You must have something to focus on, measure your change against, and guide the direction of your business activities and results — that’s your vision.
When it comes time to make a major decision about your business, your organization, or your strategy, you must ask yourself this question: “If we do this, does it get us closer or lead us further away from our vision and where we aspire to go and grow?”
In both your mission statement and your vision statement, you must target your mindset on creating greater value, benefit and contribution. That value is not just about creating merit in your marketplace. It must benefit everyone that you come in contact with or network with - everyone in the world that you deal with. The more value you create, the more valued and valuable your business, products, and services will become. The more value you can create and deliver, the more secure your future will be.
How do you do that? First, understand that your obligation for contribution extends to your clients, prospects and marketplace. But your contribution and value should also extend to your employees, partners, stakeholders, shareholders, vendors and other people who are vital to your business success.
Consider what your value proposition means for each of those people that you deal with. If you can take what you’re trying to do with your mission and vision and create greater value and benefit for everyone you serve and depend on, it elevates your performance, intent, effect and results to a much higher level. Having a higher meaning creates greater value, greater profitability, and greater meaning.
With that philosophy and perspective, you will distinguish yourself and your business from your competition. You will have “partners” in your business dealings because your success brings value and success to them as well. Your mission and vision will come to life and be carried by many.
With a clear vision and tangible contribution, you’ll create enough value for enough people in enough ways that you’ll be elevated to a status and stature that virtually eliminates your traditionally-minded competition.
Most businesses are internally-focused and often ego-driven. When your business is externally-focused and contribution-driven not only does it propel you and your business forward, it also compels people to embrace the same vision for their benefit.
Now it’s time to get clear on your Vision Statement. Once again, you may keep your existing vision if it is still relevant, but it requires revisiting, and chances are it will need significant reworking based on where you are today versus where you started your business when you first created your initial vision. If your current vision statement doesn’t reflect where you want to go or describe at least the direction you want to go, it needs revamping.
In creating your Vision Statement, it’s important to remember you should be motivated by your long-term vision but directed by your immediate priorities to make it a reality today.
Know this - the future creates the present by motivating people today for what they can have, be, and do in the future as it is envisioned. So construct your vision carefully and wisely. It’s not what “is” that motivates people or a business to change or improve, it’s “what can be”. Your Vision Statement must be exciting, filled with the hope of reward for you and everyone you lead or hope to influence.
As you pursue your vision to make it a reality, you will be leveraging the talent, time and energy of other people by engaging them in your vision. Your vision must be compelling to them. People can and will embrace your vision but they will only do so for their own reasons — the hope of fulfilling their personal vision through yours.
Write your Vision Statement in the block below:
Vision.
Describe the business you want to build and in what time frame (in a few well-constructed sentences).
Once again, it is absolutely vital to keep this in mind - a great vision is both compelling and propelling, meaning that it both pulls people from where they are and pushes them toward something greater. Does your vision inspire you? Will it motivate and excite others to embrace your vision of the future? As the present moves into the future, will others clearly see, feel and experience the value of your vision coming to pass?
Does your vision create value as it unfolds — short-term and long-term — for you and for others? How? When? Where? For whom? Does your vision allow others to see their hopes, dreams, and desires coming to pass by aligning their efforts, actions, and decisions with yours?
Now it’s time to think about writing down your Values Statement. These are the non-negotiable values you deem absolutely essential for your business as you know it to exist. They are the values that anyone working in the business must understand, align with, and embrace. Once again, give this careful thought because it is going to help determine the culture of your new company once it has been turned around. Your Values Statement will be the guiding principles about how you do business, whom you hire and do business with, and how you guide, lead and manage. This document will be the foundation from which you grow and operate.
Think about what’s important to you in life, in business, and in creating an organization. What skills, behaviors, and attitudes do you respect or expect others to have? What principles or philosophies do you admire or embrace? What boundaries or unbendable rules do you have about how you do business or expect others to adhere to? What levels of commitment, performance, or activities do you expect from others in doing business with you or for you? What things are you willing to sacrifice or protect at all costs?
Values Statement.
Make a list of the most important values your business stands by, embrace and hope to embody.
Gut check time. Look back over what you have just written. Does the ideal reality that you envisioned in your Mission, Vision, and Values reflect your current situation?
Hmmmm…
Maybe, but then again, probably not, but that’s why we’re starting here!
Let go of the past, focus on the present, and create your future!
In the turnaround situation, it is important to understand that the past is the past. Let it remain there. You see, whatever happened back there is history now; it is water under the bridge. It doesn’t mean you have to ignore the lessons learned or the underlying causes that created a previous problem, we simply mean move forward from here.
As you affect a turnaround in your business or in anyone else’s, it is no use worrying about the past or what happened in the past. You cannot reformulate the past, but you can reorganize for the future. Your attention has to be fixed on the present. Through following the actions outlined in this book, you will be able to mend your problems by developing a plan and taking effective action. If it can’t be fixed, then no amount of worrying will help. You’ll work around it, minimize it or eliminate the impact by implementing a new model of action. Either way, you’ll have the lessons of the past to help you forge a new and more productive future.
Forget the past and get focused on the here and now. We’re moving on to the next phase of your turnaround.
Simply reading through this book will not be enough, You
