Embrace firm’s vision to enjoy your work more

Greatness is not absence of problems. In fact greatness tends to ride on the wave of great problems.

The scope of your challenges grows with each achievement you make. Conversely, each problem you conquer makes you greater.

In life, we set visionary goals. We go out to try to achieve them. We inject huge efforts and countless hours into the mission. We may make good progress.

But this is often lost upon us. We sometimes don’t even seem to realize that we are close to achieving our goals, or even that we have achieved them. Our perception is frequently blurred by the immediate day-to-day challenges. We may be so focused on the current problem that our glory is drowned in this focus.

If this deep absorption happens to us as individuals, fancy what that means in organisations, where the vision is meant to be shared among many people. 

Besides, in organisations, people come and go. How do you tell that the original vision is still alive and that it is almost getting realised?

Achievement of one objective often marks the closure of one matter and the opening of a new frontier.  The challenges attendant to the new mission might catch you unawares. They may be overwhelming to the extent of making you   forget where you have come from and what has been achieved. It could be expansion, new lines of products, or any other goal toward the attainment of your greater vision.

Even the very best thought-out plans cannot anticipate all possible challenges. Some of the emerging challenges could even threaten the attainment of the greater vision.

TRUE TRAGEDY

The true tragedy is not the challenge. It is rather the blurring of what has so far been achieved. It helps to reflect on where you have come from, even as you strive for greater things.

Sharing your new vision with others is not an easy matter.  Regardless of how much effort you put, not everyone in the organisation will clearly understand the vision.

Where the visionary objective has been shared in writing, there will be those who memorise and recite it, without it meaning anything to them. 

Not everyone will buy into the vision or be passionate about it, therefore. Indeed few people work with the vision in mind. For most people work is routine. Others work to please the supervisor.

Those who do not clearly understand the vision or buy into it will hardly see the progress being made towards it. Their focus will remain on the new problems and challenges that have come up as a result of pursuing the new goal. It is not even unlikely for such a person to romanticise the past, when such problems never existed. 

The burden of driving the vision rests with the vision carriers who believe in it and are committed to its realisation. This is where the greater meaning of work life comes in. Why do you work?

Is it purely for subsistence and property? 

Is there something that you would wish to be credited to your existence and time in your workplace, or would you rather just walk away one day without leaving any trace behind?

Embracing an organisational vision is a mark of professional courage. You are committing your professionalism towards attainment of a set greater goal.

You do not wish to be just there when all was happening. You want to be part of the action. What is your personal vision within the greater vision?

How much are you willing to sacrifice for it? How courageous are you to be willing to embrace the vision?  

Embracing a vision is a very personal thing. It may require some persuasion and charisma on the part of the vision bearer.

However, the effort to buy in and personalise the vision is individual. To lead a work life of no shared vision is a great life lost.

If your sights are fixated on the challenges at your feet, you will never see the great promise on the visionary horizon.