We've been talking about vision on Holy Business, yet why are so many people still saying "one day we'll need one" and putting it off?
1. Clarify It and Formalize It
Let's start with what the heck this thing is: Business News Daily defines a vision statement as a written declaration clarifying your business's meaning and purpose for stakeholders, especially employees. To start your organization, better yet, to consider starting your organization, was there a meaning a purpose that drove the events forward bringing the firm into fruition? To that, the answer is resoundingly yes.
Secondly, what does scripture say about vision?
Habakkuk 2:2 Then the LORD replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it."
Let's not forget, God commands us again and again in scripture to write important things down: Moses in Exodus, Isaiah, and God commanding John to write down his Revelation. God knew we were forgetful, and He knew documentation helped protect things from getting skewed and protected His truth for us.
When something begins, we are the most passionate, and everyone sees it build from the ground up. The initial group engaged in the startup experiences the pain, spends time sharing encouragement and driving toward a unified goal. If this is true, why do we tend to wait until we deem it "successful enough" in our minds to matter enough to write the vision down and do something with it?
Vision is the first thing we had, so it should be the first thing we document! If you have not done this yet, do not dismay! You can still get your team all on the same page.
Over the next few articles, we're going to talk about the the steps for healthy vision implementation:
Clarify it and Formalize it
Communicate it and Build Language Around it
Filter decisions through it
Revisit it
2. Communicate it and Build Language Around It
So you and the other decision makers or visionaries wrote a sentence. Good job! Spoiler alert: it means nothing unless you plant it with the entire organization. How do you do this?
Just like any rollout you need a few key components to get some traction, and they start with you, the leader! Patrick Lencioni puts it best in his book, The Advantage, when he says,
The only way for people to embrace a message is to hear it over a period of time, in a variety of different ways, and preferably from different people. That’s why great leaders see themselves as Chief Reminding Officers as much as anything else. Their two top priorities are to set the direction of the organization and then to ensure that people are reminded of it on a regular basis.
Find fun ways to announce or unveil the vision. Ensure you, the Chief Reminding Officer, is there to connect the dots and really inspire the team with the "why." Follow through by consciously using the language of the vision in meetings going forward and ensure the leadership throughout the organization does the same.
Commit to it and help it sink it by adding it to job description, signage in the offices. One company had a really fun prize giveaway if someone had memorized it when they asked what is was in meetings. Use your culture to help make your vision statement official.
3. Filter Decisions through It
Get this vision really working for you! This is where you truly start to see the return on the investment of vision.
While a Vision Statement seem immeasurably "squishy" as some of my more technically-minded clients like to say, it provides a foundational formula for everything else you do for clients, staff, and even growth. Think of your vision as a filter, through which everything must pass to proceed and become a part of your company. This filter should drive the formula for creating the following:
Internally
Job Descriptions
Interview Questions
Culture and Vernacular
Review and Development plan language
Externally
Defined Product Mix
Sales language and benefits
Clarity of market positioning
Entry level positions start to feel inherently more valuable and connected when they understand how they specifically and uniquely support the vision of the entire organization. Likewise, you are less likely to fall prey to the random demands of unnecessary product mix additions when it's easy to recognize they might sound good but they aren't helping you run toward your goal.
4. Revisit It
My pastor always says "We leak." In every meeting, in every decision, the vision must be a part of the process. The more it is utilized the more it is protected and the more your goals for the organization, become the goals for the entire team.
It must be noted in this process, however, that if there is a major shift, a company shift, do not let the vision become your roadblock. If your direction is changing and it's calling you to become something completely different. Take the time to have another vision meeting, remap everything, and recast the vision based on that new purpose first.
Take a note from Nevada based brand, Revive in an interview with Inc. Joe Santos, partner, had a life changing experience and found himself and his partners revisiting and clarifying their why. In this experience, they recast vision, cleaned out their product mix, and found more solid revenue footing from laser focus.
Clear vision provides guardrails to speed down the highway. Should you experience speed bumps, road blocks or drift, then vision could be your problem, so start there and rebuild from a fortified and protected foundation. Holy Business is founded on clear vision.
Comments