Are We (KSO) Vision led or Activity led?
Mangneo Lhungdim, Advisor KSO (G)
E-mail him at: mlhungdim@gmail.com
Dear leader, vision is it: without vision the people perish. A vision is a future reality seen now. It is a portrait of a future that grabs. Are you a leader--a CEO? Then you aren't appointed simply to maintain the status quo and ensure the wind blows on as usual. You are to dream, dare and do.- Kumuyi, William F. “Goliah Business Knowledge on Demand”.
Many of the surviving institutions that are in our prized possession today are largely white elephants[1] and we often struggle to define these elephants no better than the famous five blind men. In the modern world, those who do not go forward fast enough go backwards. The Kuki Students’ Organisation is at a standstill, looking around, debating and thus going backwards.
Without vision, we are blind – and without a vision, an organization is liable to be stumbling around, lost in the blizzard. As Joel Barker suggested in his work on The Power of Vision, “Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference.”
Use your vision to focus
Why does our organization exist? What business are we in? What values will guide us?
Great wealth, a roaring enterprise, a man on the moon, brother and sisterhood among the races of the globe... what is your organization's vision? "What will success look like?" In trying to answer these questions, one would rather begin with an individual introspection. Why am I here in Guwahati? Of course, each one of us have set a target or two or, too many for that matter. How many years do I give myself to achieve or attain it/them? And for the simple reason that KSO (G) and/or the society are a construct of individuals (including you and me) with different aims/targets, allotted timeframes and resources at his/her disposal, we are not expected to advance the KSO’s interest at the personal cost or loss.
Mangneo Lhungdim, Advisor KSO (G)
E-mail him at: mlhungdim@gmail.com
Dear leader, vision is it: without vision the people perish. A vision is a future reality seen now. It is a portrait of a future that grabs. Are you a leader--a CEO? Then you aren't appointed simply to maintain the status quo and ensure the wind blows on as usual. You are to dream, dare and do.- Kumuyi, William F. “Goliah Business Knowledge on Demand”.
Many of the surviving institutions that are in our prized possession today are largely white elephants[1] and we often struggle to define these elephants no better than the famous five blind men. In the modern world, those who do not go forward fast enough go backwards. The Kuki Students’ Organisation is at a standstill, looking around, debating and thus going backwards.
Without vision, we are blind – and without a vision, an organization is liable to be stumbling around, lost in the blizzard. As Joel Barker suggested in his work on The Power of Vision, “Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference.”
Use your vision to focus
Why does our organization exist? What business are we in? What values will guide us?
Great wealth, a roaring enterprise, a man on the moon, brother and sisterhood among the races of the globe... what is your organization's vision? "What will success look like?" In trying to answer these questions, one would rather begin with an individual introspection. Why am I here in Guwahati? Of course, each one of us have set a target or two or, too many for that matter. How many years do I give myself to achieve or attain it/them? And for the simple reason that KSO (G) and/or the society are a construct of individuals (including you and me) with different aims/targets, allotted timeframes and resources at his/her disposal, we are not expected to advance the KSO’s interest at the personal cost or loss.
Echoing a recent Sunday message of Pastor Marak, A vision statement should be realistic, focused and credible, well articulated and easily understood, appropriate, ambitious, and responsive to change. It should orient the KSOs’ energies and serve as a guide to action. It should be consistent with the organization's values. In short, a vision should challenge and inspire the group and every member to achieve its mission. African proverbs – “a monkey who tried to get three mangoes from different branches in a tree at the same time fell on its back”.
Students with Vision
In an amazing longitudinal study on goal setting, Yale University surveyed the graduating class of 1953 on commencement day, to determine if they had written goals for what they wanted their lives to become. Only three percent had such a vision. In 1973, the surviving members of the class of 1953 were surveyed again. The three percent who had a vision for what they wished their lives would become had accumulated greater wealth than the other 97 percent combined.
This tells us that without a vision, success is impossible. We cannot pretend that it is possible to take a second step without taking the first or to implement the vision without efficient organisation.
The power of organisational vision
Championing a clear, shared vision of where we as a group or organisation are going has always been seen as a key part of the leader’s role. In fact, the vision might be seen as the leader’s statement of their leadership goals – where is it that I am leading us to? This visionary role is never more important than in the increasingly complex and chaotic business environment we live in today.
Organisationally, research indicates that a clear vision that aligns strategic direction does indeed improve a number of performance measures, with those companies that are powered by vision outperforming the market by up to 15 times. We have all seen teams and individuals languish without a clear sense of purpose and direction, and thrive with clarity and shared purpose.
As an African proverbs says, ““When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion”
This is, of course, never more true than when that sense of shared purpose resonates strongly with the individual’s own personal purpose and value system. Your vision serves as a statement to all members, both current and potential, of where the organisation is going, and allows them to choose whether they wish to undertake that journey or not.
There is one universal rule of planning: You will never be greater than the vision that guides you. No Olympic athlete ever got to the Olympics by mistake; a compelling vision of his or her stellar performance inevitably guides all the sweat and tears for many years. The vision statement should require the organization's members to stretch their expectations, aspirations, and performance. Without that powerful, attractive, valuable vision, why bother?
There is much hard work ahead for the KSO. But it is worthwhile being part of a process of changing the description of the White Elephant if not so for elephant herself.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "I have a dream," and what followed was a vision that changed a nation. That famous speech is a dramatic example of the power that can be generated by a person who communicates a compelling vision of the future
For further reading on setting Goal, Vision and please visit
http://www1.freewebs.com/consultneindia/
http://guwahatieimi.blogspot.com
[1] A white elephant is a supposedly valuable possession whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) exceeds its usefulness, and it is therefore a liability.
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