By Hazri Hood

When I was growing up during my younger years, I remember being asked what I wanted to “become”. In those days, what the question meant was what profession do you wish to be in and back then, the choices were less complex than they are today. I think it was a fair question back then, particularly as it had meant to instil ambition into school-going children so that they can work towards a goal, stay in school, get the necessary qualification to get into the profession they choose. While the choice of profession can change over time, which was the case for me, the path towards realising it was still pretty much the same so I hung on to it, put in the time, effort and with a little bit of luck made good of myself in the corporate world. To be completely honest, not even one of my childhood dream professions came through. Perhaps I was not as determined as some of my friends, who were in their early days determined to become a doctor or an accountant or a lawyer and went on to fulfil their ambitions. Now, what they have achieved are worthy of praise as I am sure they have put in the effort and sacrifices needed to achieve their ambition. Some of them have even become very successful in their work and are leading figures in their field.

So where does that leave us? What is the benefit of having an ambition if half the time it does not work out that way?

My life has been rich and blessed. I have gone through a journey of self-discovery and met wonderful people along the way. I have also had great teachers who took me under their wings for which I am indebted. The lesson that I take away from them is that while we do not always end up becoming what we set out to be, having an ambition is important to set us on our own personal journey. Imagine you are runner working towards achieving a personal best time in a marathon; first, you set out a challenging targeted time to achieve, put in the training, control your diet and maintain adequate rest. These are all work that you put in, and if worked on diligently, will get you somewhere; better health, discipline, self-confidence, etc. The significance of this process is that while we are on that journey, we will discover if what we are working towards is really what we are searching for. At one point we would reflect on our purpose in life. Now this is a big question to ask; some people take a lifetime to answer. We will discuss some perspectives on this in greater depth in my next article.

So, when will we know when we are ready to clarify our leadership vision? I have outlined the important elements for you to begin to cultivate your leadership vision.

Clarity of thought

In the past articles we discussed leadership and the importance of self-awareness. Leaders who reach a heightened level of self-awareness are acutely aware of what they are capable of and what they have yet to achieve. Leaders who are enlightened by their own self-awareness realise that they “live in the moment” and whatever effort that they build today will help to get them closer to what they are working towards. This is where clarity of thought begins. The truth is, we see how the world works differently from one another – based on our upbringing, our religious beliefs, education background, geographical origins and the like – this is an obvious fact. What is less obvious is that to people who have been effective and successful in their lives, their world looks very different than it does to most of us. They have a good grasp on how the world works and how they can impact it. What further separates leaders from others is that they have a view of what make others tick, and collectively how this makes the world go around. They have clarity of their strengths and how available resources can be leveraged to achieve a purposeful outcome. This clarity “lives” where there is active thought and reflection of the world around us.

A good dose of self-belief

While clarity of thought comes from the intellect, it is not enough to fuel leadership vision alone. You have to believe you have a role in the vision. You build self-belief from experiences, regardless of whether they come in the form of successes or failures throughout your leadership journey. We will begin to build self-belief as we overcome challenges in life and rationalised how the mix of success and failures are part of our journey. Now, this is not to be confused with self-confidence which may buoy or diminish at times. Self-belief is a deeply ingrained emotional feeling that drives us to stretch our boundaries and invoke our passions.

Positive outcome for all

When you want to make a difference and realise that it is within your power, there is little that can stop you. Your vision should deliver a positive, more optimistic outcome for your audience. It will change the status quo and promise a significant improvement from the present situation for yourself and for others. For it to achieve a higher purpose, it will go beyond personal gains to become a collective benefit that a larger group can identify with. The notion of shared success is what makes it more inspiring; for you and for others.

Risk-taking

True leadership can never shy away from risk-taking. To lead is to be in front; to take the first step especially when nobody else is willing to do so. Without taking any risks, the vision will not change the status quo. This will definitely test your conviction, as personal sacrifice usually comes into the picture. It will at least test your conscience or the extent to which you believe in your own vision.

What can Winning Minds do to help? At Winning Minds, we aim to become catalysts to your leadership journey. There is a leader in everyone of us and it all begins with taking personal leadership of our lives and get on the right path that moves us closer to our destinies. We believe what it takes is for you to realise your purpose and the role you can play according to your gifts, your strengths and your passion. With coaching and by using our in-house HIJRA methodology, we can help you clarify your leadership intent, harness your energies and help you inspire others in their journeys too.