We have been talking a lot about the new “E-Workforce,” and now it is time to explore some of the factors that make it unique and special. In this blog, we will talk about vision – or “E-Nvision.”

The first thing we want to do with vision for the E-Workforce is connect it to leadership. That’s because real members of an E-Workforce are leaders in their day-to-day actions. Keep this in mind …

• Leadership does not create vision.
• Vision creates leadership.

Put differently, people submit to authority and comply with supervisors, but they follow vision. Leadership is not the same thing as hierarchy. Vision is the substance of leadership. It enables individuals and the team to take the next step in the proper direction.

Vision is particularly important in times of change. Consider this question: When is it more essential for the driver of a car to have his or her eyes open? While sitting still in a parking lot? Or while driving down an interstate highway at 70 mph?

Of course, the answer is while moving. That’s because while we are moving, things are changing all around us! And that’s when vision is most important.

Nobody can deny that we live in times of great change. Now is the time for great vision. Now is the time for an E-merging Workforce (the E-Workforce) to rise … to come forward to really make a lasting difference.

The reason an E-Workforce and E-Nvision are important has to do with a property of vision itself. We tend to see mostly what we are looking for. In some way, this is true for all of us.

Most of each day, we hardly notice the sparrows in the air.  We rarely see the grass on the ground all around. And we almost never comtemplate the tree that stands among many trees.  That’s because we are looking at cars in traffic … or street addresses on buildings … or whatever. What we look at is what we tend to see.  Vision matters!

In today’s workforce, there are two kinds of workers. The first is the “T-Worker” or traditional worker. And the second is the “E-Worker” or entrepreneurial worker. The “T-Worker” tends to look at the tasks and the learned processes. The “T-Worker” is largely driven by a quality model found commonly in manufacturing outlets. But that is not the worker of the future.

The second type of worker, the “E-Worker,” tends to look past the tasks and processes to the situation itself. The “E-Worker” sees the problems but seeks the opportunities and solutions.

In the world today, there are countless, untapped solutions all around us. There are likely solutions at hand right now for problems that may not exist for yet another decade. But the only person who will see those solutions is the person who is looking for them. It is not enough in today’s workforce merely to see the problems, know the processes, and work the tasks. The E-Worker also seeks solutions to create opportunities for whole new horizons in business.

Let’s wrap this blog up. Here is the key. There is a new, E-Merging Workforce. We humorously call it the “E-Workforce,” and the more you are around us, the more you will see why we use the term “E-Workforce.” A key quality of an “E-Worker” is vision (or “E-Nvision”). Vision is the key to leadership in the workplace that actually solves problems and leads in new, more useful and profitable directions. The key to understand is that, all around us, there are “E-Merging” new workers with vision. Don’t squelch it. Instead, be the kind of workforce and career development professional who encourages its growth and disciplined application in the new, E-Merging Workforce.