As bloggers and entrepreneurs, the success or failure of our enterprise is completely in our hands. There is no “boss” who is responsible for keeping up with the trends, paying attention to what the audience wants, looking at the latest happenings in the tech and digital space…because all of this is now our job.

While it does sound intimidating, it also provides a huge opportunity to steer your brand in the direction that you want. Apart from setting a vision and goals for yourself and your brand, to be a visionary leader, you need something more powerful – the courage to try, fail and try again.

EYE OF THE TIGER

Like anything, vision and leadership skills need to be sharpened with experience. What do you need to hone your vision?

  • Keep an eye on what’s happening in your industry and the latest trends. See what people in your niche are up to. Evaluate what will work for you, make a plan and execute.
  • Be curious and observe the changes closely. Understand how these changes impact your work, your vision, your brand plan and be prepared with a plan of action. With time and experimentation, you will also learn when to ignore a trend and when to jump on that bandwagon.
  • Look at your brand as an outsider. This gives new ideas which you may ignore as an integral part of it. Often new thinking refreshes the brand and introduces different aspects of growth.
  • Invest your time in cultivating your community. By understanding your readers, and the consumers of your content, you will have a better understanding of where to focus on building your brand.
  • Test your vision repeatedly. As a leader, you may have some short- and long-term plans for your brand. Keep testing new ideas, evaluating the results and tweaking the plans as per need.

AN ONGOING PROCESS

Without a vision, there is no future of your brand. A vision is what gives your brand purpose and helps you in streamlining your strategy, planning and execution. Does that mean that a vision is set in stone? Not at all!

That’s where leadership comes into the picture. It is when you can take a call on what is working, what needs to change, and what is not working and needs to be stopped right away. Being a visionary leader takes time and effort.

A visionary leader is both enthusiastic about his/her work and committed towards building his/her brand. On the journey of blogger to thought leadership through #LeaderChatter all April. Come back for more!