Brought to you by Jeff Thoren, DVM, ATC  

Few, if any, forces in human affairs are as powerful as shared vision.  Interestingly, teams and organizations spend an extraordinary amount of time and effort defining and pursuing goals without necessarily ensuring that these goals are linked to each other and support a larger vision.

It’s time we learn how to harness the power of shared vision.  Vision means knowing who you are, where you’re going, and what will guide your journey.

Here’s this month’s feature ...

The Vision Thing: Without It You'll Never Be A World-Class Organization
by Ken Blanchard & Jesse Stoner

Leader to Leader, No. 31, Winter 2004

Highlights from the article:

• Vision and direction are essential for greatness.  In world-class organizations, everyone has a clear sense of where the enterprise is going.  Only when the leaders of an organization know that the agreed-upon vision and direction is clearly understood can they attend to training, preparing, and equipping people to implement the vision and accomplish desired goals.
      

• Unless vision and direction are communicated and well understood by everyone, your organization won’t even be in the game.  Why?:

  -  Vision is important for leaders because leadership is about going somewhere.  If you and your people don’t know where you’re going, your leadership doesn’t matter.

  -  Vision helps people make smart choices because their decisions are being made with the end result in mind.  It allows for a long-term proactive stance - creating what we want - rather than a short-term reactive stance - getting rid of what we don’t want.

  -  Without a clear vision, an organization becomes a self-serving bureaucracy.  By contrast, once the vision is clarified and shared, the leader can focus on serving and being responsive to the needs of the people.

  -  When people share and believe in a vision of what the organization can be, they generate tremendous energy, excitement, and passion.  They know what they are doing and why.  There is a strong sense of trust and respect.  Everyone assumes responsibility for their own actions.  They take charge of their future rather than passively waiting for it to happen.
    

• There are three elements that constitute a compelling vision:

1. A Significant Purpose: Purpose is your organization’s reason for existence.  It answers the question “Why?” rather than just explaining what you do.  It clarifies - from your customer’s viewpoint - what business you are really in.

2. A Picture of the Future: This is a picture of the end result, not the process for getting there and answers the question, “What will the future look like if you are living according to your purpose?”

3. Clear Values:  Values provide specific behavioral guidelines on how you should proceed as you pursue your purpose and picture of the future.  Fewer than 10 percent of organizations have clearly defined, written values that guide people’s behavior.

• A real vision is lived, not framed.  Visioning is an ongoing process; you need to keep it alive.  It’s important to keep talking about the vision and referring to it as much as possible.  The more you focus on your vision, the clearer it will become and the more deeply you will understand it.
    

• How do you know if your vision statement works?  Here’s the test: Is it hidden in a forgotten file or framed on a wall solely for decoration?  If so, it’s not working.  Is it used to guide everyday decision making?  If the answer is yes, your vision statement is working.

  
For the full text article, go to ...
http://www.leadertoleader.org/knowledgecenter/journal.aspx?ArticleID=74
  

Do You Have a Compelling Vision?

Take Jesse Stoner’s “vision test” to see if your vision is 20/20.  Rate each of the following questions.

5=Frequently  4=Often  3=Sometimes  2=Occasionally  1=Rarely

1. Does everyone in your department/team share the same vision?

2. Does it excite, inspire, and motivate you?

3. Does it explain what business you are in?

4. Does it help you understand why your activities are important?

5. Does it provide guidelines that help you make daily decisions?

6. Does it provide direction - create a clear picture of what you intend to accomplish?

7. Does it help you identify priorities?

8. How often do you talk about purpose, values, and/or where you’re going?

9. Is everyone deeply committed to achieving the vision?

10. Does each person see how he or she can make a contribution?

Add your total score to evaluate the alignment within your team/organization:

A score of 45-50 means your team/organization is Mobilized.  You have created a compelling vision that is energizing, provides focus and sets direction.  You are clear about where you are going and what values guide your journey.

A score of 39-44 means your team/organization is Forming.  You have the beginnings of a powerful vision but there is more work to be done.  You need more clarity, more excitement and/or engagement of others.

A score of 30-38 means your team/organization is Typical.  You live in a typical organization.  Some people may be clear about where they are going, but there is no shared sense of direction.  Although you may be accomplishing work, there is a lot of wasted effort.  Work often needs to be redone because leaders change their minds or were not clear in their communications in the first place.  People are juggling multiple concerns and trying to “do it all” because priorities are not clear.

A score of 29 or less means your team/organization is Unfocused.  If work is getting done, ask “at what cost?”  You and your people are in danger of “burning out.”  Individuals may care deeply but there is no collective mindset or vision to align them around something greater than their daily tasks.

Is your team/organization Forming, Typical, or Unfocused? 

Then consider our Teams that Talk™ Coaching for Teams approach to help you harness the power of shared vision. 

  
Next Month

Great leaders understand that it is their capacities to shape values and educate through vivid, living, personal example that ultimately directs the course of their business. The way people think about customers and co-workers, the way they behave, and their impressions of right and wrong are all influenced by watching the way their leaders live out the organization’s values.  What values are guiding you?

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