New managers: take your time finding a vision

Obviously in order to inform and infuse your vision you have to have a vision first. It is an integral part of being a leader, and is in fact one of the things that separates leaders from managers (and sheep herders). So as you’re developing your leadership skills you might be a little freaked out if you don’t have something you can call a “vision” yet.

I was when I started out—it’s natural.

A vision isn’t a thing, it’s a process

Creating or finding your vision is a journey. For the most part, you can’t just sit down on an arbitrary Wednesday during your first week at work and come up with a useful vision (I know, I tried).

And your vision changes, evolves, becomes more than it was originally even when you do ultimately find yours. You have to remain flexible in making your vision reality, which is again why it’s useful to focus on a fairly high-level picture. The details just aren’t as important.

So take your time

When you become the leader of a larger organization, you will feel some pressure to have and act on a vision right away. You may want to put your mark on your organization or industry, or to change the way things are done.

Resist this pressure. Do not simply cobble together a collection of goals over the weekend following your first week on the job and call that your vision. Take your time, and let it come to you.

Start out with the right mindset

Here’s the reason: if you are leading, if you are fulfilling your obligation to shape and create the technologies of a bountiful future for the rest of the world, then eventually you’ll have a sound vision. They can’t all be big, mine isn’t, and yours may be fairly small too. But it will be sound, you’ll believe in it, and you’ll be able to convince others of its value by virtue of your belief.