In my last post, I suggested ways to help you move your leadership vision from black & white, to color, to Technicolor, to 3D/HDTV. Once you have written out your goal, shared it with others, and repeated it regularly, you need to take it one step further and make it tactile.

But how do you make the vision concrete? How do you give it substance, meat, and value? Simply put, you move from the planning stages to the doing stages. You put the vision into action.

For example, if your mission is to help the homeless, your team can visualize scenarios and plan ways to make a difference. But a discussion over a boardroom table isn’t concrete. And it’s miles away from where the problem exists. The team needs something to hold onto, put their arms around, and feel.

The final step for bringing this particular vision into a clear, 3D/HDTV focus, is to actually observe and interact with the homeless. To make the vision real, you can’t just tell your team about the issue; they need to experience what is happening for themselves. In this way, by making the vision tangible and real, the team will be better equipped to not just formulate, but actually put a plan into action.

In some businesses, making a vision tactile is as simple as getting your team out in the real world and putting them on the front lines. In other situations, you as the leader will be challenged to make your vision tactile. You’ll need to develop creative, but relevant ways to make the goal more tangible and relatable. It’s the only way to truly move your vision into the doing stage, where it becomes 3D, with crystal-clear, HDTV results.

Remember, as a WOW leader, your vision becomes more attainable by incorporating each of the 4 steps. When the plan is clearly outlined, shared, and repeatedly reinforced, you and your team are more likely to move the experience to the tactile level, and ultimately bring the vision to life.

–Sheri Staak