Vision: The fifth principle

Do you feel committed to your work or compliant?

If you manage others, do you perceive your employees as being committed to their tasks or simply complying with orders?

Believe me, there couldn’t be a bigger difference.

I tend to perform at my highest when I am committed to the cause. When I understand the ‘why’ behind the objective, I am far more likely to accomplish or perhaps exceed the goal ahead of me. As I reflect through the years, I can recall various projects I participated in simply due to compliance. I didn’t have a true passion for the work, perhaps I didn’t care at all. The leaders of the projects failed to relay the purpose behind our work.

We are bought into a project or task when we understand the underlying reasoning. We need to understand how to perform, how it benefits the company, how it’ll benefit the customer, and how it’ll benefit ourselves. With this knowledge and buy-in, we can become completely engaged.

Engagement is imperative in an organization. When employees and team members are engaged, companies will experience increased production, less turnover, less absenteeism, a better culture, and a sense of purpose.

Proper engagement stems from understanding the company's vision. When the vision is clear, all employees know what they are contributing to.

Compliance vs Commitment

To comply, one must adhere to the desires, requests, or conditions of someone or something else. This is most often felt in task-oriented roles, commonly in marketing, production, or sales (assuming quotas are enforced). When metrics or tasks are designed by a superior and handed off to an employee, it is more likely that the employee feels a sense of compliance as opposed to commitment.

When we aren’t the source of the motive, we comply.

So what does it mean to be committed?

Those who are committed are expressing true dedication to a cause or activity. Employers can certainly drive commitment from employees, even in task-oriented roles. This can be achieved based on how the tasks are relayed. It is important for a manager to discuss what actions need to be taken and why they are necessary. “Because the executives said so” is no way to generate dedication and commitment. The manager needs to clearly understand the why of the task and properly translate that information so that the employee can come to an understanding as well.

This is much easier to achieve when working on small projects. However, it is much harder for employees to understand the over-arching ‘why’ of the company without an established and known vision.

If those contributing to the growth of the company don’t know the vision, the company is subject to repercussions.

Whether it’s a decrease in performance, loss of buy-in, low commitment, or poor retention, a lack of a shared vision can be detrimental.

Developing a vision

Creating a clear vision for a company that resonates with its employees is crucial for fostering motivation, alignment, and a shared sense of purpose. Along with identifying the company name and logo, the development of a vision should be among your top priorities. The vision brings to light the ultimate ‘why’ of the organization. Having the ‘why’ clearly known is powerful. Companies that are capable of demonstrating their vision both internally and externally become wildly successful.

In all business decisions, ensure you consider alignment with the established vision. Does your company not have a vision? Let’s create one.

Understand the core values and purpose → Determine the core reasoning of your company and why it exists beyond making a profit.

Involve leadership and key stakeholders → Gather insights and perspectives to ensure the vision reflects the collective aspirations and goals of the company.

Look to the future → Consider where you want the company to be in 5, 10, or 20 years. Envision the impact you want your company to have on the industry, community, and world.

Keep it clear and concise → Aim for a vision statement that is short, memorable, and easy to understand.

Make it inspiring and aspirational → Ensure the vision statement is motivational and paints a picture of a positive future.

Ensure it’s realistic and achievable → While the vision should be ambitious, it must also be attainable.

Embed it in the company’s culture → Integrate the vision into the company’s culture by aligning it with everyday practices and decision-making processes. The understanding of the vision should be felt everywhere.

Align Individual goals with the vision → Ensure that individual and team objectives align with the company’s vision.

Consistent reinforcement → Regularly communicate the vision in meetings, updates, and corporate communications.

Recognize and celebrate contributions → Use recognition programs to highlight employees who embody the vision in their work.

Oftentimes executives wish their employees had as much belief and buy-in as they do, however, they aren’t putting forth measures to do so. By creating and reinforcing a shared vision, a common purpose can certainly be achieved. Not only that, radical improvements to overall efficiency will make themselves known.

Weigh-in = buy-in

I am far from the first to discuss this equation, but it rings too true not to include.

It’s simple, if you want the most amount of buy-in or belief from your employees, you must give them the opportunity to weigh in on the matter. Considering the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of others could both increase the effectiveness of the vision but also the results within the company.

Solicit feedback and suggestions from employees at all levels when crafting the vision. Hold workshops and discussions to make employees feel included and valued. When employees feel that their contributions matter, they will immediately take ownership of the vision.

Alignment should be among the most important internal achievements of a company. Take a moment to ponder successful companies, do you think they were full of individuals who were all rowing in separate directions? Absolutely not.

You understand the vision. Do they?

There’s no easy way around it, visions can be difficult to develop. However, the cost of not having a shared vision is too great.

Whether it be from my suggestions above or your own creative thinking, take action to create alignment.

No, this won’t be achieved in a day. But if proper steps are taken to create a clear, realistic, and exciting vision, the company will quickly see results. Become a living, breathing champion for the vision. When you display belief, others will gravitate toward you and adopt the same belief. If needed, act as the crutch to others as they develop a greater understanding of the purpose behind the organization.

Company culture is certainly impacted by the level of buy-in from the workforce. Prioritize a shared vision and be surprised at what it will do on its own to assist in your creation of a workplace community.