So imagine this concept for a minute. You get a bunch of people together to take a road trip with you. You all pack your bags, get in the car or minivan and take off. Here’s the catch though, you don’t know where you are going. No one has planned a destination.
This is how most businesses are being ran. They get started with excitement and adrenaline but eventually lose traction because they don’t really have a vision statement defined that tells them where they want to be.
The Power Of Visualization
When I first started as an entrepreneur, I would find a great idea and then go to work. I would put all my will power and resources behind that idea and work day and night towards it. Unfortunately, it would never result in success. This was so frustrating because it was never a lack of effort on my part.
I always use to think that I was missing something because the ideas were great. It turns out I was right! The ideas were great but it was bad execution. I would start these businesses without knowing where I wanted to go and what landmarks I needed to hit in the middle to get there. I didn’t define my vision statement for my company.
I used to think that defining a path would take away freedom from my organization to grow organically. I was completely wrong.
Your business is like a child. It needs freedom but in a structured environment. Freedom within boundaries. Defining your vision statement creates those boundaries and lets your organization find a way to get there but the goal is to get there.
Once I understood this concept, everything changed for me. I have taken this same philosophy to every client of mine and it has changed their world as well.
The problem is that not everyone in the organization is on the same page. If I asked every leader in your company what their vision is for the future, I would get a different answer from each person. By defining your Vision Statement you get everyone on the leadership team on the same page with what the organization’s vision is. By doing this most of your issues will either go away or at least are solved quicker. With that alone, it’s worth taking this journey.
What Is A Vision Statement? How Do you Define It?
I usually do this by asking my clients one simple question. Where do you want your organization to be in 10 years from now?
In our Journey map this is your mountain, your WHERE! This will provide a clear target for people to shot for.
Your Vision Statement should be ambitious but realistic. Ambitious because it will focus the organization to innovate, to be aggressive towards excellence, and push hard for growth. However, you need to make sure it’s realistic so they don’t look at it from day one and just give up. It should be something worth doing to win people’s commitment. You want your team excited about delivering on that commitment. On getting to that destination.
If you can get all of the people in an organization, rowing in the same direction, you can dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time. Pat Linciouni, The 5 Disfunctions Of A Team
That is so powerful and true. If we can get everyone in your organization rowing in the same direction and get the leadership team on the same page, you will create a culture of Growth, Innovation, & Excellence and dominate in any market.
Our Vision Statement, our mountain, our 10-year goal at Velani Consulting is…
1,000 positive customer reviews”.Faisal Velani, CEO Velani Consulting
This is audacious because it doesn’t just mean that we only get 1,000 clients but that we do such a great job that it compels our clients take out time from their schedule to write us a quality review. Notice that it has nothing to do with our revenue. If we achieve our goal, the revenue will follow.
Our Vision Statement is clear, concise, and the entire organization knows what they are working towards. So articulate your vision statement and put something aggressive out there that people can be excited about.
Now that you’ve set your destination, let’s start defining your journey.
Stay On Track
The way to climb any mountain is to first know where you are going. After that, put it in the back of your mind and set small achievable goals that define your path.
If you hit your goals, great you are on the right path. If you don’t, then measure and course correct to make sure you are on the right path.
The great companies always know where they want to go and are always measuring. If they fail to hit their mark, they proactively take countermeasures rather then walking too far just to find out they have to go back again.
We do precisely that with the next three questions. It’s time to define your three-year target, your one-year goals, and your quarterly initiatives.
These now become your landmarks and you are always measuring to see if you are hitting your targets.
One of our 3-year targets on the way to a 1,000 positive reviews was to do a 100 keynotes. I needed to reach a mass majority of people to climb my mountain. They only way to do that was to get in front of a crowd of people.
To accomplish this, I had set a one-year goal of becoming a keynote speaker along with a quarterly initiative of taking public speaking classes.
This now became my road map to get to where I wanted to go. If I ever missed a mark then I could course correct right away rather then going too far. This ONE strategy has lead to massive success for myself and my clients. Define the vision for your organization and then take massive action to accomplish your goals.