You company most probably has its vision and mission written somewhere as guidelines how to work and prosper. However, we have two questions for you: does anybody in the company understand it and do you have your personal vision?
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We bet you heard that you and your colleagues should strive to "Give the best possible service to our customers." Well, that's great. A noble cause. But you see, there is a problem with that: every company strives to give the best possible service, so this mission in fact tells - nothing. It can be attached to any company in any industry and it was most probably written "because everybody has their mission, so we have it too now."
Now, if you are high enough in your company and have influence to change the vision, great, but what if you don't? The answer is simple: you should have your own personal vision and act accordingly.
What your vision should be? This is, simply put, your long-term goal for you, your company and your place in it. We must emphasize this: this is your vision of your future, not something you derived from the company's vision.
The mistake you may make when creating your vision is to ask yourself "why" and that thought will keep you in place. Instead, ask yourself "why not?" I could be the best engineer in the world, why not? We can make the most beautiful product, why not? It's just the way our brain works, so without going into deeper discussion, just remember that "why" is a brake, and "why not" is pushing you forward.
Now when you have your vision, do two things: work on it every day and share it.
To make your goal reality, you must work on it. Go step by step but always have your vision in mind. Don't write it down and look at it, remember it and whenever in a tough situation repeat it, that will give you strength to continue.
By sharing you vision with others you'll do two good things: you will show that you want to improve and advance, and that you want to contribute to your company. Who wouldn't like to have the best engineer in the world in their team? We certainly would. So, share your thoughts, way of thinking and ideas with others and see your influence going up.
Good vision and results coming from it are way better than that "extra mile," a term, we admit, is used by everybody and his dog. It is much better to have an employee that works on the great product than somebody that works two hour longer. The first is a visionary, the second... well, the second is a person with feet that hurt after one mile walk every day. ■