How often do you think of your employee’s future?
Do you think about them being with the company for the next few years, or becoming management?
Do you think about what they may envision for themselves, personally?
If you have, amazing. Unfortunately, most organizations don’t.
So often we think about the importance of the Vision for our organizations and our businesses.
We clarify that Vision quickly, so that we can share it with everyone and get everyone on board.
But what about the vision of the team members...individually? As people, with their own unique hopes, dreams and goals?
Think about this: if each team member is clear on what THEY want, then they figure out how to best work within the team and contribute to what the ORGANIZATION wants as a whole.
🤓 If you’re a driven employee wondering how to use Visioning instead of an IDP to create more opportunities in your career, read our guide on Career Vision.
Individual clarity brings team clarity
It’s SO critical to understand how your organization works, and why you all do what you do.
But one thing that some leaders don't always recognize is that it’s also critical for us to help our individual team members clarify THEIR Vision of success.
The reason for this is simple: when one person is clear, then everyone can be clear.
When your team members know what they want for themselves, they can find how to grow and develop in relation to the business.
When each team member is clear on their individual Vision, they can clearly see how they can contribute to making the organization's Vision a reality, while still being an individual who can separate work from life.
You might have a few worries about the consequences of your team members being clear with their goals, though. Let’s get into some of the TOP fears I see holding leaders back from supporting their team with their personal Vision.
Are you afraid of investing time and money only to have team members leave?
This is a big one I see across the board.
Do you think “what if I help my team members clarify their Vision, and it turns out that their vision is to leave me business?!”
Or “what if we invest all this time and money and energy into training our people...and then they quit or find another job?!”
These are all fair fears, Visionary.
But – hear me out – what if you don't invest all that time, money, energy, and training, and they stay?
You will have a team that is undertrained, unclear, and uninspired.
If we get clear on our organizations’ vision but don’t help the individuals within the organization with their vision, then they won’t be contributing in a meaningful way.
They won’t be doing the best they can.
They won’t be able to see how they fit in the future of the business.
What happens when leaders like you help their people clarify their vision?
There are generally two outcomes that I see when I guide organizations through the process of helping their employees develop their Vision.
The first is that a team member clarifies their Vision, and it validates that they are exactly where they need to be.
It confirms for them that the organization's Vision is a vehicle for that individual team member to get to their own vision.
From that feeling, the individual will intrinsically have a stronger feeling of alignment, and a stronger connection with the business as a whole.
They realize that they can go after the Vision that they want for their own lives, connecting with the right people and the right organizations. They get confirmation that they are doing the right things each and every day to help them get closer and closer to their personal Vision.
This is MUCH more powerful than simply sitting your team member down and telling them all the reasons your organization is a fit for them. They’re able to realize it on their own.
The second outcome is that the individual realizes the organization is no longer a vehicle to help them get to where they want to go.
It happens.
You may REALLY like your team member.
You may like them so much that you’ve even moved them around, experimenting to try and find the perfect-fit position for them.
And even in these cases - sometimes it just isn’t going to be a fit.
It might just not line up with their Vision, where they want to go, and what they want for their career.
If all of the team members have gone through the individual process and decide that this is where they need to be, then the person who felt misaligned will no longer fit.
It seems scary, but once they have this clarity and move on, then it clears the energy for the existing team. They can start working as a unified force towards a collective Vision.
Through this process, they will have the common shared experience and feeling of a clarified Vision; an affirmation that being at this organization is going to help them get where they want to go.
Once a team member leaves after clarifying their Vision, a whole new space opens up for your organization.
You have now created several individuals who felt supported enough to leave for their own Visions and will tell everyone as such.
Your past employees are now alumni, evidence of a legacy that shows a tremendous positive representation of your company, even if they are on their own path.
They will tell others that it was YOUR organization that helped them realize what the next phase of their career would be.
You’ll be recognized as the leader that gave them a new perspective on their Vision, and how you asked them the questions that nobody else did.
How to reframe the possibilities
Put the initial fear aside, and start opening up to the possibilities of what could happen if you allowed your team to think of their individual goals.
What could inspire them as they think about their own mission?
If you want to be innovative, start asking the people on your team some really different questions.
Things that they have never been asked before.
You want to let them know you are looking beyond the position that they hold.
You want to know where they want to go, and what their definition of success is.
Ask them to “Define success for the next chapter of your life.”
I guarantee you they have never been asked that before.
This is SO impactful because you show that you’re invested in them as individuals, not just as moving parts of the organization.
If you want to create a true Visionary culture, asking powerful questions like these is key.
Now that you’ve seen the possibilities that Visioning with your team can make, you need to make the time.
You HAVE to find the time for Visioning (especially if you don’t think you have it)
Have you heard about the concept of “important, not urgent” tasks?
I talk about how often as business owners and leaders, we can define the tasks we do one of four ways:
Important and urgent
Non-important and urgent
Important and non-urgent
Non-important and non-urgent
This is one of those times where you have to ask yourself…
As a leader, am I ready to shift over into making these decisions important AND urgent?
I know that you have TONS of things to do in your business.
You think that maybe you can do this whole Visioning thing when you have the time...
But here’s a reality check for you: you won’t ever “have the time”.
While this exercise may not seem urgent right now... you want to reframe it as not yet urgent.
Not yet, as in it will be soon. You want to get to these things sooner than later because when it DOES become urgent, it will be too late.
You want to be a leader that is proactive.
You need to get ahead of things before they become something you have to deal with from a purely reactive mode.
Ask yourself - what is the root cause of the perceived urgency / why isn’t now the time for Visioning?
It’s up to you to make that decision to be a leader who is ready to open up some hard and challenging conversations, to ensure that you deal with the alignment of the team as a whole.
Ensure you do this when it’s most important.
You need to follow up
It's one thing to have your team clarify their own Vision, it's another to follow up with them about it after the fact.
Often when we do processes like this, the motivation sizzles out after the initial process.
They don’t stick to the things they laid out in earnest.
Often, they just don't know what to do with it after the session or breakthrough.
My recommendation is to check in with them about their Vision quarterly, at a minimum.
Make sure you are looking back at their physical written Vision and checking in with how they are doing.
You want to ask things like:
Where are things aligning?
Where are things not?
How can I help you get where you want to go?
This way, you reinforce the idea that not only are you a unique employer but also that you trust them enough to clarify their Vision.
You're creating that culture that says “this is part of what we do and who we are.”
You’re showing that it isn’t just a one time a year thing - it’s part of a Visionary culture.
Checking in brings that motivation back to that individual that you guided through the process, even after the process is finished.
You can accelerate your business growth by not just clarifying the Vision for your company, but by helping individuals clarify their own.
If working on your team members’ vision is something that you’ve had in the back of your mind, but you haven't quite been sure how to execute it, I want you to know that I am here for you.
During the current climate of COVID-19, you may be witness to something being called “The Great Resignation”. Unlike any time before, people are quitting jobs, oftentimes to start their own businesses and side hustles.
If you are looking for ways to support employee retention and investing in your people, I would love to guide you and your teams through this Visioning process. Learn more about how you can bring me in to help support your team's leadership/professional development by booking a free discovery session here.
I can’t wait to support you and your wonderful team as you move toward your individual and collective Vision and goals.