what a load of nonsense!

A well-known company here in the UK had changed its branding, and announced its new vision and approach. Not surprisingly, it had been met with mixed reaction. Whatever the market may think, the bottom-line is that any changes must start internally, with what the staff think and feel, and therefore how they behave.

Will they change their behaviour in such a way that they will live the new vision? Or will they simply continue to deliver more of the same?

When I worked in investment banking, the very idea of just the word "vision" would fill my thoughts with scepticism and scorn. Yet, here I am five years on, having written an entire course covering the subject. Why the change in sentiment?

Having a clear vision is a wonderful thing. It steers our decisions, and makes decision-making a cinch. It inspires and motivates and keeps us focused on our objectives. Yet this is often not the case in organisations. Why is it that many members of staff scorn at the idea of the company’s vision (if they know it at all)?

Whether the vision is achieved or not comes back down to the individuals. It’s down to each individual being fired up by the vision and then delivering. But that often does not happen.

The reason is because most individuals do not know what they want (other than, not to be working there, if they felt they really had a choice – sorry, but it’s true; 80% of the working force are unhappy in their jobs). They don’t have their own personal vision, and more than that, even if they did, they don’t know how this fits in with the organisational vision.

Imagine an organisation where an individual is fired up by their own personal vision. Now because their personal vision is aligned with the organisational one, pursuing the fulfilment of their personal vision helps them to achieve the organisational objectives and therefore, also the vision. In other words, they have ownership for the organisational vision, through the ownership of their own personal vision.

Do you think their results would be different? Do you think that managing these people would take on a whole new meaning and be easier? Do you think that achieving results would become easier? Do you think that the environment at work would be vibrant? Yes, yes, yes and yes!

In large organisations, this can seem a totally daunting task. How do you align everyone in the organisation? Person by person, individual by individual. Each senior manager is an individual – help them, and then each manager can help their own individual teams work out their own agendas. It starts with each individual.

As a manager, will you choose to step up and understand firstly what your own vision is? And then from that, how that aligns with that of the company’s? Will you then help the individuals on your team do the same?

Many managers may think that this is not their job to do so. There are deadlines and deliverables after all! But just think, if your job became easier and you found yourself waking up in the morning simply raring to go to work, AND your teams are feeling just the same way, wouldn’t it be worth it?

Consider this Principle

There is a freer, easier and richer way to live and work.

Action Points

1. What do you really want for yourself? What is your own personal definition of success?

2. What is the company’s vision and what are your objectives in relation to that?

3. How does achieving your objectives help you to reach your personal vision?

4. What changes do you want to make?

Quote

"Leadership is not so much about technique and methods as it is about opening the heart. Leadership is about inspiration — of oneself and of others. Great leadership is about human experiences, not processes." - Lance Secretan

"Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations." - Peter F. Drucker

"A leader's role is to raise people's aspirations for what they can become and to release their energies so they will try to get there." - David Gergen

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