Vision is a Double-Edged Sword

“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.” —Andrew Carnegie

When an organization's vision is vibrantly clear to every person on the team, the momentum we create and the focus we find are unstoppable. And we’re not just saying that for the sake of inspiration. 

A 2019 study by the Harvard Business Review of 136 managers and their teams found that strategic, long-term vision (destination) can be a double-edged sword.

Visionary leadership—knowing and championing the destination—is a remarkably positive force when senior leaders, managers, and then departments are aligned with the company strategy. However, it becomes a negative force standing in the way of strategic alignment when senior leaders and departmental teams are misaligned with the vision and more or less go their own way.

Simon Sinek in his book Start with Why shows in his research that great movements gain momentum through a common belief and purpose. Reaching a 40 million dollar valuation for a business in 3 years does technically have a WHY—but only for the people in the room who also happened to be the four equity holders in the company. For the people loading the trucks, or answering the phones, or putting out the fires day to day, that destination would more than likely prompt the response, “so…?”

A destination with a great WHY is an asset that unites customers and employees. It engages our sense of belonging and purpose to something greater. It makes the game worth playing to see if we can collaborate to accomplish something bigger than ourselves. It brings the soul into the grind to make it all worthwhile.

The purpose of a well-defined Destination is to give clarity and simplicity and gain collective buy-in on where we are going, why we are going there, and when we will arrive.

Try answering these questions with your team:

Define your WHY:

Sometimes our WHY is driven by a passion and ability to serve and create an impact for a WHO. And when we identify the WHO, it helps illuminate our WHY. 

• WHO does your company create impact and value for?
• Who stands to benefit from you living out your dream?
• What is the thing that creates the unifying gel between your WHO, your products/services, and your employees?

Defining the WHERE:

• If we focused on those answers, what would be a measurable destination of that impact that would be aspirational but not impossible?

Determine WHEN:

WHEN drives pace. If our WHERE is measured 10x from where we are now at 20% growth, we’ll get there in 13 years. If we wanted to get there in 3 years, that has massive implications: capital requirements, strategy, etc. But it all comes down to pace.

• What pace do you want to drive at to reach your WHERE?

This exercise is just one part of building a focused, aligned strategic road map for your business. To keep building your plan, spend 90 minutes with a System & Soul Coach and your leadership team. Learn more here.