Creating A Vision For Your Team's Future

Shifting from GC to founder forced me to rewire how I think. I wish I learned this lesson earlier as it really applies to all C-Suite/departmental leaders. As GCs, we're trained to spot risks and solve immediate problems. It’s easy to get caught up in the day’s fires and not carve out the time to plan for future growth. But C-Suite execs also need to set a vision and chart the path to get there. The CEO does it for the company at-large, and each leader should be taking that and adapting it for her/his department (i.e., what is our departmental mission/plan, and how does it ladder up to support the company vision). Here's a very simple framework to help you get started: 1. Picture the future: What does success look like in 5 years? For us, it’s becoming the most trusted and valuable professional community for C-Suite executives (legal leaders at The L Suite (TechGC), finance leaders at The F Suite, with more Suites to come). 2. Reverse-engineer it: Once you know the end goal, work backward. What skills, people, and systems need to be in place? As a GC, for example, you might need to hire SMEs on your team now to support future product launches or implement contract automation to handle 10x volume and maintain/improve turnaround time. 3. Adapt, keep sight: The path to your vision won’t be a straight line. Markets shift, priorities change, and fires need fighting. Stay flexible in your approach while remaining anchored to the vision. Great leaders balance daily challenges with building for tomorrow. This sounds easy, but executing it alongside your day-to-day responsibilities is incredibly challenging. It requires discipline to zoom out regularly and ensure your team's work connects to the bigger picture. The best C-suite leaders - whether GCs, CFOs, or founders - master this balance between tactical excellence and strategic vision. How do you ensure your department's daily work ladders up to your company’s long-term goals? Do you have a framework that keeps you on track?

Companies don’t die when they run out of money. They die when their leaders run out of vision. Here’s how to communicate yours clearly: The most successful leaders don’t just see the future. They help others see it too. In the 1970s, Steve Jobs envisioned “the computer for the rest of us” before personal computers even existed. Even though it was uncharted waters, his vivid depictions of how these devices would change the world inspired his team to bring the Macintosh to life. When it comes to turning ideas into reality, having an ambitious vision isn’t enough. As a leader, your team has to buy in. They have to be on the same page as you. There are three steps to pulling this off: 1. Picture Close your eyes and envision your company 5-10 years from now. What new products and services are you offering? What impact are they having on society? Can you describe all of it in detail? 2. Convey Next, articulate your company's purpose. Answer why it exists beyond profit. You also need to define 3 measurable long-term goals that are aligned with your vision. Outline key cultural behaviors that embody company values. Lastly, establish clear annual metrics to track. What gets measured gets managed. 3. Reiterate Finally, express your vision repeatedly in meetings, memos, hallway conversations, etc. Whatever chance you get to blurt it out, seize it. If it seems silly, remember both Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy sparked massive change in society just by talking about their visions constantly. Repeating your vision not only hammers it into your team members—it alters your company culture at all levels. Join the 12,000+ leaders who get our weekly email newsletter. https://lnkd.in/en9vxeNk

Having a vision is an important part of being a leader - here is what it means to me: Most successful companies have a strong vision set by the company leader, and people join these companies because they want to be part of the vision. Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Steve Jobs all led their companies by defining a compelling vision. However, there is much more to vision setting than having big ideas, and your vision as a leader needs to be sized to your role.  If you are CEO of a rocket company, you can have a vision to land on Mars. If you manage a team in a large organization (like me), your vision should fit within the bigger picture. In my opinion, 3 things are needed to set and deliver a vision: 1)    CREATING SPACE: Some managers are controlled by their backlog: they have a large volume of incoming requests, and spend all their time reacting to the most urgent requests. A manager in this situation is not a visionary, though they may be helping others deliver their visions. A vision needs space for execution. Various strategies can be used to create space, such as a sub-team, or restricting bandwidth for incoming requests.     2)    THE VISION: The vision should normally be incremental, building upon what is there already. A vision that requires throwing out everything should only be attempted in exceptional circumstances. Visualize where you would like to be in 1, 2, and 3 years. Speak to customers and partners, and ask them where they would like you to go. Simplify and distill your vision into the key components, and write it down clearly. Review the vision with your team, leadership, and stakeholders to get buy-in.   3)    EXECUTION: Once you have set the vision it is time to execute, which is the hardest part. This may require growing your team, and influencing others to provide support.  Plan to deliver incrementally, so the benefits can be realized quickly.  I have seen teams disappear for years to build a big vision, and the results have always been underwhelming. Review and update your vision regularly based on feedback. It is better to change your vision to meet a developing need, than stubbornly deliver a vision that is no longer relevant! There are few things more satisfying for a manager than deliver a vision from start to completion, particularly when the result is a large positive outcome for customers and the business. The ability to set and deliver a vision is a core competence that I look for when hiring and promoting as it requires leveraging all of the key management skills. Let me know your thoughts on delivering a vision for your team? [Note that the above is entirely my own opinion, and in no way represents the views of Amazon] #management #leadership #vision

