The one trait great leaders hold in common: Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey

As entrepreneurs, or anybody who holds a dream unfulfilled, we spend our lives tinkering with a universe that doesn’t yet exist. Leaders who are able to move people are those who are able to dream of things that never were. It is in describing the beauty that comes with a better tomorrow that imaginations are sparked and hearts are touched.

Great leaders throughout history each had a vision for the contribution they wanted to make to the people around them, to humanity, or to the world. This vision was focused not on them but on a greater purpose, which would improve the lives of others or the world at large. In this sense, I use the words purpose and vision interchangeably, to describe a contribution-centric legacy.

Creating a vision for your life and your life’s work ensures that everything you do aligns to your purpose, giving your life’s work a direction and a meaning that fuels you along the journey.

The vision Einstein held for his life was to be able to articulate the universe in one short, elegant formula. The vision Oprah holds for her life is to elevate the consciousness of humanity. The vision that Steve Jobs held for his life was to make a dent in the universe. The vision that Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal and founder of SolarCity and SpaceX, holds for his life is to enable the future of humanity.

I’ll use myself as an example – not because I’m saying I have achieved greatness, but because I am an ordinary person following the principles of those who have.

The vision I hold for my life’s work is to push civilisation forward by enabling more people to live on purpose. This purpose influences everything I decide to work on and, more importantly, everything I decide not to work on.

It is my guiding star, which reminds me what my life’s work is for, and therefore I only engage in businesses and projects that will enable me to move towards the actualisation of my vision. Your vision is the contribution you want to make and can only be formed from your own unique sense of purpose.

It’s important to note that, while many of the examples I’ve just given are from people who want to make a global impact, this certainly does not need to influence the scale of your vision.

Remember, legacy cares not for scale – it’s not about breadth; it’s about depth. It’s not about how far-reaching it is, only how deeply your vision resonates with you. If you were to craft a global vision for your life because that’s what Steve Jobs did, then really you are following the influence of OPRs rather than your heart.

Some questions to ask yourself, explore and wrestle with over time (this is not a 15-minute exercise) are:

• What do I want my life to be about?
• What am I great at?
• What change would I love to see in the world?
• What would I love the ultimate contribution of my life to be?

Mould your responses to these questions into a single sentence that inspires you, and this will be your vision.

Having a clear vision for your life and your life’s work not only guides and directs your own decisions but also provides leadership to those whom you enrol on the journey. Everybody wants to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Everybody, including you and me, longs to be a part of something that matters.

Leadership demands that you have a claim on the future. Great leadership enables you and your people to consistently achieve the impossible, time and time again. By having a clear vision, you will be one of the few who are bold enough to truly create the future.

Leadership is about guiding people to a particular destination. Without a vision as to where you are going, by definition you cannot be leading. Yet so many people avoid dreaming of the future or speaking of where they would like to go out of fear of not getting there. As a leader, this is not good enough. Your role, first and foremost, is to imagine what is possible, reinvent tomorrow, and make it how you see it.

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One of the common misconceptions that exists around leadership is that people are "born great leaders". I don't buy into this. Instead, I view leadership as a skill that can be learnt and developed. 

My team at The Entourage work with business owners, and people within larger organisations, to give them the skills they need to uncover opportunities, generate innovative ideas and drive entrepreneurial growth. If you'd like to chat to someone from my team about how you can become a great leader, register your interest here today.