Excerpt from The Vision Driven Leader by Michael Hyatt
In Quadrant 1 (abstract, implicit), the leader has a vague idea of what he wants the future to look like. It’s more of a hunch, maybe wishful thinking. Since the picture in his mind is fuzzy, he fumbles for the right words to sell his vision; he never completely externalizes it. The team ends up in the Land of Foggy Thinking. As a result, the leadership is frustrated that the team is not going along with the program. But can you blame them? They don’t know what direction to go.
In Quadrant 2 (abstract, explicit), the leader also has a vague idea of what the future of the company might be. But rather than spend the necessary time to refine her vision, she speaks in definitive terms as she describes what to everyone else sounds like nebulous ideas. Often this happens when the leader is enthusiastic and effusive but hasn’t translated that energy to language the team can connect with. She talks about synergy, going to another level, disruption, low-hanging fruit, and wheelhouses. Team members leave in a state of confusion. Some may think they know where the boss wants to take the company. Others leave feeling the emperor has no clothes.
In Quadrant 3 (concrete, implicit), the leader has a fully developed, concrete vision of the future mapped out. He might even see all the necessary steps to move the team forward. But rather than be explicit and communicate the framework to the team, he wrongly assumes the vision ought to be obvious to his team. An intuitive vision can sometimes work in a small shop; in fact, it’s common in startups. But the bigger the business gets, the more explicit the communication must be for the vision to register. Otherwise, what’s obvious to the leader will be opaque to the team.
In Quadrant 4, the leader has a fully developed, concrete vision of the future. She has fully detailed it for her team, articulating it in precise, unambiguous language. This kind of clarity allows her team to translate her vision into strategies, goals, objectives, and tasks. More than that, they can get a sense of the passion and purpose behind it all. Clarity creates connection. And there’s nothing more satisfying than proceeding with confidence, knowing your team is aligned and passionate about the future because your vision is clear.