Communicating vision to others

Communicating vision to others

Communicating the vision for your team or organization is one of the most important things that you can do as a leader. Without a focused vision, employees can become lost in the meaning of their work, become unproductive, and have a higher chance of leaving to work for someone else. 

In a Gallup poll, only 41% of U.S. employees strongly agree that they know what their company stands for, and only 27% strongly agree that they believe in their organization’s values.

If so few people connect to the company’s values, then how can they connect to the vision? Here are a few tips to help you communicate your personal and organizational vision to others. 

Start with your values and purpose


Your people want to know that you have a clear plan for everything that is going on around them. 

If you currently do have established Values and a purpose statement, reinforce and reintroduce those to your team. Begin tieing in your projects and work to that purpose, understanding, and set of values that your group holds. 

If you don’t have established values, or if they need to be updated, spend time with key stakeholders in your organization or group to establish those.  Avoid working through this process alone, as you’ll miss opportunities due to blind spots that we all have in our professional lives. 

Build a good foundation that you can build your personal and company’s vision off of. 

Say it again


The same Gallup poll also said only 23% of U.S. employees strongly agree that they can apply their organization’s values to their work every day. 

It’s not like 77% of leaders and companies have never said a word about their values or vision for where they want to be. It’s likely that they said something early on, felt like it was communicated, or understood and moved on from it. Here are a few reasons why you need to keep communicating the vision to your team on a consistent basis.  

They forget: Even if you put your values on posters in the office and make everyone use your vision statement in their email signature, they will forget about the overall vision of the organization. Think about all the distractions that happen to you on a daily basis. Those same types of distractions happen to everyone else on a regular basis and they need to be drawn in and refilled with purpose and vision to keep it top of mind. 

The team changes: Perhaps you do a big visionary push a few months ago that was well received. That unified consensus quickly fades away as new people come on. Without that consistent cadence of vision casting, the team will eventually be filled with a majority of people that never heard your message. 

The environment changes: Things change constantly. Look no further than 2020 to see how we can start with great intentions only to be thrown a curveball that no one saw coming. When shifts happen around us, we can sometimes question if the vision or purpose still applies. Communicate to your team during challenging times to solidify that vision for them. 

We pay attention to what our leaders say. Communicate often about vision so that others have a clear understanding of what it is and that it is important to you and for them to be successful in their roles. 

Always show them the why and the WIIFM


Help your team understand the why behind the decisions that you make as a leader. It will help them with understanding the need to change and will increase their buy-in to a change. 

When communicating your vision for others, tie the action into the WIIFM (What’s in it for me). Show the person what benefits will happen for them as you work together to fulfill your mission and vision both on small scale and large scale goals. 

Communicating vision is a constant process with your team. Just like a rudder on a ship, a proper vision may seem small in the big scheme of things, but it can steer you to your destination and without it, it doesn’t matter how big of an engine you have. 

Make a better tomorrow. 
-ZH

Having vision for the new year

Having vision for the new year

Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.
-Warren G. Bennis

It’s a new year!  It’s a time to wash away the old of the prior year and to make a fresh start for 2019. You have all the potential in the world ahead of you. The vision that you cast now for yourself and your team should be a challenge, yet attainable and you should have at least a general path on how to get there. 

A vision for your work or team


Vision should be a unifying piece and match throughout the layers of an organization. Here’s how it looks:

  • The CEO casts the vision for the company.
  • The VP or Division Head cast their vision for the business segment.
  • The Region or District Director cast the vision for the geographical area. 
  • You cast the vision for your team.

Sounds like the potential for a lot of confusion and competing priories? It’s not if you make sure you are aligned with the vision of those above you. Every year after much thought and prayer, I get my vision for what the next year looks like. I then take that vision and present it to my leaders to make sure that I am aligned with their vision. 

So what is your vision for this year?

You have been given a vision whether you know it right now or not. If you do know your vision, keep it out in front of your team. I had signs in my office that I changed out yearly where we actually tracked our vision to reality. If you aren’t quite sure what your vision is, don’t give up. Keep looking and searching for it. Partner with your leader on some guidance to help you discover what it is. 

What is your business going to stand for this year? If you don’t own your business or business segment, how will your team stand out this year?

What is your team going to stand for in the community?

What would it take to get the team to the place that you dream of?

What are you going to stand for with your people?

A vision for your personal life


Let’s not forget your personal life! If anything people will think they have this covered with New Years Resolutions. Often the problem with resolutions is that they are more wishes or hopes instead of a solid plan for personal growth. When you formulate your vision for yourself in the new year make sure that they have actionable points. 

If you want to lose weight, how do you plan on that? Put your plan in place and then work to live it out.

Do you want to increase your education? What do you need to do to get the funding? Set a deadline for yourself or check the deadlines for scholarships. 

Are you looking to take a memory-making adventure or vacation? Budget out how much to save, set a deadline and have fun planning. 

Discover the vision; embrace it and use strategic thinking to get there. 

Make a better tomorrow.
-ZH