Cameron Herold’s Vivid Vision is a process for creating a clear, three-year direction for yourself. Or your business. Designed for CEOs who need a way to ensure their teams make their vision for their company a reality, I’ve applied it here for my life and career.

A CEO might think how each part of the company would contribute to the vision. Thinking like a company, I translated the core teams into the key areas of my career development: Values (aka Culture), Brand (aka Marketing & Sales), Work (aka Products and Services), Employer (aka Clients / Customers), Finance (self-explanatory), and Life.

(Get Cameron’s book here, or see his own vivid vision here.)

Six months in, this is where I've made progress. I'm wondering if I wasn't ambitious enough with this plan, if I didn't quite focus clearly enough on the right things. Or if I was too ambitious, and didn't break the big things down into progress that could be measured in 3- and 6-month spans. I got feedback early on that it was all too focused on external validation. A lot of these things are how I'm known. I can't accurately gauge whether I've made progress on these, except in the form of anecdotal feedback. And that I needed to leave myself no alternative but to succeed in the one way I was designing. That might still be true.

It's April 2023 now. Two years in to this 3-year span... I'm learning that a Vivid Vision for a person, at least for me, can be much simpler than what it needs to be as the galvanizing force for someone leading a company -- and the company as a whole. Drafting a pared-down version for the next iteration.

It's Feb. 2024 now. Two years in to this 3-year span... I'm feeling like I was entirely too precious in how this one was written. Excited about the pared-down version I started with my last check-in here.

It’s 2024. 

My life is full; not complicated. I’m thriving in my work, connected in my personal life, clear on what I’m here to accomplish and whether I’m accomplishing it. 

I know my worth. I’m secure in what I say yes to and no to. I set boundaries. I’m as purposeful about the people I spend my time with as I am about the media I consume, the work I do, and the way I spend my time. When change is needed, I recognize it and do something about it.

I show up. I’m present. For myself, my work, and the people I share these with. 

I’m excited to get to do my work. I’m not overworking. I know the one next right thing to learn or do. I focus and absorb and do the work, never spread too thin. 

I’ve progressed more in the last three years, personally and professionally, than ever before. I know I have no time to waste (and that rest is not wasted time). I’m thrilled for the next vivid vision, the one that I couldn’t even begin to see when I wrote this one.

Values

I value: 

Doing well by doing good. I work with people and companies that are profitable and purposeful. I’m making a positive difference while providing for myself and my family.

Being useful. I’m useful to the people I connect with directly and to the larger world. I’m not busy for the sake of being busy and my work rolls up to a larger purpose. No vanity metrics here. 

Growth over certainty. I pursue improvement, not perfection. I’ll choose the challenging adventure over the seemingly safe or stable. I lead and live by this example. 

The art of possibility. I believe that everything is solvable; that my best work is ahead of me, as anyone’s can be. 

Brand

My superpowers are empathy and inquiry. I’m known for my intellectual curiosity, generosity, honesty, reliability, resourcefulness, and accessibility.  

I’m present. As a leader, a friend, a mentor, a parent. I listen without judgment. I advise when invited to. I challenge when needed to. I say what I don’t know and push hard for what I do -- or believe to be true. 

I’m known to ask good questions, challenge assumptions, uncover new possibilities. My unique mix of experiences helps me bring an unexpected perspective. I simplify the seemingly complex and find patterns where people thought there were none. 

I’m valued for being that potent combination of creative, strategic, and get-stuff-done. I keep myself where I’m most useful, in the strategy zone -- understanding the people, motivators, messages that enable growth; solving problems; keeping teams moving in the same direction; establishing and expanding exceptional experiences through the lifecycle.

I’ve spent the last three years honing my leadership abilities, practicing the art of managing myself, and engaging in radical candor with myself and others. I appreciate feedback more than most; am willing to be challenged. I’m polished but not plastic; engaging but not salesy.

I teach the people around me. It’s inherent in the way I work. As one colleague put it, I introduce people to important ideas that they need that they don’t know are out there. It’s about helping people think like marketers, and about maintaining the beginner’s mind.

I help CEOs translate their vision into results. Some say I refine their words and ideas, in their voice, better than they can. 

I build brand strategies that bring the CEO’s vision to life in a way that unifies every part of the company: marketing, sales, customer success, product. My approach establishes and communicates a vivid vision, and powers growth stacking in line with that vision.

I build brands around buyers rather than force brands upon them. I love a good brand relaunch, as much as shepherding a brand’s evolution alongside its audience and products, staying true to the CEO’s vision. I put the customer at the center. I connect with customers, get them talking, and bring their voice to every part of the company and every stage of the customer lifecycle.

I build brand stories and bring them to life through content. Connecting through the right timing, topics, and tactics. Simplifying the seemingly complex. Making the apparently-boring inspiring.  

I build scalable marketing practices. I build teams, lead creatives, bridge marketing with sales and product, and bring the big ideas without losing sight of the practical.

