Leadership Vision refers to the ability of a business owner to articulate a clear and compelling image for the future of an organization or team. Creating a narrative for the entire company’s definition of success at a specific point in the future, can inspire and motivate teams to work better, together toward a common goal. Getting buy-in from stakeholders at the senior manager level is key to disseminating your message throughout your top leaders.
Leadership Vision is the ability not only to be the seeing eye into the future and guide your team along the Roadmap, but to also avoid biases, review data, and potentially kill our darlings to get there. Along the way, you’ll need to constantly communicate this context to your ambassadors, so the message is reinforced through your team.
Enough pressure for you, business owner? To be the neutral, objective, magnetic, loyalty-engendering decision-maker that brings everyone together?
The good news is, it’s not as hard as that.
Let’s break it down.
You can’t have clarity in business without clarity in your life
Do you know your own personal definition of success? This is key to knowing the basis of the company Vision. You can’t envision a future state of your business without imagining where you sit in that business. In your personal life, what does success look like to you? Does it look like growing your bottom dollar with late nights, or does it mean teaching your granddaughter how to fish on a summer weekday?
Your team might benefit from a leadership Vision workshop
It’s very normal to bring together the core senior leadership team to expand upon, battle test and break down the leader’s Vision into a business Vision that can be shared with the team. It’s inspiring to come back as if from a mission, with a clear rallying cry for everyone to get behind.
A workshop can last 1/2 day or 3 days, but the main idea is to leave with a company Vision statement that is strategically sound, realistic yet inspiring and aspirational, and extremely celebratory of specific milestones of success.
The Responsibilities of Leaders When it Comes to the Company Vision
Leadership is the ambassador to a Vision that typically includes the organization’s goals, values, and aspirations for the organization, as well as a clear understanding of the market and industry trends. It also includes a sense of direction and purpose that inspires and motivates others to work towards the shared vision.
Employees also must learn to anticipate and manage change, and to inspire and guide others through the change process. The leader’s message is that as long as we stay the long-term course, we’ll create a better future for the organization, its employees and society.
Managers should have an FAQ of what to do when continuing to live the company Vision day in and day out. When someone asks about X, what is the manager supposed to say back?
When it comes to leadership Vision, remember that you must have clarity as a leader first, before you can bring clarity to your business and then share it with your wider leadership team.