What do you see in this image? Rocks in a stream — or someone kneeling and reading?
The answer depends on context, attention, and what you were primed to look for. The image hasn't changed. You have.
Vision and ambiguity
Leadership runs into the same problem. A vision that's clear in your head can land as something completely different in your team's. They aren't being difficult — they're seeing rocks where you're seeing the reader. Both are reasonable interpretations of the same picture.
Clarity and authenticity are vital to how a leader's vision is perceived and understood. Clarity, because ambiguous visions get interpreted to fit whatever the listener already wants. Authenticity, because performed visions don't survive the first hard week.
Two questions to test a vision
Before sharing a vision with a team, two questions worth sitting with:
- What would someone seeing this for the first time think it means? Not what you mean — what they'd most likely conclude.
- Would I still be saying this if no one was watching? If not, the vision is downstream of an audience, which is a fragile place for it to live.
Coaching is often where these questions get asked first — before the all-staff email, before the strategy document, before the moment when ambiguity becomes someone else's problem.
A clear, authentic vision doesn't need to be defended. It only needs to be told.
Hiral Kelly
Founder & Coach — Infinity Learning
Professional coach with over 20 years' experience supporting leaders and managers. Working 1:1 with leaders across education, business and the NHS.