Visualising company goals: From athletic dreams to Lady Gaga in Japan

I'm not sure if my ability to visualise goals quite vividly stems from being a former athlete, running my first cross-country race at 5, or if it's just how my mind operates. It should be said that at 5, my anticipation for races was more about the flowers and animals I'd encounter along the course than about winning (my parents, knowing this, would position themselves strategically to keep me focused, steering me away from ant nests and flower beds). However, as I grew older and running became a central part of my life, during workouts I visualised every lap of the 1500m races, imagining what it would look and feel like to cross the finish line. My goals weren't always about winning, but about running smart, giving it my all, and setting new personal records.

A challenging moment in my career as a founder and CEO underscored the importance of goal setting and clearly articulating the vision. Faced with the choice between revealing a short-term bitter truth or sharing a groundbreaking long-term vision, I opted for the latter without combining the two because I feared the truth's impact.

During my tenure as the founder and CEO of a Swedish innovation and design agency amidst the global financial crisis, we faced a dire situation when a major client went bankrupt, leading to significant financial loss and the painful decision to lay off staff. Despite these layoffs, survival was a challenge. Betting everything on entering the Japanese market, we secured a project with the telecom operator KDDI. The terms were tough, and unknown to the client and our employees, we were financially on the brink, we had only two weeks of runway left. Luckily, we were promised an upfront payment if we delivered a critical amount of work within two weeks. There was a tiny straw that could be grasped after all, if we worked around the clock during this period. However, I feared my team would resign if they knew the severity of our situation, so I motivated them by painting a picture of moving to Tokyo, living an exciting life and opening an office there, should we succeed.

During this critical period, I made the difficult decision to prioritise work over allowing my team to visit laid-off colleagues, as I knew we couldn't afford losing any time. So when they asked to go see some former colleagues in need, I had to say no. The guilt was overwhelming, I felt horrible, as the team couldn't fully grasp the urgency of our situation due to my lack of transparency. And I could tell, they were not happy with me.

After two weeks of relentless team work, we delivered, the client was satisfied, and we received the payment that saved us. A year later, the team was living in Japan, tasked with redesigning the Android platform for KDDI’s smartphones. We had opened a Tokyo office! When the new smartphones with our designs were launched, they were promoted alongside Lady Gaga, visible across one of the world's largest metropolitans.

But what maybe mattered even more to me, was that one of my employees reminded me of the difficult times one year earlier: “you coached us like we were an athletics team, going for gold.” I did not realise it at the time, but vivid visualisation set us up for success. However, it still haunts me that I never told the whole truth.

From my +20 years in leading positions I’ve learned from failures and successes that the following activities should not be neglected when translating a vivid personal vision into a shared team direction;

Regular vision-sharing sessions: Schedule frequent sessions specifically dedicated to sharing and discussing the company's vision and objectives. Use vivid storytelling and visual aids to convey your vision as tangibly as possible. Encourage your team to ask questions, offer interpretations, and provide feedback. This process can help ensure that everyone understands the vision in the same way and sees their role in achieving it.

Interactive workshops for goal setting: Organise workshops that involve the whole team in the goal-setting process. Use techniques like design thinking to facilitate creative problem-solving and innovation. Break out into smaller groups to tackle different aspects of your vision, allowing for deeper exploration and broader input. This not only helps each team member internalise the company's goals but also instills ownership and accountability.

Embed the vision into daily operations: Find ways to immerse the vision and objectives into daily work life. This could be through regular "vision moments" at the start of meetings, updates on how current projects align with and contribute to the broader goals, or even a "vision board" in a common area. Additionally, tie metrics to the achievement of vision-related goals. This continuous reinforcement helps keep the team focused and motivated, ensuring that the vision is always top of mind.

By adopting these strategies, you can bridge the gap between your personal visualisation of the company's future and your team's understanding and engagement with that vision. This alignment is crucial for building a cohesive, motivated team that is collectively driven to achieve and even exceed the goals you've set together.