How does a leadership group best describe a desired end result to those they lead? And how can they provide team members across the organization with focus and priorities? And do it in such a way that the common purpose is so real you feel you can almost touch it? They can almost feel it, the excitement and drive captured in where the company is headed.
In this post, I give you tips for how to communicate this common purpose throughout your organization.
Recommendations for Conveying Your Vision
- Be patient. You need a clear understanding of your desired preferred future. You will also need the willingness to construct a systemic, detailed future. You will need to spend time to do this important work. No one below the leadership level should have to fill in gaps that leaders were responsible for.
- Play with that preferred future. Roll it around. Turn it upside down. Put it down and pick it up. Sleep on it. Reconsider all your assumptions and biases. Expose it within a safe environment where all relevant ideas and thoughts can remain on the table as long as is needed.
- Build systemic understanding and a solid buy-in at the highest levels of leadership and management. Make sure you have engaged their hearts and minds.
- Through honest conversations, ensure that all the leaders understand the direction the same way. Do you believe in who you will become in this envisioned scenario? Will it help your company be more relevant on the market?
The Right People on the Bus
It is unfair to ask those who are responsible for strategic plan execution to allocate scarce resources. Or for them to determine priorities and mobilize collective and individual energies when there is a leadership void.
Having the right people on the bus will not be helpful if they do not understand why they are there in the first place. If you are a leader, you have to make the destination clear to your team members before they get on the bus.
Vague dreams and expended energy looking for direction will only lead to frustration and confusion. Additionally, it will cause a whole lot of start-stop activities which can be avoided.
Follow the recommendations above before creating any plans. If your desire is for team members at all levels to feel motivated – the heart part – you will be pleasantly surprised at how easily individuals can unite their mind contributions.
