A critical role for the CEO is to keep the
business vision alive and the team inspired. According to Jim
Collins, author of “Good to Great”, the greatest companies in
history have had great business visions. Any effective vision must
embody who you are – your core values (guiding principals) and core
purpose (organization’s most fundamental reason for existence). In
other words, your vision should encompass your core values and your
life goals.
Combine that with where you’re going – your “envisioned future” -
where your company will be within 10 to 30 years (Collin’s calls
this a BHAG: Big Hairy Audacious Goal), and you’ve got a vision that
inspires people to growth. The envisioned future is “clear and
compelling, serves as a unifying focal point of effort, and acts as
a catalyst for team spirit. It has a clear finish line… people like
to shoot for finish lines,” says Collins.
Many corporate plans do not contain a powerful business vision and
do little to inspire growth. The BHAG may only have a 50-70%
probability of success, but inventing a goal like this forces the
executive team to be forward thinking and visionary.
In addition, the envisioned future needs a vivid description -- a
picture that allows the team to emotionally feel, with passion and
conviction, what it will be like to achieve the goal. To keep your
vision alive (including purpose and core values), the mantra is
simple: communicate, communicate, communicate - in weekly and
quarterly meetings, at social events, in internal emails, in
motivational speeches.
For more information on how to empower your culture and inspire your team, please fill out the request form below:
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