Can a Vision be Too Bold?
“There’s no reason we can’t have a voice in the way older adults are served all around the world.”
When I arrived at Garden Spot Village (a faith-inspired, non-profit, retirement Community in Lancaster County, PA) as a young, first-time CEO in 2001, the founder of the organization was the current board chair.
Dale Weaver was a humble, reflective leader who cared deeply about the community in which we live and always wanted us to be of service to others as we lived out our mission.
One day when Dale stopped by the office to check in, I handed him a piece of paper that I had found in a file… it was the vision statement for the organization and read: “The vision for Garden Spot Village is to be the preferred retirement community in Eastern Lancaster County.”
My question to Dale was, "Is this truly the vision you have for this organization… because if it is, it has already been accomplished."
(We were the only retirement community in Eastern Lancaster County.) True to his character, Dale sat for a moment in thought, then he responded “You’re right… there’s no reason that Garden Spot can’t have a voice in the way older adults are served all around the world.”
My first thought was that you can’t jump from Eastern Lancaster County to the World in one leap, but Dale’s response was to say that he really believed it was possible. He said that with the team that was being assembled and the resources that we would have, we should be able to have a global influence. We wouldn’t need to be the only voice, but we could have a voice in something really important.
It was about ten years later that I was asked to speak at Dale’s funeral. I shared that story and reflected on the fact that since that day in 2001, we have had visitors from Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Iceland, Great Britain, China, Japan and Australia…
All coming to Lancaster County to learn about the work that was being done to cultivate opportunities for people to live lives of purpose and meaning, regardless of which season of life they find themselves.
In 2019, I was invited to a gathering in Florence, Italy which was designed to begin to develop a global strategy for serving older people. We weren’t the only ones there… we didn’t even lead the meeting… but Garden Spot Village had a seat at the table.
When Dale verbalized that vision, it came from his soul. It was an audacious vision for a small retirement community in rural Lancaster, but it wasn’t an attempt to be grandiose or promote some sense of self-importance.
He never repeated it. He didn’t write it down. He didn’t provide direction on how it should be achieved. But when he spoke it, he saw something in me and in the organization that he truly believed was possible. In that simple statement, he opened new possibilities, inspired new dreams, created new opportunities and gave permission to chase after them.
Futurist Bob Johansen says that “The future will reward clarity and punish certainty.”
In other words, we don’t have to know each step of the way with certainty, we just need to have a clear vision of what that future could and should be. And if we hold that vision closely, it will draw us forward, giving us the freedom to find the direction, to move nimbly around the obstacles that will be in the path and to take the risks needed to see it come to fruition.
~ Steve Lindsey, CEO Garden Spot Communities
What does this mean for you?
- Are you confusing the need for "clarity" with the need for "certainty"?
- Is your current vision small enough that you've already achieved it?
- Do you speak your vision to your team in a way that gives them permission to chase it?
Key Takeaway: The future will reward clarity and punish certainty. You don’t have to know each step, you just need a clear vision to draw you forward.
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