Your Big WHY

While it may sometimes seem a total waste of time, inconvenient, non-productive, fluff, or any other words you might use to characterize activities that don’t produce immediate results, developing statements of vision, mission, core values, philosophies, key beliefs, etc. is like planting an acorn seed.  

Unlike annual seeds that can seemingly pop out of the ground overnight, it can take quite a long time for that acorn seed to sprout…and it will certainly take many years before it becomes the mighty oak….something hard, something strong and something durable that can last many generations.

Taking time away from the endless chores and things to do is sometimes difficult, but it might help to understand that this isn’t an exercise in feel-goodliness, warm-fuzzy, feel better inside, mushiness, but rather has real-world, bottom-line, operational and human capital implications that are just plain good for the long-term success of your family business.  The development of these various statements are used to:

• Provide a key communication tool and image to employees, customers and other stakeholders for the reason your business exists.  It serves as the BIG WHY.

• Provide clarity, excitement, consistency, passion and direction to your operations

• Serve as a means to bring everyone back on the same page when conflict, confusion or inconsistency creeps into your business from time to time to achieve something of significance.
• Develop cohesiveness and a sense of accomplishment with the time spent working together, taking the time to talk about and commit these statements to writing.  It is a team building exercise.
• Become the foundation for clarifying and determining specific business policies and decision-making criteria.
  

"To be the preferred value-added fruit company known for its quality products, great people and superior performance. "

- Shoreline Fruit, Traverse City, MI

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“To be the number one athletic company in the world”    

- Nike

Let’s begin with your vision statement.  As the image above describes, “A vision is an imagined idea or goal toward which one aspires.”  In the context of your business setting, it is a description of the preferred future state of your business.  It is forward looking and describes the big reason WHY your business exists.  It describes the ultimate state what will exist when all goals and objectives are being accomplished on a consistent basis.  It’s not a slogan or catch phrase like, “Just Do It”.  It should highlight how you want others to describe your business.  

An important note; A vision statement is often confused with a mission statement, or sometimes they are used interchangeably and that is a mistake.  A mission statement answers the question, "Who you are, what you do, what you value and what makes you unique?" while a vision statement answers the question, "Where do I see my business going?"  A vision statement doesn’t need to be a lengthy narrative, but it must contain some key aspects, but first…

The downside of not having a vivid picture of the future for your team to visualize often results in team members that are not fully engaged in their work.  You’ve seen it.  Yeah, Joe is a good guy, doesn’t really do anything wrong, but doesn’t really do anything extra, above and beyond the minimum.  Joe may be doing good things on a daily basis, but he is not inspired because he has no passion for pursuing a larger vision that brings out the best in Joe.  How can he?  It’s not his fault.  You as the business leader may not have provided it Joe.

People naturally want to be part of a successful team; a team with a vision of the future for achieving something great.  All they simply need is for you to take the time to develop a vision and then share it with them and help point them in the right direction on how they can contribute to pursuing your vision.

So, how do you create a compelling vision that inspires passion in people?   The following characteristics can be used as a reference to help point you in the right direction:

• Clarity – your vision statement must be clear to everyone and anyone that reads it and especially to your team.  Your vision should help readers visualize a clear picture that allows them to imagine what the ideal future looks like.
  

• Exciting – your vision statement needs to connect with people in a way that inspires passion. Think about time when you have been passionate.  It leads to action.  When your team is passionate about something, they will take action.
  

• Concise – your vision statement does not need to be some long, sophisticated statement. Many of the world’s best vision statements are the shortest ones.
  

• Deliberate – your vision statement should serve a well-defined purpose and declare your core values and philosophies.  In other words, what is the “BIG WHY” for your pursuit of this imagined future?
  

• Hopeful - people need to envision a future that gives them hope for something better. Many vision statements came about from difficult circumstances because a leader had the nerve to envision a better future.
  

• Memorable – your vision statement needs to be noteworthy. If your people are going to connect to your vision and pursue it daily, then they must be able to remember your vision to be able to live it and share.

"A personal computer in every home running Microsoft software."   

-  Microsoft

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"One company growing by nourishing lives and finding a better way today … one bite at a time."  

- ConAgra Foods

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As your family business’s leader, when was the last time you reflected on your vision for the future? Do you have one?  Is it clear to you?  If not, there is no way it can be clear to anyone else.  Is it written down?  Do you have some work to do?  I hope this helps illustrate some compelling reasons you might want to take the time to develop a clear vision statement and some ideas on how to get started.  If you would like a worksheet or template to help you develop your own vision statement, please email me for a copy.