Vision

Lauren Hannaford

I rarely set New Year’s resolutions because I hardly ever follow them, and midway through the year, when I suddenly remember what it was I was supposed to be working towards, I find myself disappointed that I couldn’t even remember that I set one. So, going into 2015, I was feeling pretty content with not having one. No pressure, I thought. But, I heard someone speak a couple of weeks ago and was completely caught of guard with a very profound and powerful statement that resonated with me. It was so simple and clear. “If you don’t have a clear vision, no strategy will save you.”

New York Times bestselling author, speaker and consultant Michael Hyatt at January’s Lipscomb & Pitts Breakfast Club meeting made this point in his presentation, and a light bulb immediately switched on in my mind. In fact, here’s an entire blog post by Hyatt on this topic.

Now, it’s not like I haven’t heard this point before, and we often talk about what the “bigger picture” looks like for clients. But, in the complicated world of public relations, I think there are several layers of vision and strategy. You’ve got an overall vision for a client, a vision for a campaign, a vision for one story idea and a vision for one blog post. What I think is important to remember is that it’s necessary to always come back to your primary vision because it dictates where you go from there, and it leads you to your strategy.

On the other hand, having foggy vision can lead you to the wrong strategy. It can also cause you to completely miss out on something that may have been important to your client. So, it’s essential to be sure that you share the same vision with your client. Opinions may differ on the strategy, but a united vision is the only path to a successful outcome.

So, instead of setting a New Year’s resolution this year, I’m focusing on having a clear vision for my personal life, my professional life and for each of my client accounts. While things may not go perfectly throughout the year, my hope for 2015 is that my clear vision leads to successfully executed strategies.