Many talented managers underestimate the importance of visioning for demonstrating their strategic acumen, future potential and organisational ambition. Please, don’t fall into this trap, especially if you aspire to step into a bigger leadership role within your organisation.
With many of the leaders I work with, I remind them that while they have not been personally tasked with the responsibility for creatingthe organisational vision and direction, it is their responsibility to:
- Translate the organisational vision to their teams and departments in a very real, meaningful, and actionable way that inspires their people.
- Embody and live this vision with their team, using its power to manage and organise their team’s focus, actions, engagement and creativity.
- Build Connection and help every member of their team see the connection between the importance of their work and its criticality in the achievement of the organisational vision.
Through our coaching programmes, the following are four practical ways in which I work with managers to support them in putting the above into action:
- Team Meetings – Whether you have these weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, they provide an invaluable opportunity for you as leader to embody the organisational vision and to translate, communicate, and align it with the team’s weekly/monthly plans. Take 3-4 minutes at the starting of every meeting to remind your team of why they are doing what they are doing. Paint a vivid picture for them of that day in the future when all their hard work will bear fruit, when big milestones are hit, and what success will look like for your department, your clients, the organisation, for them as a team and as individuals. Breathing life into your vision like this at every team gathering is your great privilege and responsibility as a leader. For your people to see it, you have to be it.
- 1:1 Meetings – With your people, provide the perfect opportunity to continuously remind them of how important their work is. To help them correctly frame how to see their role. To understand that they are not just “doing their job” but that they play a crucial role in the realisation of this much bigger vision, and that their team is relying on them to play their role. Steve Jobs epitomised this and consistently reminded his designers of the bigger role each of them was playing in realising the organisation’s vision by repeatedly telling them: “You’re not just building chips; you’re sparking a revolution in how we invent, work and create.” As a leader, you have enormous power to frame how your people see their roles. Use it well.
- Sales Meetings – A clear vision aligned to a quarterly action plan with defined metrics will enable your team to stay focused on what matters most. It will provide the rationale and confidence to make the tough-decisions on opportunities which have value in their own right but do not align with the organisational vision. When your team knows where they are going and why they have chosen that path, it’s easier for them to get there. Inefficiencies, distracting detours, and misalignments of focus and energies will be greatly reduced. Getting everyone in your team in sync is not easy. Whether it’s a small localised team or a large global multi-site one, it’s a challenge to get everyone moving in the same direction. A shared vision enables everyone to be in sync and work intelligently together to deliver at a greater speed.
- Management Meetings – Clarity on how the organisation’s 5-10 year vision translates to your division is essential in deciphering the value-add that you, as a leader, need to bring to the management table. From a divisional perspective, it will enable you to confidently build the business case for the essential resources and investment budgets that your division will require to play its role in the organisation’s future success. From a wider organisational perspective, it will enable you to competently contribute to and challenge agenda items critical to the achievement of the organisational long-term vision and decision-making. Senior leaders want to see the ambition you have for your division. That is the invitation of leadership.
If you want to advance your skills in any of the above areas, I invite you to explore our Creative Leadership programme, which focuses on using your vision to lead strategic change and drive innovation. Or, explore our Leading High Performance Teams programme if engaging and empowering your team is your area of interest. You can learn more about both programmes here.
Wishing you well,
Carolanne
If you liked this post and want to receive more valuable tips on how to accelerate your leadership impact, sign-up today to Carolanne’s newsletter.
