As a leader, knowing where you are going and sharing this with your team is critical to your success. This process provides focus, sets priorities, and saves time and energy as you measure all the actions of the organization against the vision you share.
Share the Vision
Sharing the vision of the organization allows your team to identify with your vision and adopt it as their own. A leader without followers is just out for a walk. A leader without a team is going to be very exhausted and not as effective as they could be with a united team working to achieve a shared vision.
Tom Rath, author of Strengths-Based Leadership says, “If you spend your life trying to be good at everything, you will never be great at anything.” Self-awareness is not a luxury, but a necessity for business success. Leveraging your strengths and the strengths of your team provides motivation and focus for better outcomes. Professional and personal ROI goes up when working in your strengths.
Build your team to compliment your style, not mirror it. Complimentary team strengths round out the gaps in your strengths, helping you see in new ways. They allow you to focus on what you do best, while contributing their best to your vision.
Build a Roadmap
Focus on what you have and what you want, then build a roadmap to the vision for your business. Invest the time to identify where you are and develop the plan to get to where you want to be. Use it as a road map to intentionally make your vision reality. A plan, just as a road map, will get you where you want to go with a minimum of wrong turns and missed opportunities.
As you build that roadmap and start on the journey to achieve your vision, utilize the best resources you can find. Think outside of traditional definitions of team members to gain the most value from team possibilities. Team members may include:
- Key team members, whom you rely on to consistently grow the company and fulfill the vision. Engaging their strengths and abilities effectively gives them the opportunity to grow while also fulfilling the shared vision.
- Professional resources that specialize in the practice areas you need are a wise investment to help you grow your business. Choose your lawyer, accountant, banker and coach for their expertise in your industry, share your vision with them, then tap their wisdom and strengths for the benefit of your business.
- Consultants, contractors and free lancers are project-based team members, extending your team on an as-needed basis. This helps you manage cash flow and provides a bigger pool of talent in the short term as you grow.
As a leader, effectively utilizing each of these groups of potential team members can help your business grow. Sharing your vision and working with team members who share in it builds loyalty and commitment to making the vision reality along with fostering a success mindset in your business.
