The 5 Cs of a Compelling vision by wacekethecoach.

Summary

1.     

A compelling vision is collectively created.

2.     

Captures the heart- you comprehend it in your head and connect with it in your heart.

3.     

Cultivated by the team to full fruition.

4.     

Communicated constantly- daily informs team’s decision

and actions.

5.     Championed and advocated daily by the team.

In the course of teaching strategy to leaders I have developed the 5 Cs of a compelling vision:-

1.     Collectively Created- a compelling vision is created together as a team. I believe that involvement breeds commitment, commitment breeds more engagement (I.C.E). Benjamin franklin and Chinese philosopher Confucius are both credited to have said that:

“Tell me and I forget,

Teach me and I remember,

Involve me and I learn and I will never forget”.

Involving your team in crafting the vision makes them feel part and parcel of the vision, it creates ownership and the much needed buy in for implementing the vision.

2.     Captures the hearts of the team - a compelling vision elicits excitement, commitment and desire of the team to pursue the vision until it is realized. This is what we call Inspirational motivation in transformational leadership. The team has an emotional connection with the vision and are passionate about acting on it. They do not only comprehend the vision in their mind in terms of the logic of it but they also connect with the vision in their hearts, in terms of inspiration.

3.     Cultivated- a compelling vision is nurtured by the team until it comes to fruition. Together as a team, you work on the vision and nurture it until it is realized. A vision is like a seed sown in the heads and hearts of the team. It must be daily cultivated, watered and nurtured, until its realized at the hands level and the results held in our hands. In cultivation, the team leader allocates specific responsibility and performance targets to each team member, creating a line of sight from the vision connecting directly to the individual’s daily work. The team holds each other, individually and collectively accountable in bringing the vision to life. Shuo Yuan, a collection of Chinese stories put it this way, “The ear’s hearing something is not as good as the eye’s seeing it; the eye’s seeing it, is not as good as the foot’s treading upon it; the foot’s treading upon it, is not as good as the hands differentiating it.” Therefore each has a unique part to play in cultivating and nurturing the team vision.

4.     Communicated – a compelling vision is often spoken of in daily team interactions and guides all the decisions and actions of the team. It’s a serious leadership and performance gap when the team’s decision and actions are not informed by the vision. A leader must also keep the team informed of any change of direction, strategic or tactical in implementing the vision. Continuous communication keeps everyone informed, engaged and on the same page. All the team conversation should be centered on achievement of the vision, research shows that team vision and goals are under communicated by a factor of 9-10. According to Harvard business review, first Leaders are responsible for translating a vision into different messages that their unique teams and individuals will respond to. Second, leaders should augment logical reasoning, intellectual stimulation, with an emotional appeal, inspirational motivation, to inspire the team towards the vision. That’s how they can get buy-in, and shift their team’s response from “I have to,” to “I want to”

5.     Championed – a compelling vision is advocated and demonstrated daily by the leader and the team. When the team buys into the vision, they are committed champions of the vision, they act as the advocates and change agents for the vision. Most powerfully, they advocate to each other by supporting and holding each other accountable, peer to peer, towards achieving the vision. They advocate and champion the team vision to others across the organization, they seek opportunities to leverage cross functionally, collaborate and seek synergies across the organization to achieve the vision.

So the 5 Cs- collectively created, captures the heart, cultivated, communicated, championed.

Go ye and do likewise!