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August 28, 1963 was a warm and pleasant day in Washington DC as Martin Luther King mounted the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he looked out on the Washington Mall and several hundred thousand people. And then he uttered those famous words, “I have a dream.” “I have a dream that my four little children will live in a nation where they are not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” King had expressed a vision. He’d expressed a vision so well that it actually is credited with being a major force behind passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
What’s your vision? What’s your big dream? What would you like to see happen if nothing stood in your way? When you think about that, it becomes your vision. Once you’ve determined that vision, sit down with a few people; friends and people you really trust, and tell them what your vision is. If they don’t look at you like you’re just a little bit crazy, then maybe you need to work on it a little more. When people think you’re just a little crazy, it means you have a great, audacious vision, and that’s what people will follow.
Your vision doesn’t have to be a short term thing. In fact, it should reach way out into the future. What would you like to see a year, 5 years, 10 years from now? When King said “I have a dream, that on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves, and the sons of former slave owners will sit down together at the table of brotherhood,” he knew that wasn’t going to happen right then. He knew it wasn’t going to happen in the next few years. Unfortunately, King did not live long enough to see the first black mayor in Atlanta, or the nation’s first black governor in Virginia. But I believe he did foresee those things, because they were part of his vision.
Every leader should have a vision. People follow a leader with a vision, if for no other reason than to see where you’re going. So, have you thought about it? What is your vision and how are you going to express that to your followers?
