One of the most beneficial and rewarding exercises I did in the course of earning my master’s degree was to write an essay based on my desired vision for my personal future. At the time I was going through a difficult but necessary transition from one position of leadership to another, and the process of outlining what I desired my life and career to look like fifteen years in the future helped me to look forward to what I might become and helped me to avoid getting overly bogged down with the myriad of challenges I faced at that moment. Today, coming up on a third of the way through my fifteen-year plan, I can see how I’ve taken steps toward the positive destination I created back then, and it is clear that the implementation of my plan is plausible, though needing some fine tuning and strategic modifications as I go along.
Every few months, I review the original document and compare where I thought I wanted to be at the end of the plan to where my reality today shows I am heading. This is encouraging as I see the vision I had taking shape, but the ongoing exercise of review also shows me how some of my desires of five years ago have given way to new thoughts, dreams, and opportunities. Still, even with the changes I’m making on the fly, I believe that the process of continually looking forward and setting in motion a plan to arrive at a desired destination is crucial to the leadership effectiveness for which we strive, be it personal leadership or professional leadership. My advice to anyone desiring to lead and live a productive life is to develop the long-range vision of where you want to go, outline the plan, and go for it.
In 2008, Friedman described leadership vision as “a compelling image of an achievable future.” As I look forward to my future of servant-leadership, I intend to use my strengths with passion, authenticity, and integrity. I believe I will see my vision unfold, manifesting my personal leadership philosophy, which is to spend the rest of my career pouring my life into other leaders, using my unique gifts, passions, abilities, personality, and experiences to partner with them and help them achieve great things beyond their wildest dreams. I hope you will do the same.
Lead well.