Imagine this: You, the visionary founder, see the big picture— Because it comes from you. It probably originated from a deep personal conviction. To you, it’s clear as day. But there’s just one problem: This vision, as vibrant as it is in your mind, isn’t understood by everyone in your organization. Not yet, anyway— It feels like you’re pointing at a giant cloud saying, “Do you see it? It’s there.” And your people don’t. Why? Because the vision can’t only live in you. Your challenge and opportunity is to embed the vision into the very fabric of the company. From the C-suite to the front lines. And that’s way harder than it sounds. I call it “vision adoption.” It's a big part of what we do for organizations. We lead the inception of your vision to its fullest understanding, acceptance, and integration into your operations, culture, and brand. It’s necessary for turning aspirations into reality. So what do you do? 1️⃣ Consistently Vision-Cast Clear, consistent messaging from you ensures that the vision is not only understood at all levels, but embraced too. Articulate the vision's relevance to each department and role. Make it part of your daily conversations. 2️⃣ Cultural Integration Work your vision into company culture through intention — it has to echo daily through your core values, behaviors, and rituals. The vision must be more than a dream. Employees have to experience it through your SOPs, decisions, and strategies down to the tiniest detail. It guides everything you do. 3️⃣ Leadership Engagement The only acceptable leadership style for a visionary company is leading by example — nothing else will ensure buy-in from your workforce. Every vision decision a CEO or executive team makes that isn't aligned with the vision will reflect 10x more intensely in the diminishing commitment of the regular employee. 4️⃣ Empowerment and Ownership Every team member — regardless of title — must see themselves as indispensable to the success of the vision. This is empowerment. That empowerment leads to innovation. And that innovation translates to proactive, self-initiated problem-solving aligned with the vision. And that’s pure vision adoption in action. It’s the difference between a vision only you can see... …and a vision that your whole company actively participates in realizing. Motto® 🏴

Just having a “vision statement” won’t cut it. If you want your team to actually give a sh*t about your vision, try this: As a visionary founder you have everything pretty clear in your mind, but it’s so difficult to get ALL the team absolutely aligned, throughout the whole year. But it all comes down to having a blueprint. Building and scaling a company is like building a house – you need to map out EVERY detail. For a company, I like using 2 crucial tools: 1) The V/TO (Vision-Traction Organizer) from EOS to map out the crucial areas of the Vision: - Core Values (I recommend the Mission to Mars exercise to discover them) - Core Focus/ Purpose (what are you looking to achieve with what you’re doing?) - 10 Year Vision (usually known as BHAG, Big Hairy Audaciouos Goal) - Marketing Strategy (who’s your target user, your promise and your guarantee) And the Traction part to get the 3-year, 1-year, Q’s and monthly KPIS set, in order to organize the execution within the teams. 2) Vivid Vision document (from my colleague Cameron Herold), a 3 or 5-page pdf describing the the desired future state for the company as a whole in 3 years. • How many clients • How many employees • How much revenue by x date • Describing every part of the company as if it was today in 3 years (be as graphic as possible) These tools give everyone a very specific “picture” for your vision, BUT the key here is: → Refer back to it and integrate it into EVERYTHING. At clickOn we brought the end of year vision up all the time. Every meeting, every process – we asked, “Is this getting us closer to our vivid vision?” Because we saw what can happen when you don’t ask that. Back in 2014 we were doing about $10MM year and operating in 12 different states in Argentina. So we decided to diversify – but that decision wasn’t very aligned with our company vision. It was a couple of years before we learned about these 2 crucial tools I just shared. We started losing a lot of focus on our successful products (that still had potential to 10x). New projects we did were done halfway. And after 2 years, we cut them to focus on ONE goal: → Being the best daily deals company. Because that was consistent with the vision that we developed. Think about it: An architect doesn't draw up the blueprint and then stick it in a drawer and forget it. They use it as a guide through the entire process. But too many founders just write their vision statement like a core values statement. Instead you have to live and breathe it. Bring it up in every meeting and decision you make. Even put it on the screensavers and email signatures. You should be able to ask ANY employee who’s just come out of the shower what your goals are. Remember: Your team can’t read your mind… If you want them on board, SHOW them exactly where you’re leading them. — Enjoyed this? Repost ♻️ to share to your network, and follow Ignacio Carcavallo for more like this!