Creating a vision is critically important for an organization. Vision not only creates purpose, but it unifies the organization and provides its guiding principles. A majority of CEOs agree that this particular skill is among the most important for their position:

The Center for Creative Leadership collected data from 146 CEOs between September 2007 and September 2008. They were asked to select the top five factors for success in their current position from a list of 13 items. The ability to communicate a strong vision emerged as the single most critical factor according to 75 percent of the CEOs surveyed. [Quotation from CCL Online Newsletter. Leading Effectively: Think and Act Beyond. March 2009]

Although CEOs find that communicating a strong vision is very important, the question for us to consider is whether or not this is a critical skill for a mid-level manager, department head, or other team leader.

The answer to this question, I believe, is unequivocally “yes.” Keep in mind that the vision may be one that originated with the CEO, the owner, or the leader of the company, but every manager needs to communicate a strong vision to his/her team because vision creates purpose for a team. Great teams always rally around a common purpose, a clear and compelling objective.

The challenge is that, in many companies, a strong vision doesn’t exist or is not communicated effectively. This creates a void that a strong manager will rush to fill because top performance is essentially unattainable in the absence of a clear and compelling objective.

If there is not a guiding purpose or vision articulated within your company, get with your team and create one together. Help them find a common goal, a compelling objective they can work towards together. When people find a purpose for doing their best, they will find ways to do just that.