Get Noticed, Get Hired or When In Doubt, Delete It!

Think career coaching is for you? Schedule a consultation and let’s talk!