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January 2005 Creating The Vision
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Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, has stated,
“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the
vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive
it to completion.” Clear visions have helped shape and
propel impressive companies. For example, Fred Smith,
founder of Federal Express, had a vision that packages could
be delivered around the United States by the next morning.
Disney wanted to make families smile. Dominoes wanted you to
have hot, delicious pizza delivered to your door in 30
minutes or less or it was free. Coke wanted to have its
refreshing beverages within the reach of every person in the
world. Microsoft wanted to create beneficial software that
would compel people to have a computer on every desk at
work, home and school.
Jonathan Swift said, “Vision is the art of seeing things
invisible.” Don’t sell vision creation short. You must learn
to understand, value, and appreciate the essential role of
an exciting vision for a healthy and growing business. Start
thinking and planning more. Escape the tyranny of the urgent
and focus on one of the most important tasks you can do –
create an exciting future destiny and direction for your
business. Effective visions also help lead the leaders –
keeping them motivated and challenged.
Let me state a warning. Fully realize that your employees
must buy into you as a leader before they buy into your
vision. They must believe and trust in you to believe and
trust in your vision. You may need to do some repair work to
establish yourself as a caring and competent leader before
you start creating and selling your vision. You will need to
connect with their hearts before connecting with their
heads.
To create a new vision or sharpen and update an existing
one, allow yourself a month. See yourself as the Chief
Listening Officer during this early phase. You cannot build
a vision or business on your own. For buy-in later, seek the
input of others now. Include your employees, customers,
suppliers, distributors and business advisers in the
process. Spend a week or two gathering input from these
stakeholders about your company’s direction, strengths,
weaknesses, threats and opportunities. If they do not
participate in this creation phase, they will not want to
participate in the vision implementation phase. Also, study
your industry trends and your current and emerging
competitors. On all fronts, do your homework.
After listening to and studying others, be certain to listen
to your inner voice and gut. While other’s input is
critical, know that the buck stops with you. You are
ultimately responsible for the vision of your business. Your
vision ultimately becomes your company’s direction,
objectives, priorities, strategies, and tactics. It is that
magical and that important.
Therefore, get away from the daily interruptions and go into
your CEO Cave. This could be your home office, at a coffee
shop, at a park, library or beach. Spend two to three days
forming or crystallizing a picture of what you want the
business to look like in one year, three years, and five
years. See things the way they can be. Dream the big dream;
unleash your spirit. See the business in your heart that you
truly want to create. A bold, daring, super-sized vision,
even if only partially achieved, yields greater rewards than
a small, wimpy vision fully achieved.
Remember, there are no rules while you create a desired
future state. However, don’t deal in pure fantasy. There is
a difference between a vision and a delusion. Stay somewhat
grounded. You must see things the way they are now in order
to visualize the way they can be. You must build from a
foundation of realism, acknowledging your company’s current
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. However,
once you gather the facts, let go and let her rip.
Grab hold of the future, bring it into the present, and then
go about creating it. Give yourself and your employees
something to be proud of. Find a voice to express the common
dreams, emotions, potential and needs of your team. Let your
vision inspire, motivate, and galvanize your team. Small
visions do not stir the soul. Give people a reason to
follow, something to shoot for. Make the vision intoxicating
-- something that captures their imagination. Show them the
finish line in bright, Technicolor detail. Sell more to
their hearts than to their heads. People change when their
feelings change, not when merely their thoughts change.
Powerful visions unite groups and take them to new heights
and places.
Keep in mind, employees want purpose and passion to lift
them and propel them. Find a larger purpose for your company
than merely making money. Don’t settle for being a random
collection of people and assets trying to make a buck. A
purely financial focus will not sustain the troops over the
long term. Make coming to work a meaningful and fulfilling
event for your employees. People want to work in a
challenging and rewarding environment. They want to learn,
grow and reach their potential – the full expression of
their talent. People are drawn to great leaders, great
visions and great causes.
Having trouble thinking big? Ask yourself bigger questions!
• Why does our enterprise exist?
• If our business were shut down, what would be missing in
this world?
• What is our crusade? What could be our crusade?
• How do we engage the hearts, minds and souls of our
employees?
• How can we make our company great, meaningful and
different?
• How can we change our industry, community, and even the
world?
• How can we measurably improve the lives of customers?
• How can we make our employees and their families’ lives
better and more fulfilling?
• What higher calling or spiritual dimension can we embrace?
After listening to others for two weeks and thinking deeply
yourself for two weeks, a vision for your company should be
coming into focus. Bottom line, this vision should help your
employees and yourself re-acquire the fire and passion for
your company’s direction and purpose.
Interested in transforming your mindset and behavior to be
more strategic? Give us a call at (818) 716-8826 or
email us
today.
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