14 Leading with NLP
inspiring and your vision may lose force and be misunder-
stood. The world of pictures is evocative and lucid, the world
of words is shadowy and full of double meanings. Sight takes
in everything all at once, words give a little at a time. Try this
experiment when you have a few moments to yourself. Look
at your surroundings for a few seconds. Then close your
eyes. Now describe your surroundings. It would take a long
time, wouldn’t it? But someone who knew the scene would
recognize it from your first sketchy description. A vision
statement in words has little meaning unless it can connect
with and evoke the experience it refers to.
More difficult still, unlike your surroundings, a vision
does not yet exist, it is an imaginary picture, like the form of
a sculpture that only exists in your mind’s eye. It becomes
solid only as you work towards it. At first it’s an outline. An
evocative word sketch will allow people to create it in their
own minds, to see it in their own terms. Then they will add
to it, give it different perspectives and the vision will grow
stronger. The more people share the essential vision, the
more robust and multi-dimensional it becomes.
There is an art to putting a vision into words. The words
need to be clear enough to capture the idea, yet vague
enough for others to make their own meanings from it and
enrich it. ‘To put a man on the moon in 10 years’ is one ex-
ample of a vision. ‘A family growing and being happy
together’ is another. ‘A reliable overnight delivery service’ is
a third. How about ‘Redefining what is possible in the media
market’? The words need to be suggestive and evocative. To
modify Einstein’s famous dictum, ‘Vision needs to be as sim-
ple as possible, but no simpler.’
I think it is natural to have a vision. It may be clear
and central in your life. It may be hovering on the edge of
your horizon – you may have a peripheral vision, as it were.
Leadership takes that vision and puts it more fully into your
life. You become more aware of it and start to act on it.
A vision can be about creating an international company,
playing a leading role in your local community, being an in-
spiring manager, a top athletic coach, designing a killer