“Vision without action is just a dream, action without vision just passes the time, and vision with action can change the world.”

Nelson Mandela

Whether you are leading an organization or you are an individual struggling to find purpose a clear vision will help you design a strategy that leads to results. In her book, “Strategic Leadership in a Complex World,” Dr. Wanda Austin says that leadership is not accidental, you have to make the time and space with your team to be strategic in this complex and global world the we live in today. Coming together is solving for challenge #1.

To help solve for challenge #2 – what do you do when you make the time and space, I invited Diana Liu and Kandis O’Brien from The Six to join us to talk about vision sprints, where they use design thinking to help organizations imagine what could be and then aligning their strategy with their vision.

In this episode we talk about

• [3:26] What is a vision sprint and how it creates alignment within your organization
• [6:53] The challenges that arise when the vision is not clear and the discoveries you uncover when doing a vision sprint
• [12:46] How Covid-19 and the various inequities within our society make this a valuable time to be introspective in our personal and professional lives
• [19:00] The mindset of a designer and how it enhances your ability to frame uncomfortable conversations and lead and learn with empathy and courage
• [31:53] The challenge of making the time and space to have conversations about vision and culture and how taking the. time to pause can help strengthen your organization from within so it can withstand future challenges
• [33:50] Specific strategies, questions and resources to use when beginning the conversation as it can often feel overwhelming
• [38:53] Advice for new graduates and how to network in a virtual setting

We’d love to hear what questions you have and your comments on the conversation. I hope you found my conversation with Diana and Kandis from The Six to be valuable and that it inspires you to make the time and space to come together with your team.

You can connect with me, Sabba on LinkedIn,  Instagram and Twitter @AskMsQ.