Vision. You either have it or you don’t.
This will come as a surprise to most entrepreneurs, who often subscribe to
the philosophy that they “pretty much know where the company is going.” We
delude ourselves that we can safely run our business without having a clear
vision for it. We don’t have to answer the hard questions regarding what we want
and are capable of, and we certainly don’t have to do the heavy lifting to get
the full company behind a common goal.
But the price of having a blurry corporate vision is enormous: stagnation,
apathy, unintentional drift of your company’s direction and missed
opportunities. Great people don't want to work for a company that's floating
along or, worse, going nowhere. They get off the boat.
One of the greatest misconceptions about a corporate vision is that it has to
be grand. We delay putting a stake in the ground because we’re waiting for the
most inspired idea. In fact, the company just needs a direction that’s
understandable and achievable--and authentic to the entrepreneur.
In the public relations firm I ran, our clearest vision was during the tech
recession in 2001 when our market had collapsed. Firms like ours were going out
of business daily, and the stakes were high. Our vision was to survive by
becoming the best at client service in our market by developing a culture of
innovation. We were sharp, creative and nimble. And we succeeded.
In good and bad times, vision-setting is something that needs attention. Just
like our eyesight, if things are working fine we often neglect to get a checkup.
But a yearly exam is recommended to protect such a valuable asset. To check your
corporate vision, ask three questions:
- Do you know what you want? This is always the toughest part
because it requires you to dig deep. With any entrepreneurial company, the
corporate vision must be your personal vision. It must fit in with your
values and ambitions or your heart won’t be in it. Others will see that even
before you can. As I mentioned in my column on strategic planning, whether
you work with a peer group of entrepreneurs, a business coach or contemplate
by yourself, be convinced of what you want.
- Is your vision getting through? For those of you with employees,
I guarantee that most of you will find that your team isn't clear on your
corporate vision. It’s something that must be reinforced constantly through
not just words but through actions, which are far more revealing. For a
quick check on how clear your vision is within your company, ask your
employees to privately write down what they believe the corporate vision is.
You’ll be surprised at the answers.
- What is your plan to communicate your vision? Even entrepreneurs
with a successful vision know it's meaningless if they can’t unite their
people behind it. Every company meeting--even weekly meetings--should
reinforce your vision and show how you are living it. Give examples of a
company milestone or point out a particular team member’s efforts that align
with the strategy. In fact, put that on the agenda. Each person should know
how his or her efforts contribute to the vision. Every conversation with an
employee should be viewed as another time to reinforce the vision. Post the
company’s vision throughout the office and on your website so customers and
partners know it as well.
Commitment: Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway
The common theme here is that you must commit. (Many entrepreneurs hate this
word. Read Susan Jeffers’ book, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.) Make an
agreement with yourself and believe it first, then extend that throughout your
company. Here’s the trick though: You must walk the walk. Many companies set a
vision each year, rarely mention it again and show through their actions that it
was a hollow vision after all. This creates skepticism and intensifies your own
and your team’s apathy. Do what you say you are going to do. And if you can’t
achieve it and need to redirect, communicate that, too. It’s OK to fail, but not
to hide.
So why put all this energy into your vision? It’s the only way to have a
great company. And if there’s any commonality between entrepreneurs, it's that
we’re all in it to win.