How to Help Others Catch the Vision

Pia Fitzgerald-The Wellness Tactician

October 2, 2021

Leadership/Shifting Culture/Vision

“How come they don’t get this?”

“Am I speaking the wrong language?”

“What the heck is going on?”

Have you ever become frustrated after sharing your vision to a group or organization only to finish with a sea of blank stares? If so, then you are in the right place because I have been here before and have some tips to help you share your vision so the right audience can receive it.

Be clear on the vision. Make sure YOU are clear about the vision. What do you see, hear, feel, taste and smell (if appropriate)? What are the tiny details? What does the overall picture look like?

2. Feel the passion for vision. Make sure you can FEEL your own energy for the vision. If you are not stoked about the vision, then don’t expect others to get excited about it.

3. Identify and address limitations. Identify any potential limitations that may blur the audience’s ability to see what you are saying. Is this the right time to share the vision? Is your audience alert and ready to receive?

Does the audience need to be educated on a particular concept prior to hearing the vision?

We work with expanding adult social emotional capacity to help build social capital within an organization. If a potential client is unaware of what adult social emotional capacity is or the value of building social capital, then they may struggle to catch the vision of how the WOWW!Factor SEL System can support their organization. Furthermore, if the potential client is blinded by personal limitations such as hijacked social emotional capacity, they may struggle to understand the vision because a certain measure of self-awareness is required that they may not be ready to address.

4. Share vision with the RIGHT people. The previous example about the audience needing more education may also be a matter of sharing with the wrong person. Sometimes we assume because a person has a leadership position, they must know what you are talking about. Making this assumption is a surefire way to ensure the vision is NOT caught. The key is embracing your vision is NOT for everybody because some people just cannot handle the vision.

5. Provide support from reliable resources. Are there trusted stats, research, testimonies, etc. to support the vision? We all learn differently and sometimes people need a story told through data and research to catch the vision.

6. Make the vision bigger than you. To gain buy-in from others, there needs to be some sense of “what’s-in-it-for-me” in the messaging. If it seems like it is just about you, ears will close, and eyes will begin looking at the watch wondering how much longer they have to pretend they are interested. Although you may benefit, a vision worth pursuing is always best when it has the potential for broad, meaningful impact.

7. Keep desperation out of the equation. Desperation will cloud your ability to clearly communicate and could alter the message into one about you and your “unspoken” needs and less about the potentially large, intended impact you want the audience to consider.

8. Leverage key people. Who can you pull in to help influence the others in the room? Who can help you tell the story that will reach the hearts of the hearers?

9. Become a storyteller. We all like a good “Once upon a time” situation and people tend to lean in differently when information is presented through story. “Well, I am not a good storyteller” is what you might be proclaiming to which I would respond “the lies you tell” because you probably just told someone a story this morning or last night when you shared how someone just got on your nerves. 😊 We tell stories all the time! You do not deliver boring lectures to your friends and family in casual, fun conversation.

10. KISS the vision. Keep it simple and sweet.

Thank you for your time and courageously share that vision!

WOWW!Factor Activated!