I was chatting with a good friend of mine this week who owns a local business that is experiencing exponential growth. As the conversation progressed he began sharing some of the key reasons for the success his company is enjoying. He identified role clarity – particularly his role as the leader - as a major factor that moved the company from survival mode to explosive, profitable growth. “My role as the leader is to steer the team in the right direction. I am the visionary for our team. That is the most important thing that I do here.” He went on to share examples of times in the past when he was distracted and focused on doing things right as opposed to doing the right things and how that choice translated into missed opportunity.
This is a story I have heard many times, with different words, and in different businesses as I talk to leaders that are blowing the doors off the competition. When the conversation turns to a discussion of big goals or keys to success you can feel the energy level rise as these leaders share their vision and passion for what they plan to achieve. Is this a coincidence? Probably not! In fact, it is what we like to refer to as a bright light, which is a philosophy I will talk about more in future articles.
There has been a tremendous amount of success literature published that focuses on the importance of having a well defined vision and ensuring that everyone involved in your business understands what that vision is. Napoleon Hill, Stephen Covey, and John Maxwell are among my favourite authors on this topic. The interesting reality, however, is that most business owners I meet don’t spend time clarifying or communicating their vision. Many folks see this as a theoretical exercise that they are to busy to “waste time on”, or a buzz word consultants use to arm twist them into opening their wallet. Then again, most business owners are not number one in their chosen market place. So what is the lesson here for those of us who aspire to build great organizations and share in the rewards of success? Could it be that the experts write about this stuff because it really matters?
The point is that if you don’t know where you are going any road will do. You need a clear destination in order to choose the right actions to take every day. If you are not focused on your goal other folks will convince you to spend time on their priorities and that rarely brings success. So as you start this new year take time to consider the end point. Where will you end up in 2011?
— Cecil Hayes
To read more of our thoughts on Vision please go to our Thought Post (blog) site http://www.activestor.ca and type “vision” in the search window to access over 20 articles related to this topic.
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