Vision requires Focus

How's your vision?

Moreover, how’s your focus?

Clarity of vision is critical to accomplishment of goals. 

Seeing the work completed is very difficult but absolutely critical for leaders.  

The power of vision is often underestimated.  We too often lose focus of the vision personally and professionally.

The following is powerful illustration for me about the importance of keeping focused. 

I trust you will find this as helpful as I have -

"little El Capitan"

by Stu Weber

      "I recall climbing energetically toward the summit of a magnificent pass in the Eagle Cap Wilderness.  The late Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas called this area in the northeast corner of Oregon "the most beautiful piece of real estate on the planet."  Others, standing in awe of the pristine mountain glory, have dubbed it "little Switzerland."

      Making our goal that day as we hiked was a nameless granite spire we called "little El Capitan."  The pace was healthy.  Spirits were high.  Our towering granite landmark was a long way off from the bottom of the Minam river canyon, but the distance was irrelevant.  The clear day was glorious, and we made excellent time just anticipating the beautiful scene awaiting us at Big Minam Meadows.  On a clear day, as the song goes, you can see forever - and feel as if you could climb there, too.  Everyone was caught up in the spirit of it.

      And then...the weather closed in around us.  The clouds dropped down into the tree tops.  It began to drizzle.  Our granite landmark disappeared, along with the horizon.  Inevitably, our eyes dropped from the distant peaks to the top of our own boots.  And we slowed down.  Boy did we slow down.  The spring in our steps became pains in our legs.  When we lose sight of our goal, you lose a lot more than that.  Little things began to get to us.  Someone has said,  "We are slowed more by the grain of sand in our shoe than the mountain we climb."  So true.  The grain may have been there all along, but suddenly it takes on boulder proportions.  Nothing was right anymore.  Whose idea was it to hike back into this forsaken wilderness, anyway?  The day seemed colder.  Our pains seemed magnified.  And the complaining set in.  Irritability became the order of the moment.

      What happened?  How did glory turn into misery?  The answer is simple enough:  We lost our vision.  We lost perspective.  We were no longer drawing energy and gladness from that shining goal on the fat horizon.

      When you've lost your vision for who you are and where you are and why you are where you are, you find yourself powerless to take necessary action.”