Developing Vision With Your Team

My team had experienced significant change and growth. At the same time, I realized that the speed of change within our organization and our team was taking it’s toll on the team. We were focused on keeping up with day-to-day projects and current growth while neglecting developing vision for future growth.

While this approach was productive in the short-term, I knew that it was not sustainable. So I began assessing ways to clarify priorities. And unify the team around common goals and objectives.

Not enough – You Need to be Developing Vision

Hard work is not enough. Productivity is not enough. Every leader should be developing vision together with their team!

Many organizations have detailed core values, mission statements, and vision statements. And most growing organizations review and communicate them regularly.

Our organization has them, too! But the organizational vision could not clarify what our team members belong to, what we will build, and what we will become. And we needed that – we needed a team vision.

While our team was aware of company and institutional vision statements, they had never considered a department vision or a vision for their individual positions. I also knew that the vision would fail if I developed it and presented it to them to adopt. I needed to give the team the opportunity. To decide if they were ready to develop a vision. To take our work to the next level.

So I worked together with our team to develop a step-by-step process for developing and reviewing vision. And today, I am sharing with you our simple guide, Developing Vision with Your Team.

Simply click here to download the Developing Vision with Your Team guide and template now!

Once you download it and try it out, shoot me an email and let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear your feedback as well as your recommendations for how we can continue to improve the process.

I can tell you from experience that your work, your team, your influence, your leadership, your energy, will ever be the same! Because of this one purposeful decision.

Click here to download the Developing Vision with Your Team guide and template now!

Why we Needed to be Developing Vision Together

Although my team was experiencing record-setting achievements, relationships were strained and my influence was dwindling. I couldn’t make sense of it. And I didn’t understand why my colleagues were beginning to resent my passion for my work, my aggressive goals, and the long hours I put in.

I loved my work and I loved the outcomes. I loved my team and how they were growing. But it never occurred to me that my passion, energy, and achievements would intimidate those around me. After all, I was laser-focused on improving the organization we were all part of.

Their fear morphed into resentment. I began pushing harder, defending the vision and strategy, and reacting to challenges. As you might imagine, none of this improved the situation. In fact, it made matters worse.

It should have been obvious

Finally, an administrator shared with me what should have been obvious – “Michael, your team doesn’t trust you. Some don’t even like you.”

This feedback was extremely painful for me to accept and even more difficult for me to understand and process. I was in denial. I simply could not bring myself to see from their perspective. Yet I was convinced that the work environment was not sustainable – for me or for my team.

The decision

So, on the recommendation of a friend, I hired an executive coach to help me work through vision and planning, priority management, and decision-making.

This decision was a life-changer for me. In fact, a few months later Sarah (my wife) and I spent an evening with several of our friends – they sat in the restaurant and joked about how differently I approached life and work since making the change.

What vision can do for you

Most organizations have a vision statement somewhere in a file or on a conference room wall. Yet, unfortunately, these vision statements seldom serve as an energizing guide toward exponential growth and remarkable success for the organization.

A vision is energizing. It’s enlivening. Vision is the guiding motivation for all great human efforts. I get that. My problem was not vision – I didn’t understand how to get focused and stay focused on the vision. I was not communicating vision effectively.

To address these challenges, I developed a Business Vision tool to help me think through and write out my vision. My experience creating a life plan and a business vision, regularly reviewing them, and updating them, has been transformational. These documents have kept me on track as my family, friends, career, and other interests have grown. My life and work are fast moving. And when work gets hectic, my business vision and plans get me back on the path to my envisioned destination.

The challenge was – I spent more than $30,000 working with a coach. And I don’t want you to have to do the same.

So click here to download the Developing Vision with Your Team guide and template now!

Question: Have you worked through vision planning with your team? What would you add to this list? Share your ideas in the comments.