What do the best people want? To be part of something bigger than themselves or to in some way play a role ”“ even a small part ”“ in making our world a better place? To work for and buy from organizations that allow them to express their values through the employer they”™ve chosen and the purchases they make? If you were to play a part in making a better world, would you have to change or create a different vision statement for your business?
What”™s the current vision of your organization? Starbucks”™ is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit, one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time,” and yes, it makes good coffee. Google”™s vision is “to organize the world”™s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” and that requires a good search engine.
Your vision is the magnet that attracts the right customers, recruits and retains the highest quality of loyal employees and pulls the right community support, investors and suppliers to you. The authors of the best-selling business book “Firms of Endearment” state that organizations must operate by a guiding vision of service that takes into account all of their ”˜stakeholders,”™ including customers, employees, suppliers, supply-chain partners, the communities in which they operate and their investors.
Although not everyone will share your vision, those who do represent the customers, employees, outside suppliers, the community and owners or stockholders that are right for you. Nordstrom does not locate in the same neighborhoods as Walmart nor does it have as large a customer base. Both are very successful because they both know who their stakeholders are and what they want.
So the most critical skill to craft your vision statement is to deliver what your customers, employees, outside suppliers, community and owners or stockholders want. Those people will demand accountability. It”™s your vision statement that draws some people and repels others. As illustrated by the examples of Nordstrom and Walmart, no successful organization can be all things to all people, nor should they try.
Jim Collins, author of “Good to Great,” speaks about the importance of having the right people on the bus. Although your new vision will, like a magnet, attract the right people to you, it will also repel the wrong ones. So expect change as the people whose vision and values are not consistent with your new one leave.
In “Taking People With You,” author David Novak states, “So what do your people, all of your people, want? What perceptions, habits or beliefs of this target audience do you need to build, change, or reinforce to reach your goal? Think about your target audience, the people you have to take with you.” If their vision matches yours, they are on the right bus, and if not, it is time for them to get off.
Everyone wants to work for and do business with companies that reinforce their own personal vision and values. The individual will only find meaning and fulfillment in his or her work and life when what he or she does each day is consistent with his or her own personal vision and values.
Only by fulfilling each group”™s desires can you show how your vision meets their needs while giving them what they want most: The ability to be part of something bigger than themselves or to in some way play a role ”“ even a small part ”“ in making our world a better place.
Questions for discussion:
What will it take to develop a vision of making the world a better place?
How will we enlist the power of people with a similar vision, to help make it a reality?
Joe Murtagh is The DreamSpeaker, an international keynote speaker, meeting facilitator and business trainer. For questions or comments, contact Joe@TheDreamSpeaker.com, TheDreamSpeaker.com or call (800) 239-0058.
