When a Xeinadin business advisor sits down with you, a business owner, for the first time one of the things we ask is “Where are you now?” to understand your current situation. This is then followed by “And where do you want to be?” Your current situation and your future are never the same, there is always a gap. So how do you achieve this gap? You do it with a vision (where you want to be) and a mission (how you are going to get there).
A vision is the magic to your business
No business owner starts a business simply for the love of being in business. They do it because they have a passion, something they think “I could do that better” or “I can offer something different/no one else can do it quite like this” but along the way that passion can get lost in the day to day aspects, as the business grows and team members come on board (or even worse the business stagnates) how do you keep that passion/magic going? A vision is the magic to your business. If you want your business to succeed and get to where you want to be, you need vision to inspire you and your team on the right path.
Your company’s vision is like a jigsaw
Think of a vision as a jigsaw. When all the pieces of the jigsaw are put together, ask yourself:
- Is your vision clearly defined?
- Does your team know what the vision is?
- Is the vision written down?
- Can your team communicate the vision back to you?
If not, it’s likely your vision jigsaw looks like a blank white template when put together, no one really knows where the business is heading or what they are aiming for, your team won’t know how they are contributing towards achieving the vision and it will give a complete lack of purpose.
Put the pieces of your vision together like a jigsaw
So what should a good vision and mission statement be?
Audra Dinell describes a vision as: “The ability to think about or plan for the future with imagination or wisdom.” There are 2 keywords here that we need to focus on for a great vision and mission statement:
Imagination
Use your imagination to conjure up a picture of your business that doesn’t already exist, let your imagination go wild! Ask your team to imagine what they think the business could look like. Start with the blank jigsaw and build a new image from scratch.
Wisdom
Wisdom is defined as “A body of knowledge that develops within a specified society or period”. This is very relevant for the world we are living in, society is changing at lightning speed recently, just look how much has changed in the last 5 years alone. Do you need to refine your vision statement in line with how society is changing or has it stood the test of time? “If you carry on doing what you have always done, what will you get?” The simple and painful answer is “The same or worse!” For business owners to be successful in a complex and evolving world, they need to embrace positive change. This doesn’t just apply to business, it applies to individuals as change is instigated and driven by people. To change the outcomes for a business you need to change the behaviour of the business. To change the outcomes for an individual you need to change the behaviour of an individual. So before you can simply look to change your vision and mission statement, you must lead the change in your organisation and get your team on board with the change.
Does your statement include the following?
There are a few simple rules for vision and mission statements to follow:
• Conciseness – formulate a statement that is easy to communicate and remember.
• Clarity – it must be clear what your statement means.
• Future Orientation – define a statement in terms of the future.
• Stability – don’t change based on short term demands – stand the test of time.
• Desirability – or the ability to inspire.
Get in touch with an expert
No business gets the vision statement perfect the first time, work with your team to refine the vision statement to meet all of the above rules and speak to Xeinadin Group if you’d like further support with developing a meaningful vision and mission statement for your business.
