Importance of Leading with Vision and Goals

The leader of an organization plays a vital role in the success of the individuals, and of the organization. Reaching the organizations goals cannot be accomplished by leadership alone. Leadership by definition is "a person who guides or directs a group" (CITE). In this paper I will argue that in order for leadership to guide/direct their team to achieve their goals and fulfilling their mission; a leader must have a clear vision and have an appropriate set of goals.
The vision of an organization is the idea of what the organization will look like in the future (Clark, 2014). Without thinking ahead regarding where the organization ultimately wants to end up, there will be no clear direction. As a leader, you must be able to motivate everyone within the organization and your customers by having a clear vision of where the organization is going, what the goals are, and how you can overcome hurdles along the way (Minnis, 2011). Not having a vision for the organization will lead to dysfunction in the sense that there is no way to determine if the ideas presented fit within the organization's mission, vision and goals. Furthermore, as stated by Koury (2010) "If you don't have a vision, it will be hard to retain your top people", the author goes on to explain that this is because "they'll see the company as stagnant and move on to more promising positions". Clark (2014) argues that good organizations communicate their vision well, and a good leader is able to obtain followers by earning their trust and convincing them of the organizations vision. Clark (2014) continues by suggesting that no one wants to be confined within a stagnant organization, rather people prefer to be part of an organization that has a strong vision with future goals.
Having goals is crucial in the journey of eventually reaching the organizations vision. A vision is the destination for the organization, while the goals are more focused (Clark, 2014). The presence of goals within an organization allows leaders to be able to measure their progress. According to Colorado State University-Global Campus (2010) the concept of SMART (specific, measureable, attainable, realistic, timely) goals is frequently used to help measure an organizations success in reaching their goals. Having goals that meet the SMART criteria enable the organization to be able to more efficiently track, measure and ultimately reach their goals. Goals that are missing any of the five facets of the SMART concept will be a liability to the success of the organization.