KSI Time Capsule: Impy’s LeaderShop – Vision

Originally published on September 4, 2014

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Welcome to Impy’s LeaderShop. No, that’s not a typo. Each week, I plan on submitting a post which focuses on different “buzzwords” related to leading — both in KSI and in life.

It’s a Leadership Workshop of sorts, and that’s how it gets its name. Tune back each week to see another lesson of leading. I hope my past experience as a leader within KSI can help each and every member of KSI reach their full potential.

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Have you ever walked ass backwards into success? Have you ever stumbled upon an achievement or accomplishment? I doubt it. I doubt it because most all great accomplishments have been thoroughly planned out, tested and amended.

When the United States became the first country to land a man on the moon in 1969, they made good on JFK’s promise from 1961. Eight years of hard work, testing, working, inventing and forging finally paid off.

All of the hard work that eventually culminated in the greatest achievement in mankind’s history was the brain child of John F. Kennedy.

When he went in front of America to proclaim that we would put a man on the moon, a majority of the people scoffed at his pie-in-the-sky dreams. But JFK didn’t care much for naysayers and the cynics. He had a goal and he knew America could conquer this new frontier.

So he poured money into NASA and the space program. He gave it every resource it needed to study space and space travel to make the moon landing possible. By the time he met his untimely demise, the cogs of the proverbial machine were already spinning.

When his dream was finally realized, America sat on top of the world. That brings me to the LeaderShop lesson for today. Vision.

What is your vision? If you’re a General, your squad will not succeed without a vision. A plan needs to be developed and you need to be the developer.

Pretend that your squad is the shuttle program. Without a plan, you’re risking your members enjoyment in KSI. You could even kill your squad if you fail.

Don’t let your squad fall to pieces and fall back to Earth.

Develop your plan and let your squad make it out of this world. Have a vision for your squad. Don’t just stay inside the box either.

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

JFK chose to go beyond the Earth’s limits. He planned for something many people couldn’t even fathom. Don’t allow you, your squad or your division to simply be normal or average.

So aim to have 50% SGTs and above. Aim to have 100% meeting and game night attendance. Do what you can to get these goals accomplished. Even if you fall short, you will be above the rest.

Know that things won’t always work. While the USA was preparing to go to the moon, there were setbacks that resulted in a few deaths. The faith in NASA and the space program was brittle.

Still, they worked on improving what shortcomings they had and they eventually perfected it.

That’s what you have to do. Keep your head up and keep willing those around you to reach a common goal and vision that you, as a leader, developed.

I made my squad and my division among the best in KSI by developing a common vision between me and my other leaders. The good groups do this. The bad ones do not. You must first have a vision before you can accomplish anything.