The Grand Vision That Stays Only In The Mind !!

What is the vision of your company? This question is loaded with lots of emotion when asked to a certain group of business owners and the classic response is “I want to have X turnover”, but to break the bad news that’s not a vision it’s a goal at best. Vision is something that makes the entire organisation gravitate towards it, it inspires people. E.g. “Our vision is to create a better every-day life for many people.” – IKEA

On the other hand, there are a group of business owners who aren’t clear about the vision their main focus is surviving, growing and managing, when asked about Vision, they say Vision?? What?

The third group is the most interesting lot, they are clear of what the vision is though are fearful to share it with the team due to the “people won’t understand” syndrome.

Sales revenue growth is not the vision of the company.

Most times growing the company performance year on year becomes an unwritten expectation and quasi vision. 

Sales growth is a function of product/service fitment, the right clientele, the right marketing and a lot of legwork, it fuels the organisation with money to do many other things. Though sales by itself is not the vision, it is a means to an end. Sales can go up, down and sometimes sideways, the vision though is fixed, static(though not necessarily etched in stone, flexibility is a need in today’s VUCA world). Just having sales growth as the main driving force can lead to unwanted problems and behaviour to creep into the organisation. Unchecked and misaligned sales growth can be a recipe for disaster.

What Makes A Good Vision Statement?

There is only one ingredient according to me, “GENUINE” , vision is not a marketing tag line, it’s not a campaign statement. It is a manifestation of a belief, that is aspired by everyone in the organisation, that it is within sight, within reach and is believed by everyone that it can be accomplished. It won’t be easy, it will stretch everyone from their comfort zones, it is the guiding light, a compass that keeps everyone aligned. A vision statement is not nicely put together words, it has a life of its own. Vision of the organisation is like a grand daddy that keeps everyone and everything in check within the organisation. E.g. Flipkart’s vision is “To become Amazon of India”, one can imagine this statement not only inspires, but drives everyone in Flipkart to bring the best version of themselves day in day out.

Communicating the vision : it’s not a secret, it’s news to be shared.

A lot of business owners believe “that my people won’t understand the vision, only a few will get it, so why waste time and effort communicating the vision”. It is a very practical thought, though this statement is the cause and genesis of misalignment within the organisation. Even if we assume that your people won’t understand the vision, yet they will get a sense of what “you” as the leader of the organisation is driving, on the contrary, Why wouldn’t your people understand, are they dumb, didn’t you hire them in the first place because they were good people? or Were you gunning to recruit average Joe’s and Jill’s, guess not. So please cut some slack to your people, start believing that they understand. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate and then communicate some more. When it comes to vision “more communication is less”, it has to be constantly spoken about.

So how do you communicate the vision?

Start with vulnerability if you aren’t clear of your vision, there is absolutely no harm in saying, “I don’t know if this is it, though it’s a good starting point”. Involve people, ask them, they are the ones who will make it happen for you. Here is a secret, you will be astonished to know you have smart, intelligent people hidden in your organisation, give them a chance to contribute.

On the other hand, if you are clear of your vision, then demonstrate enthusiasm of the vision, people listening & watching you should feel you have already achieved the vision and start believing you so strongly that they feed off your energy and belief system.

Lastly, make every opportunity available to speak about your vision – in business review meetings, in board meetings, in 1-2-1’s with key people, in HR reviews, in customer meetings, the vision has to seep into everyone’s everyday language. You and every employee of the organisation has to be a living embodiment of your organisations vision.

Warning : People will say you are overdoing it, don’t get affected by it. It just means they are listening!!!

Here are a few things you can implement to get your organisations' vision loud & clear:-

1)    Believe in your vision – Belief is everything.

2)    Ask and collaborate with your team – Spot the bright sparks on your team.

3)    Articulate the vision, in simple words – Simple is good.

4)    Communicate the vision – More communication, is less.

5)    Create measurement criteria to know if you are on track – Key indicators of alignment.

6)    When you stray from the vision, re calibrate – Point #5 will guide you.

7)    Hold a vision session every quarter for the entire team (Face to face, Webex, Skype, whichever can be the most effective) – Make it a habit.

8)    New joiner’s induction to begin with a Vision Session (preferably done by you, the leader of the organisation)– This is the best time & opportunity.

Start living the vision – BE THE VISION !!