Leading with Vision, Not Just Visibility

Vision comes before visibility

In every meaningful pivot in life, you will make decisions that define the future without the benefit of knowing how they’ll play out. You won’t always have the luxury of mentorship or a playbook.

Sometimes you’re forced into leadership roles when you don’t have the experience, the exposure, or even the vocabulary to describe what you’re building. But you still have to lead.

When you don’t have time to figure it all out—that’s when your vision has to speak the loudest.

Tactics can be taught. Intent cannot.

At times when you’re building something new—your team, your business, or your next chapter—you’re leading people, making decisions, and engaging in processes you don’t fully understand yet.

You might be collaborating with service providers and specialists who know more than you do; managing departments you’ve never worked in.m; or trusting people with your money, time, brand, or product—hoping they execute well. Sound familiar?

Athletes: Become a Chief Visionary

When I was drafted into the NFL at 22, I was only a few months removed from graduating as a broke college student.

Suddenly, I was tasked with assembling a team to manage my life—an agent, a financial advisor, a marketing rep.

Each role sounded important, but I didn’t fully understand what they did or how to evaluate what was right for me, making it challenging to compare the different options. These were business decisions with long-term consequences, and I didn’t even know what questions to ask.

Right, wrong, or indifferent—I chose the people who I believed understood me best, partly because I trusted they knew more than I did.

That trust led me into some branding and marketing deals that made sense on paper—but didn’t feel aligned. They weren’t bad deals. I’ve just always been a reserved, introverted person. And in a world built to push an NFL persona, I felt pressure to say yes to opportunities that didn’t resonate with how I saw myself long-term.

Everyone seemed to have a blueprint for how I should show up:

“Leverage your celebrity.”

“Get in front of the media more.”

“Build a brand before it’s too late.”

They were the experts. They knew the business. So, I went with the flow for a couple of years—but eventually, I got tired of moving against the grain of my own personality. I had no interest in building a football persona.

I played the game, but it didn’t define my life’s aspirations. That started a mindset shift that changed everything for me:

They might understand the business—but I’m the expert of my own vision and goals.

That realization gave me permission to lead—not as a product or a persona, but as the Chief Visionary of my own journey.

Leading with my vision helped shape and curate opportunities that were more aligned. I was able to filter out the people who only wanted the persona and start identifying collaborators who were interested in me as a person, not just an entertainer.

That’s when I started to build something that felt real—and sustainable.

Entrepreneurs: You Are the C-Suite

If you’ve just left a job in corporate to launch your business, the shift can be overwhelming.

You’ve gone from having a defined role within a machine to becoming the machine. You’re wearing every hat—marketing, sales, finance, ops, strategy. There’s no hiring process or org chart. It’s just you, probably vetting freelancers, vendors, and early employees as you go.

The biggest shift to embrace as an entrepreneur is understanding that you have to lead through every condition—uncertainty, setbacks, personal doubts, and limited resources. And it never feels like you have all the answers to do it.

This is where many new entrepreneurs get stuck. They delay key decisions, waiting to become more “qualified.”

The truth is: you don’t need to know everything—in times of uncertainty, use your vision as a decision compass.

When your vision is the north star, it gives you an important filter to build, evaluate, and delegate—even as you’re learning. It will help you ‘build the plane as you fly it.’ The plan won’t be perfect, but it will be purposeful.

Don’t wait to feel ready. Start with your vision

When I bought into my first indoor football team, I anticipated it being a passive investment. I spent a couple of years of watching a product I wasn’t thrilled to have my name associated with. That’s when I made a deal to buy out my partner and take over operations.

At the time, I had no experience running a business at that scale. I didn’t have deep knowledge in every function. But I had a clear vision of what I wanted to build with three main objectives:

• Build a championship culture across the team and front office

• Create value for the community and partners

• Provide the players with tools to win on the field and off

Momentum. Buy-in. Shared purpose.

As I built out the management team, I hired people who resonated with and reflected that vision. If nothing else, I knew they’d be invested at a deeper level. Evaluating their performance became a function of holding them accountable to the vision.

The vision became core to our sponsorship strategy—even while I was still learning the language of revenue models and partnerships. And the desire to connect with the community shaped how we designed our brand activations and game-day experiences.

That alignment created something powerful. We positioned ourselves to attract a strategic partner that brought a new home venue, plus marketing and ticket sales support.

We didn’t get everything right. But we moved in a unified and clear direction. And we got better—together as a team, as front office, and as community partners.

Peter Drucker’s Timeless Reminder

To make your time investment impactful and effective, the first filter on your decisions should be your vision for the future you want to build. When you lead with vision, you’re constantly filtering through what’s right for you—not just what’s available or suggested.

Before you get caught in the weeds of deliverables, titles, and marketing decks, ask:

• Does this decision or opportunity align with the future I’m trying to create?

• Does this person I’m hiring or partnering with understand and believe in the vision?

• Does this process we’re contemplating move us closer to our mission—or just make us feel busy?

You can always refine strategy. You can always upgrade tactics. But you can’t outsource belief.

Closing Thought

When your action is aligned with your values, you attract more than results—you attract more alignment. You attract the right partnerships. The right people. The right opportunities.

Intentionally living your vision invites serendipity

The unique blend of time, energy, and aligned purpose gives you an edge. Because in a world full of tactics and templates, your clarity of intent becomes the ultimate differentiator.

That’s when you start to Create Separation.

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