3 tips for communicating the vision, values & visible results

Imagine you are a leader. You want your leadership team to communicate what your organisation does – and do it in a succinct way. One approach is to educate people to communicate the vision, values and visible results. (Let’s assume that you are already clear on the values.) Here are three steps you can take to communicate what your organisation does.

1) You can communicate the vision.

Gather your team together and make three flip-charts headed: ‘Vision’, ‘Values’ and ‘Visible Results’. Give each person a pack of Post-It Notes. They are then to write their views on what can go under each of the three headings. Later they will each go to the front and place their relevant Post-Its under the specific headings. To begin with, however, ask them to complete their Post-Its for the individual sections.

Invite people to write a ‘one-liner’ summarising what they believe is – or should be – the vision. This sounds simple, but many organisations find it difficult, because it should crystallise the big ‘What’. So you may want to outline some guidelines. For example, it is: a) To be a one-liner that summarises the vision. b) To be no more than 13 words. c) To set an inspiring tone – the direction – for the organisation. Remind people that, despite their best efforts, it will be impossible to get ‘everything’ into the one-liner. But it should provide a starting point for being able to give examples that bring the vision to life. So invite people to complete the following sentence.

The vision we want to achieve is:

*

2) You can communicate the values.

Invite people to complete their Post-Its for the second part of the exercise. They are to write the values they want employees to follow to achieve the vision. You may have already done considerable work on defining the values – especially in terms of choosing to ‘live the values, rather than just laminate the values’. If so, great. If not, then this may be a good starting point for clarifying the values. Different organisations will, of course, choose different values. One company, for example, settled on theirs being: “Deliver results; Take responsibility; Care for people; Love change.” So invite people to complete the following sentence.

The values we want people to follow to achieve the vision are:

*

*

*

3) You can communicate the visible results.

Invite people to complete their Post-Its for the third part of the exercise. They are to describe specific examples of how employees have actually lived the values and produced visible results. Federal Express, for example, continually highlighted stories of their couriers going that extra mile to deliver exceptional service. So invite people to complete the following sentence.

The specific ways that people have demonstrated
the values and delivered visible results are:

*

*

*

Give people ten minutes to write Post-Its relating to the headings of ‘Vision’, ‘Values’ and ‘Visible Results’. Invite each person to then go up in turn and place their ideas under the respective headings. They are also to explain what they have written. Follow this with a short discussion about any of the points that have been raised. Explain that you will write up the flip charts and also aim:

a) To consider the Post-It Notes relating to the vision – then settle on a specific one-liner that summarises the ‘What’;

b) To meet again with the team and agree on the ‘script’ they can follow to communicate the company’s ‘Vision’, ‘Values’ & ‘Visible Results’;

c) To carry-out a plan for constantly collecting and communicating specific examples of what people are doing to deliver visible results.

This approach sounds simple – and it is – but that does not mean it is easy. The hardest part is often clarifying the vision – the ‘What’. But that is a vital step in defining what the company does. People can then transmit the whole picture by communicating the vision, values and visible results.

3 tips for filling a vacuum with a positive vision

Great leaders believe it is important to: “Set the agenda, otherwise other people will fill the vacuum with their agenda.” This is one reason why governments run out of steam. They lose energy, forget their idealism or are taken over by outside influences. Harold McMillan, the former Prime Minister, said the greatest challenge to a politician who wanted to become a statesman was: “Events, my dear boy, events.” The same rule applies in other areas of life.

Pioneers often fill a vacuum with a positive vision. How can you take this step in your own way? One approach is to set the agenda – for your life, a meeting, a task, a project, an organisation or whatever. When other people are involved, it is vital to make sure that – as far as possible – the vision is based on creating a ‘win-win’. People are then more likely to work together to achieve ongoing success. Here are three steps for making this happen.

* You can fill the vacuum with a positive vision.

You will already have taken this step many times in your life – such as when shaping your career, recovering from a disappointment or taking charge of your health. Progressing in your career, you will find increasing opportunities to shape the agenda. (That is if you choose to work for a ‘committed’ company, rather than a ‘committee’ company. The former gets on with the job, the latter just talks about the job.) Let’s explore one scenario.