I’m a strong partner to sales, product, and customer success teams. I set realistic expectations and make sure they’re shared. I collaborate with sales to optimize funnel volume, velocity, and value. I help products and services stay true to the vision and promise. I’ve honed my full lifecycle product marketing practice -- educating the market to engaging the customer.

Work

I’ve headed up marketing for a purpose-driven SaaS startup that’s sprinted through double- and triple-digit growth and completed a successful exit.

(That one's in progress ^^^)
I’ve worked alongside incredibly smart and accomplished leaders. We’ve grown a company we’re proud of: undeniable results and a culture that allows room to grow, fail, and experiment.

I’ve hired and scaled a marketing team that has achieved hockey-stick audience and pipeline growth through story-worthy, creative, high-ROI strategies and tactics at scale. There’s a straight line from my team’s work to the company’s results. My team amazes me and I’d work with any of them again in the future.
I’ve preserved a beginner’s mindset. I seek out intellectual exercises (like this Vivid Vision process) that stretch me.

I write regularly. For myself and my work. I turn what I learn into articles that help me process and absorb my lessons. It’s a bonus when it’s valuable to other people, too. I’ve been publishing to my website every Friday, except for scheduled breaks, for three years.

Tech founders and CEOs seek me out for consulting to break a growth ceiling. My one-off and ongoing advising enhance and fit around my full-time work. I define the vision, translate it into a compelling document and a matching brand platform that together help them inspire their people, keep everyone moving in the same direction, and drive scalable growth. They find me on their own because I worked with someone they know, or an advisor or investor or coach recommended me. 

Marketers early in their career seek me out for mentoring. My mentorship focuses on the art and science of marketing more than on career-building. A few hours a month, I give of my time and expertise this way because I value generosity and because I learn from each call, too. 

I know there’s a book in me. Or three. I’ve dedicated the time and energy for brainstorming the options. There’s a first draft of the first one ready to share with a close circle.

Company

Ready to scale. I scale the marketing capabilities from small teams to massive, multi-discipline teams, to deliver double- and triple-digit growth. I’m a good fit for heading up the marketing practice in early-stage growth-ready startups (solid funding, product-market fit, proven early growth) and leading mid-sized, specialized marketing teams in growing, enterprise-level b2b brands.

Founder-led and founded on exceptional leadership -- clear vision, clear thinking, transparent. Founders who get marketing. Founders who’ve followed a non-traditional path like I have, or are building non-traditional cultures, tend to be quickest to see the value I can bring.

Profit and purpose. The founders and teams believe, like I do, in doing well by doing good. Mainly, my sweet spot is b2b and b2b2c SaaS; especially education (edtech) and healthcare. We’re stacking successes in the changes we bring about for our customers and the profit we drive for our team.

Not traditionally corporate. The culture is progressive. Remote or remote first. Stability, time off, excellent benefits that show how much we value employees, teams, growth by attracting great people. Transparency, intellectual curiosity, and radical honesty are primary currency.

Life

I have space, time, and energy in my life for each of the things that matter to me. Parenting, friends, family, relationship; music, writing, working out; growth endeavors like this vivid visioning exercise. My parenting schedule allows me to pursue deep work and new projects, while being fully present on parenting days.

Selectivity. I recognize what fuels me and what drains me, make choices accordingly, and know the value of doing so. I’ve found almost countless ways to take busy-work and draining tasks off my plate, preserving my time and energy for the ways I’m most useful. I choose 1:1 interactions over 1:many; I’ve structured my work and life accordingly, ensuring sufficient time to be in flow to do deep work. 

Work. I work hard. Some days are long or challenging. I still balance work and parenting. My work and my team and my clients build me up. They don’t drain me.

Mindset. I believe myself and believe in myself. I practice being the board. I no longer view myself as separate from people I see as wildly successful, productive, or impactful. I own the things that define and differentiate me. 

Connection. I connect people to ideas; I connect people to each other; I nurture my connections to people who matter.

Parenting. My kids have hobbies they’re passionate about and friends that help them thrive. They know I love and like and respect them; they feel those things for themselves. Each kid has a solid relationship with me; they trust me, talk with me about their lives, and find new ways to connect with me.

Health. I take care of my health. I have time, energy, and resources for the things that support all aspects of my health that matter and make a difference. I know this is part of showing up for life and work.

Finance

I’m working for profit as well as purpose. I’d do the work I do, or some form of it, for free. 

My work derives a level of financial stability that allows me to be selective about the work that I do. I choose when, how, and with whom I work. 

And it allows me to provide for myself and my kids. I have a clear path to retirement. I’ve finished the major renovations on my primary house. I know when, how, and where I’ll buy the next house. I’m eyeing new investment avenues. The kids have clear paths to college, or whatever their launch plans turn out to be. I’ve invested wisely in making my home what I want it to be.

I don’t spend my money. I invest it. I invest my dollars like my hours and energy - in what delivers me the greatest return and what compounds on those returns. Investments over purchase, experiences over things, purpose over mindless spending.