We are just a few weeks away from the kick-off our Inspired Leadership Series, a recurring event series that unites local leaders for an evening of learning, connection and exploration as we dive deep into a core leadership concept. The format will be the same for each event: a spotlight speaker will tee up a leadership theme and then attendees will dive into the concept and explore it together in small group discussions.
You can learn more about the reason behind the launch of Inspired here.
For our first event, taking place February 5, at Tavolo in Warwick, Rhode Island, we are focusing on the leadership theme of Vision. My good friend Chris Poe—keynote speaker, technology executive and business strategist—will serve as our spotlight speaker, introducing his “Big Bang Vision” concept and exploring how our attendees can be more intentional and focused about creating their big vision. I grabbed a few minutes with Chris to get a sneak peek on his talk. Here’s what he had to say!
Why is vision so important in our personal and professional life?
Without vision (our own or somebody else’s), our path forward is sort of “rudder-less.” Our vision can be big and audacious, or relatively small. Vision provides purpose and direction for our thoughts and actions. Without it to guide us, we can often be unknowingly hijacked in to supporting somebody else’s vision. That may be good; but may be bad as well.
How did you come up with the concept “Big Bang Vision?”
I believe that there is a great deal of energy that exists between us all and that energy is always there and can be channeled in positive and negative ways. Big Bang Vision acknowledges the fact that all of the energy that was ever created in the universe was created at that one moment in time, the Big Bang. You can’t create energy—or destroy it, for that matter. However, you can use, transfer, or transform that energy. Doing so with intent is a uniquely human capability.
Creating a Big Bang Vision can help you to intentionally channel your own energy as well as the energy of those around you to achieve your goals.
How do you make vision meaningful and sticky (something more than words on a piece of paper)?
I think it’s vital that you share the vision with others but also that you make it a shared vision. The more you share your vision and communicate it the better you yourself can identify with it.
When you make a vision a “shared vision,” you help others identify how your vision applies to them and aligns with their own vision and goals, and they then are more likely to contribute to the realization of yours as it helps them with theirs. Great synergy gets created and the vision further propagated.
What is the biggest mistake people/companies tend to make when it comes to building vision?
I think the biggest mistake made relative to vision is that it is often simply looked at as a check-box activity to be completed, perhaps for a website or a company presentation. Often, a vision is conceived of, published, and maybe even communicated a handful of times, but then it lives only on a webpage or in a document to be seldom referenced. Vision is a perpetual process, not a one-time activity or artifact.
What is one trend, behavior, concept happening in the leadership landscape today that you are most excited about.
I’m intrigued by how technology, and especially social media and privacy evolution, have sort of democratized leadership overall. One doesn’t have to be a president or CEO to make your voice/opinions heard… GLOBALLY. And while these technologies enable everybody, they also significantly raise accountability levels because it’s as if nothing is private anymore. I think it is going to be extremely interesting to see how human beings (and in this context “leaders”) manage their two identities; the physical and the virtual over the next few years.
BONUS question: how do you define leadership?
Simply, I would say that understanding, encouraging, enabling, and inspiring others to achieve individual and collective goals is what I believe leadership is all about.
Our Feb. 5 Inspired event, “Big Bang Vision,” is sold out. However, you can learn more about our event series, and join the mailing list for our March event, by clicking here.
