Vision or Not? Why it matters.
Vision or Not? Why It Matters.
When I work with frontline team leaders, one pattern I routinely see is that many do not have a vision of their own.
And yes, as a team leader, you can get away with simply following the vision of your boss, or your client.
If they say, “Do this,” most team leaders will rally their teams to “do exactly that.”
It’s safe. It’s familiar. It works, most of the time, but does not necessarily get the high performing team that many team leaders want.
On 30 July 2025, a training workshop…
with nearly 20 team leaders from a local construction organisation on the topic of Leading High-Performing Teams, I challenged this mindset.
I argued that for those amongst the participants who want to lead a high performing team, they must have a vision of your own.
This vision does not mean the organisation’s corporate vision statement, but simply a clear direction that their team can unite behind.
What does having your own vision look like?
It means team leaders should be engaging their client, or middle leader boss, to understand why something is needed; then translating that into a meaningful direction for your team.
That is transforming your middle leader boss’ or client’s instructions into purpose, tasks into intention, and movement into momentum.
A clear team vision gives you, the team leader, to build:
- Follow-up plans that actually align.
- Proper incentive structures that motivate.
- Communication processes that make sense.
- Actionable steps that people can execute.
- Clarity on needed skills and mindsets.
- Team spirit that strengthens, not drains.
You can run activities, have meetings, create processed, but without a vision, you are just creating busyness for your team.
Vision means higher performance.
High-performing teams do not happen because of increasing intensity of busyness. They happen because the team leaders are clear on the direction to be taken.
Every team leader has to make that choice. Vision or Not? Because only one will lead to a team that actually performs at a higher level.
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