The French term “envie” means to crave, have a hankering for, or to feel like doing something. It’s a term commonly used in South Louisiana, most often about a type of food. Such as “Ooh, mae I have an envie for some boiled crawfish!” (Which is a true statement for me, but sadly, I will have to wait a few more months for crawfish season!)

What do you have an envie for? As a leader, do you have clarity about what you want to achieve? Have you spelled out specifically what you want to accomplish?

Leaders need to be clear on their goals and have a vision for the future. To really be successful, you must desire these goals with great passion, enthusiasm, and energy, (not unlike my envie for crawfish!).  As you become clear on what you want, that vision becomes a powerful force that will pull you forward. Great leaders are then able to share the vision and enlist team members on the quest.

The Sioux Indians view the eagle as a symbol of great vision and the ability to see distant goals and vistas with great clarity. The mouse, on the other hand, represents the tendency to focus only on what is immediately in front of it – to concentrate on exploring its immediate environment with its nose, eyes, whiskers, and its paws.

Unfortunately, I think we can all relate to the mouse to a certain degree. It’s easy to get caught up in “mouse vision”. Life is “bizzy”. We are all so involved in day-to-day activities, it can sometimes make you dizzy. (Hence, my newly coined word, “bizzy”.) There are dozens of pressing and urgent tasks demanding our time and attention, and we become like the mouse, focusing only on what is right in front of us.

But effective leaders have eagle vision. They concentrate their focus on the big picture, on what lies ahead, what they’re working towards. Although there are always daily “to-do” lists, they keep their long-term goals and aspirations front and center and take action steps each day, week, and month toward those goals.

It’s also important to identify what’s important to you and to clarify the vision you have for yourself and your career. Many people have goals for the organization or for the team, but not for themselves. Business philosopher and motivational speaker extraordinaire, Jim Rohn, often said “You should work harder on yourself than you do on your job.” What he’s suggesting here is that as you invest in your own personal and professional development, and advance toward your goals, the organization and the team will also benefit – collateral benefits, if you will.

Be specific and strategic about the future you envision for yourself and for your team. Your goals and aspirations for the organization should be explicit, inspiring, and should be congruent with who you are and what you believe in.

As you become more clear on your vision and what you want, you can concentrate your efforts on those activities that are more important, that are of higher priority, and that will move you closer to your goals instead of just focusing on what’s right in front of your nose, (or your paws or whiskers, in keeping with the mouse analogy).

So what do you have an envie for? I suggest you get really clear on what you want, develop your eagle vision, and share that vision with your team.

Oh, and by the way, if your envie is for crawfish, you’d better get in line – behind me!

Action Time! What will you:

• start doing,
• stop doing, or
• continue doing

to develop your vision and  enlist your team members? Use the comment box below to share your action plan with us!