Today I met with three different CEO’s that are all working on clarifying their vision. They are all at different phases of clarifying. The one that had the most clarity was obvious to me. Here’s why.
He did not tell me his vision, he showed me his vision. He did NOT point to the company vision, mission, and values statements. He did NOT point to his newly laminated vision deck. He didn’t take me through a sophisticated powerpoint presentation.
He showed me his vision by taking me to his break room and showing me his “storyboard” process, he took me to his “70’s” room, to his developers den, to his sale suite, and so on and so forth. He introduced me to his leaders in each area and they hardly acknowledged that I was even there. They were all involved in “huddles” and getting their work done. They all know what there job is and why it matters. They can look to the “Whale board” at anytime and see exactly where all the company’s projects are at any point in time. Very simple and very cool.
The test of any vision is very simple. Does it represent the truth. The vision must be believable. It must be who we really ARE. Does it inspire productive action. The vision must be a call to action and every associate must see how their specific action helps accomplish the company’s big dream. And, lastly, any corporate vision must have measurable goals that allow everyone to keep score.
What’s your vision?
What are your teams most productive actions that are moving us forward?
How do we keep score?
Can everybody on our team connect total strangers to our vision in less than two minutes?
Can you?
What separates you from the pile of competitors?
I’ll stop now. I’ve already begun to overwhelm most of those that are trying to follow my rant. Remember, most of us can only remember three initiatives at a time.
Clarify your vision.
Communicate cool productive actions to the entire team.
Celebrate every score.
Keep it simple.
Cool…
BUILT TO LEAD 