Imagine that you are leading a business that is heading for turbulent times. Everybody in the building is discussing the potential difficulties in the market. During such times, some leadership teams go into a ‘bunker’ for months. That leaves people without direction – and the vacuum is filled by negativity. You can act swiftly, meet with your leadership team and agree on the strategy. Then communicate this to the whole company. People are intelligent, so it is vital to explain the route ahead. Your role is to set the future agenda by being as honest as possible. You may say something like:

“Everybody in the business knows that we face certain challenges. At this point, our options are to do nothing; to play the blame game; or to do everything we can to deliver success. We have obviously chosen the latter route. Looking at that road, the possible ways forward we have are: a) To __________ b) To __________ c) To __________ Each option has both pluses and minuses – there are no ‘minus-free’ options. We have decided to take route (a). Other people may have chosen another option, but this is the route we have chosen. Here are the specific things we are going to do to give ourselves the greatest chance of success:

1) To __________________________________________________

2) To __________________________________________________

3) To __________________________________________________

“This is what we see as each person’s role in implementing the strategy. The leadership team’s role is: To _______ The managers’ role is: To ________ The colleagues’ role is: To _______ Everybody in the business knows the challenges ahead. Providing we follow this strategy and work hard, however, we believe that we stand a great chance of success. I am now happy to answer any questions.”

This sounds a risky strategy, but it is even riskier to do nothing. It is vital to set the agenda, rather than leave it to others – or events – to do so. Great leaders are decisive: they do not let things drift.

Looking at your own life, can you think of a situation where you want to fill a vacuum with a positive vision? It can be in your personal life – such as taking charge of your time, improving a relationship or whatever. It can be in your professional life – such as returning to doing work you love, making clear contracts with your boss, giving tough messages to a poor performer or whatever. Try completing the following sentences.

The specific situation where I want to
fill a vacuum with a positive vision is:

*

The specific things I can do to set the positive vision are:

*

*

*

* You can get support for the positive vision.

The question is: How much support do you need? Let’s imagine you want to achieve a positive vision in your personal life. You may then simply need: a) to commit yourself to achieving the goal; b) to encourage yourself and get the backing of your loved ones; c) to get the right infrastructure in place for doing the grunt work, whilst releasing yourself to do the great work. Let’s imagine you want to achieve a vision in your professional life. You may then need: a) to get support from your sponsors – your bosses; b) to get support from other stakeholders; c) to get support from others who want to fulfil the vision. Many people have vested interests in retaining the status quo, however, which is why pioneers often choose to build ‘prototypes’. They focus on the positive people who want to make something happen, rather than waste time trying to convince a whole system. Believing that ‘success provides it own arguments’, they find allies, do great work and publicise the success stories. Let’s look at one person who took this route.

Alec Dickson, one of my mentors, gave birth to two organisations Voluntary Service Overseas and Community Service Volunteers. His view was:

“We have many thousands of young people who have energy and idealism: we also have many unmet needs in our societies. Let’s marry the two together. We can give young people the opportunity to serve others. They can care for disabled children, build adventure playgrounds, act as auxiliary nurses, teach others to read and do many other tasks to improve society. In the process of giving, the giver often learns as much as the receiver. So we can enhance the spirit in our society by giving young people the chance to serve.”

Alec began by developing prototypes – finding children’s homes, hospitals and detention centres whose leaders were prepared to give youth its chance. Cataloguing the achievements, he recruited more establishments and volunteers. Eventually he began approaching government bodies. They resisted at first but, after a few years, adopted the approach. The vast majority of ‘projects’ proved successful though, of course, there were occasional problems. Alec helped to craft a ‘win-win’ agenda for both young people and societies.

Let’s return to the situation where you want to pursue a positive vision. How can you get the support you need? How can you show the benefits to potential sponsors? If other stakeholders are involved, how can you try to – as far as possible – create a ‘win-win’? If things get difficult, how can you focus on a specific niche and ‘build a prototype’? How can you make clear working contracts with the key people? How can you give support to colleagues and other stakeholders? Bearing in mind the situation you have chosen to focus on, try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to find the
support I need for the positive vision are:

*

*

*

* You can do superb work and fulfil the positive vision.

Pioneers often translate their vision into reality. Bob Geldof delivered Live Aid; Dame Cicely Saunders founded the modern hospice movement; Tim Smit gave birth to The Eden Project. Let’s return to your ‘project’. Get some early wins to build confidence and maintain energy. Build on what works and spread the success stories. Sometimes you will encounter setbacks. You can then use the ‘5C’ model. Clarify the challenges, choices, consequences, creative solutions and conclusions. Looking at the challenge, clarify the ‘real results’ you want to achieve. Explore the choices and consequences - the respective pluses and minuses – and find creative solutions. Settle on your conclusions and make clear contracts about the way forward. Do superb work and deliver concrete results. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to do superb
work and fulfil the positive vision are:

*

*

*

“Without vision, the soul perishes,” we are told. Pioneers continue to be proactive rather than paralysed. They fill the vacuum by providing a positive vision.

You can read about many people who have taken these steps in The Strengths Way, which can be found here:

Thestrengthsway