“If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
– Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Now that’s what we call VISION!
As the leader of your company, the single most important thing you must do consistently is communicate the vision of the company. Where is the company going? What does it aspire to do?
It relates back to the old quote from Through the Looking Glass … “if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will do.” But we all know that doesn’t work over the long term in business, right?
People want to be part of something bigger than themselves. As the leader, if you aren’t communicating the vision of the business daily, you can rest assured your team members have no idea what it is. If they don’t know what it is, they can’t possibly help you get there. They’ll simply be relegated to the mundane tasks of an 8-5 job with predictable loss of enthusiasm and lack of buy-in over time.
Try a quick experiment with us.
Stop right now and answer this question out loud:
What is your company’s vision?
Whoops?
Couldn’t answer it in a soundbyte? You’ve got a problem … fix that FIRST.
OR, were you one of the few whose company vision rolls right off the tongue?
If yes, congratulations! You are in the minority. Now, walk through the offices in your company and ask team members. Can THEY articulate the exact same vision?
Many leaders struggle with real vision casting in their businesses, not because they aren’t good communicators, but because most suffer from uninspiring visions. Coming into the new year, it may be a good time to review your existing Vision and think about how inspiring (or not) it is. If it’s not inspiring, you may try like heck to cast it, but it will never be caught by your team.
A business vision needs to be compelling and somewhat inspirational. The idea is for your team to feel like part of a movement … something that matters. When people are working toward something that matters and has impact, perspective around the tasks to accomplish a job changes completely.
Consider the following:
- Does your company vision roll off your tongue effortlessly (and without having to look it up?)
If you can’t state it, your team will never state it or believe it.
- Is it compelling and inspirational? This means no jargon. Does it evoke a feeling or emotion?
If not, it’s time to rewrite it.
- Can every member of your team articulate the (new inspirational) vision at a moment’s notice?
If they can’t, what steps can you take to ensure this changes?
Imagine the bottom line impact to your company with an entire team working in unity around a single compelling and inspirational vision… wow! Now, that sounds like a worthy goal for 2020.
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If you’re ready to take your business and leadership skills to the next level, and if you think your business could benefit from more insights like what’s offered in this article, let’s start a conversation. LXCouncil may be the perfect next step!
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