The secret ingredient in your business
~ Your Vision ~
By Coach Jeff Earlywine
One of my greatest loves as a kid was fishing. This love developed quickly because my family owned a little bait shop that was located near Toledo Bend Lake in Louisiana. Toledo Bend is well known for its large bass and large quantity of crappies.
I soon found out that there is a lot more to fishing than just catching fish. Learning to cast a fishing lure into a tree-covered fish hole takes great skill. But casting is just the start; you have to learn to make the lure look irresistible to the fish below, so irresistible that an attack is inevitable.
Casting a vision for your organization works much the same way. This article will coach you on how to discover the practical process of casting a vision.
The process of casting a vision for your organization is to:
Prepare your mind
Present an engaging question
Problem (challenge) identification
Proceed to a solution
The first step in the process of casting a vision begins with you, the business owner, leader, or manager. The vision of your organization begins in the crock-pot of your mind and heart. It is something that you can feel, taste, see, hear and can literally touch. Your vision must be greater than your past memories, mistakes, and accomplishments. It has been said that dissatisfaction and discouragement are not caused by the absence of things but the absence of vision. Warren Bennis was quoted saying, “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.”
As much as we would like to jump ahead and have a fully cultivated working vision or start working on a half-baked idea we must resist. The best way for your vision to become clear in your mind and heart is to retreat to a quiet and tranquil place. A place that will allow your mind to think creatively and crystallize the vision. I think the best way to begin is by clearing your mind for a moment. You need to picture what you want your business to be. The biggest dream you can dream is encouraged!
The second step in the process is to engage your leadership team with a thought provoking question. A question that will help them begin to see the vision and dream that lives in your heart.
Questions like…
What is one thing that our staff needs to do their job better?
What actions need to be taken in order to increase our sales and/or income?
What changes need to be made in order to guarantee we accomplish our goals?
Step three is a transition step. In this step your leadership team will discuss in detail the challenges keeping those questions above (and others like them) from being answered and acted upon. Challenges such as, why sales are not reaching predetermined goals or why customers are not returning. Overcoming these challenges will put the organization on the pathway to accomplishing its goals and your vision.
The final step in this process is to determine the solution to the above challenges. This is the step in the process where you share your heart’s vision and get the buy-in from your leadership team. Everyone must be convinced that the solution will help your organization accomplish its (your) vision. It is very important at this point to remember K.I.S.S. - Keep It Short & Simple.