The Manager's Pocket Guide to Leadership Skills

Leading an organization, whether it is a company or a small work unit, to positive change begins with developing a vision. A vision is a clear mental picture of a desired future outcome. If you have ever put together a large 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, the chances are you used the picture on the top of the puzzle box to guide the placement of the pieces. That picture on the top of the box is the end result or the vision of what you are trying to turn into a reality. It is much more difficult—if not impossible—to put the jigsaw puzzle together without ever looking at the picture. An organization without a vision is like a person trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle without ever seeing the picture on the box.

Effective leaders will create and ...