Abstract
The power of vision refers to the determination and motivation of pursuing one’s dream and the willpower of making a dream come true in the future. Passion acts as the driving force to achieving one’s vision, which is a measure of what the organization intends to achieve in the long-term. According to Fairfield-Sonn (2001), a vision must be simple, distinctive, and indicative of the current position and future direction of an organization. In this paper, I will provide a speech about my passion and vision of completing a degree in Organization Development and opening a small coffee shop. Finally, I will provide a discussion on behaviors or practices that are important to the power of vision.
Introduction
Every organization that succeeds in business always has a powerful and focused vision. Generally, a vision provides direction of where the organization is heading to and where it expects to be within a given period. According to Manning and Curtis (2003), “vision evokes pictures in mind, suggests a future orientation, implies a standard of excellence, and has the quality of uniqueness.” When all these attributes are put together, the vision becomes a conduit for the success of an organization. Therefore, as I pursue my vision to complete a degree in Organizational Development and eventually open my small coffee shop in Belton Lake, Texas, I will need to embrace the key attributes of a leader. The vision will be reinforced by setting the right direction, goals, and timeframe of achieving my dream. Also, I will need to have a distinctive set of co-values and principles that guide good behavior and actions. Being a retired US army officer, I would love to use my organizational and leadership skills, such as intelligence, self-confidence, decisiveness, self-drive and ability to pioneer my future endeavors (Gillis, 2006).
Practices/Behaviours Relevant to Power of Vision
Effective leadership is a core component of success in organizations. Primarily, a leader needs to be visionary in addition to having other key attributes that influence achievement. According to Manning and Curtis (2003), one of the main qualities of a leader is to take responsibility for initiating change, especially in the middle and top levels of management. In doing so, the leader will articulate the importance of change through a clear vision that clarifies the direction, goal, and time within which such change would be effective.
My passion and vision for the future are to succeed in offering quality coffee to consumers in my proposed small coffee shop. This will be aided by the skills and intellectual capacity I will have to acquire by the time of completing a degree in organization development. Also, I have acquired significant experience in leadership during my time as an army officer, which will be vital in running the coffee shop successfully. The first thing I will do is to formulate objectives to govern and lead my company into achieving the intended goal. Secondly, I will have people assigned to do a lot of research on how to run the organization and build up a strong foundation.
What inspires me most in the power of vision is the spirit of never letting go of what I want to achieve, no matter how dim the light inside the tunnel may be. This vision came about from the experience I had with my father’s business that crumbled due to his failures in leadership and organizational skills. Those failures initiated internal conflicts that degenerated into a very poor working environment and the lack of motivation for workers. Therefore, I intend to create an organization that would be a beacon of value for both employees and customers, providing the best quality coffee.
In organizing the coffee shop, key behaviors that will be vital include good morals. Having good ethics will bring about a sense of respect for each person associated with the organization, thus providing opportunities for people to function as human beings rather than as tools in the productive process (Chehah, 2006). Secondly, there will be the empowerment of people through talks, conferences, and informal interactions during day-to-day activities. Understanding people will be important in ensuring that there is an effective and cohesive team focused on achieving the vision.
Thirdly, empowering people is an important aspect of vision that a leader must possess. Here, I am going to develop other people by inculcating in them a sense of self-confidence, which is an important quality of leadership in organizational development and governance. This will also help in promoting the effectiveness of my dream coffee shop, as it will be recognized worldwide for its success and excellence, hence widening its market scope. Communication will be vital in ensuring that my vision instills a sense of purpose, direction, and energy to all parties associated with my course (Gillis, 2006).
Lastly, for one to be a leader, he must meet people’s expectations. I will observe integrity in my position. I am also going to do my best in understanding what leading a company of my dream means and how best I can make it successful. Working in collaboration with people who have the skills in organizational development as well as in other key areas of life will be of great benefit in improving my leadership skills. Moreover, interacting with everyone from diverse backgrounds will perfectly bring about a team-building spirit.
Conclusion
Everybody in this world deserves a chance to work in a good environment. To achieve our dreams, each of us has to be a leader in one or more ways. We have to formulate objectives that will guide us to work and operate towards the right and intended direction. This will greatly contribute to developing our world and making it a better place for current and future generations – future leaders. All people have dreams, and they would love to live their dreams now rather than wishing they will live their dreams when time is not by their side. It just takes courage, self-confidence, and motivation to unlock the hidden vision of someone. Life is about going after what one wants and deserves in life. All of us should work together as a team to help each other live our dreams.
References
Chehah, B. S. (2006). The Art of Leadership. Indiana, USA: Author house.
Fairfield-Sonn, J. (2001). Corporate Culture and the Quality Organization. CT, USA: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Gillis, T. (2006). The IABC Handbook of Organizational Communication: A Guide to Internal Communication, Public Relations, Marketing and Leadership. NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons.
Manning, G. and Curtis, K. (2003). The Art of Leadership. New York, USA: McGraw-Hill International.