Part One of the Be A Better Leader Series is all about having a Big Vision, and Taking Big Risks.

A part of being a great leader is having a vision for the future. And according to Jossy Chacko, Founder and President of Empart, your vision has to be BIG. This is what Jossy is all about – after all, the vision that led to him building his non-profit, no doubt was BIG. You can read all about Jossy’s journey in his book called Madness. However, I wanted to share three things that really spoke to me when I had the pleasure of being apart of Jossy’s audience at the Global Leadership Summit.

#1 Enlarge your vision

I know I have been subject to being afraid of the visions that I have for life, family, and career. You may ask, why am I fearful? Sometimes the fear comes from them being too big, so much, that they will never to pass. However (as Jossy would press), we should not be afraid of our visions. Because it is our visions that spearhead us living with passion. Of course, enlarging your vision may make you weary of what you are currently dealing with. What is currently on your plate. I’ve found that if you do good things with that you currently are working with, then you will begin to see how step by step your vision will come to pass for your life. The important thing here is to not be afraid to dream big, enlarge your vision, for you, your team, and your career.

#2 Empower your people

Leadership is all about taking wise chances and giving  your team opportunities to show themselves. What I realized, is that you have to be able to empower those that work with you to do the right thing. What was so profound to me is when Jossy said “Your leadership reach will be determined by your empowerment responsibilities.” In this industry, we can be so “Type A”, and want to assume control over everything. However, we are missing the bigger picture. Sometimes our lack of empowerment is in direct correlation to our leadership abilities. A leader needs to know that they can trust and entrust their leaders. I urge you to see if you could release the reigns a bit to see how your team responds.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you think that your team will fail if you empower them, they won’t fail because of lack of information. They usually fail for their lack of character. So Jossy presses that as leaders, we should focuses on building up character of our team, before we empower them.

#3 Take Risks

We have heard, especially in our industry, how risk can be a major player in meetings and events. However when you end up trying to be risk free, you give up pioneering for persevering. I believe we were all made here to create, to take the step forward. If we are not careful, or efforts to be risk free will end up keeping us stagnant. When I think of the word stagnant, I always think of water that just continues to sit, nothing happening to it – there is a smell about it. As a leader, we can’t afford to sit around and pass up the risks that might get us to a better place. You have to take risks and overcome your comforts. This is an area that we all can try a bit more. Imagine the possibilities!

So what about you? What are your BIG visions? What BIG risks have you taken that we can all learn from? I would love to hear them in the comments below!