Great visions are never easy.
When John F Kennedy committed his country to take an astronaut to the moon, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration had no idea how to achieve that goal. All they had was a clear understanding of what the finished result looked like, and a willingness to make it happen, within a specified timeframe.
The goal seemed irrelevant to the day to day lives of the American people Kennedy was talking to. And yet it shifted the atmosphere from the fear of the Cold War to the excitement of possibility. And the technologies developed to achieve that vision have changed all our lives since then, immeasurably.
An inspiring vision can move mountains.
Not every vision looks the same, but The Churning believes there are seven key building blocks needed to create an inspiring vision:
- Speak with your own authentic voice
- Tell the truth about the current situation
- Define what’s in it for your audience
- Give people the option to leave, but force them to make a choice
- Relate your objective to a higher principle, moral purpose, or value
- Define clearly the future state you want instead of the current situation
- Define some of the first practical steps required
These are described in more detail in Chapter 6 of inner leadership.