Imagine a long road that crosses a deserted landscape, stretching all the way till the eyes could see. A small black car which looks like a beetle from the distance passes through this road so fast that it appears more like a blur than a car. As an onlooker standing at a distance, you are amazed by how the car moved on the road. You are reminded of the famous scene in an old superhero film in which the hero flies around the earth multiple times so fast that he manages to reverse time.
More than amazement, what you feel upon beholding the car’s pace is a thrill- a visceral pulse that passes through your body and makes your heart beat faster. The thrill of speed, of forward thrust and momentum which carry you forward, a reaching for the future.
A brave heart and a clear head- essential assets to forge ahead at a fork in the road
Intriguing as the prospect of speed may be and thrilling its experience, there are times when we need to slow down. This slowing down is not to bring in a new pace and thereby a little more variety to proceedings- though that also happens in the process. Rather, the slowness is essential to make the right decisions at the right times. It helps you zoom out and see the bigger picture, like taking a broader view of a map which helps you chart out a long journey.
The key is in understanding when to rely on speedy thinking and when you should slow down and see things in a more languid pace.
The idea of True Personal Vision is central to this understanding.
True Personal Vision as a pathfinder
Before proceeding any further, let’s define True Personal Vision.
True Personal Vision is the vision which is to be discovered inside your own self and not anywhere else. The vision is personal but at the same time so profound that its discovery changes the entire course of your life and in the case of leaders and managers, their organizations.
At the risk of sounding simplistic, vision could be said to be the destination where a leader could lead his or her team or organization. While that’s certainly true, the nuances of personal vision are much more.
One of those nuances is its role in decision-making. A leader who has realised their True Personal Vision possesses a natural advantage over the other leaders- they have the crucial yardstick against which they could evaluate a judgement.
If they come upon a fork in the road with two possible paths, they could choose the path which takes them faster towards the destination while encountering the least amount of obstacles. On the other hand, they could also see if taking the longer route presently could bring benefits further down the line.
So, what has this got to do with knowing when to slow down and reflect? Well, if you look at it closely, you will see it has got everything to do with it.
Meaningful reflection before the great leap
Take a moment to think about when you feel the most reflective? You will see that such moments happen when you think in context of something- or rather when the context is very clear.
This context could be sad- maybe the passing of a loved one makes you reflective. It could be a happy context- an anticipatory reflection on the arrival of a loved one whom you haven’t seen in a long time.
These are the times when your mind slows down enough to think about the different times you had spent with the loved one, or the things that you may do together once they are here. This context helps them decide the itinerary for the future- for who is expecting the arrival of their loved one, and how best to morun the loved one who passed away, for the other.
In the case of an organization or its leader, True Personal Vision forms the context in which you could slow down and think about the optimal future trajectory to take. It’s your basis for reflection, and for the reflection to be more than a fruitless intellectual exercise. The result of this reflection is a decision that would take the organization forward.
So, how can you realize your True Personal Vision that’s lying dormant in your mind?
Temenos Vision Lab or TVL is a unique session developed by Temenos+Agility which helps change agents realize their True Personal Vision which lied buried in a mass of information in your mind. Developed based on 25 years of business consultancy experience, some of the best transformation coaches help guide you to your vision.
