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1029 – VISION IN BUSINESS: MYTH, GAME-CHANGER, OR WASTE OF TIME?

September 5, 2023 Leave a Comment

In boardrooms and startups, there’s a common emphasis on “vision”. But is it
really a catalyst for success, or just corporate speak? James and VirtualDOO’s
Lloyd Thompson discuss how to develop a mission and vision statement that gets
results.


Podcast: Download (Duration: 29:41 — 27.9MB)

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Lloyd Thompson has a lot of experience with business owners and the challenges
they face in communicating their visions to their teams. Lloyd, who runs
virtualdoo.com, helps visionaries realize their goals with the aid of people and
systems.

In this podcast episode, James chats with Lloyd about how to develop a mission
and vision statement.

Are the benefits of actually writing vision statements real or perceived?

Does a vision for business genuinely help to focus a team’s energy, or is it
just flowery words and hot air?

And if you have a vivid vision, how can you achieve it more effectively in your
business? James and Lloyd explore.



Strategize for a robust business with James’s help



Table of contents



1. The difference when you tell the team
2. How do you do your visioning?
3. Putting people on a mission
4. No statement, but all action
5. The categories involved
6. Getting everyone to buy in
7. Why repelling is also important
8. Does your team know your goals?
9. What Lloyd does to fix things
10. Has Lloyd ever failed to help?
11. The ultimate takeaways…


THE DIFFERENCE WHEN YOU TELL THE TEAM

How important is it, James opens, to share your vision of your business with
your team?

Lloyd has seen cases where the vision does exist in company documentation but is
either outdated or unknown to the team, and this results in a lack of alignment
and purpose. Frustration ensues and time is wasted as the business owner has to
step in to clarify priorities that could have been explained by the vision
document.

James has had experience in past jobs and in his current business with various
ways of communicating vision. He’s seen it done in both corporate and small
business settings, employing a variety of tools – vision statements, values
workshops, slogans, Gantt charts, and even Draconian rules with penalties for
non-compliance.







Download 8 Reasons Your Business Should Have A Vision (and the PDF
transcription)






HOW DO YOU DO YOUR VISIONING?

Lloyd, too, can discuss different approaches to visioning. He mentions, for
instance, the classic approach of having a vision and mission statement, as
exemplified by Tesla. His own preferred approach is having a vivid vision – a
multi-page manifesto that includes detailed information about the business, its
goals, values, and what it will look like and feel like in three years. This
document can be shared internally and externally, aligning not only the team but
also clients and vendors with the company’s vision and values.

It’s the Cameron Herold model, says James. Lloyd affirms this. He goes on to say
that he likes to include the founder’s goals in the document as well. He relates
this approach to Maxwell Maltz’s Psycho-Cybernetics, explaining that by
visualizing the business in detail, you are programming the subconscious, which
is a key element of Maltz’s approach.

Lloyd believes that the vivid vision is a powerful artifact to share, and is
incredibly effective as it provides a detailed and comprehensive vision of the
future of the business, aligning and empowering all stakeholders to work towards
that vision.



This approach not only helps the founder to clarify their vision but also helps
the entire team to understand and buy into that vision, making it more likely
that the business will achieve its goals.


PUTTING PEOPLE ON A MISSION

Lloyd and James agree that people want to be part of a mission and understand
the greater picture, rather than just being assigned tasks. It’s the old story
of two bricklayers, one of whom sees himself as laying a wall while the other
says he’s building a cathedral. It highlights the importance of understanding
the ‘why’ and the emotional impact of the work.





Our experts look at Tesla’s mission statement: to create the most compelling car
company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric
vehicles. It’s powerful, says Lloyd, but – it lacks emotion, James puts in. Many
mission statements, he notices, use big, flowery words but fail to connect with
people on an emotional level, leading to a disconnect between the company’s
stated mission and what it actually means to its employees.


NO STATEMENT, BUT ALL ACTION

James’s approach to helping his small team understand their purpose and goals is
achieved through two documents. The first document visually outlines the online
ecosystem of his business, from traffic generation to content creation and
distribution, customer engagement, and offer presentation. The second document
shares his personal journey from employment to self-employment, the reasons
behind it, the types of people they help, and how they help them.

James explains that he shares his personal journey, from being a debt collector
to running his own business, with his team to help them understand the ‘why’
behind his business. He describes the emotional journey of transitioning from
employment to self-employment and the desire to protect himself from doom and
catastrophe. He then explains the ‘what’ of his business, the online ecosystem
he has created, and the ‘who,’ the three main types of customers they help.

James goes on to describe the ‘how’ of his business, explaining how they help
their customers improve themselves, build a team, find leverage with the right
business model, and ultimately be successful and enjoy the same benefits he has
achieved – fun, health, freedom, the ability to work wherever they want, and to
have a business model that’s exciting and interesting.



James emphasizes that he does not have a written mission statement but instead
focuses on explaining the purpose, goals, and methods of his business to his
team in a more personal and meaningful way.


THE CATEGORIES INVOLVED

James and Lloyd discuss the importance of creating a vivid vision for different
areas of a business, such as sales, marketing, IT, operations, and finance, to
share with the team.



Lloyd suggests that even small operations with a few people should think about
the events they are running, the customers they are serving, the culture and
values of the team, and how they all interact. The vision document, he says,
should paint a clear picture of what it looks and feels like to be in the
business in three years, considering all interactions, vendors, and whether
clients align with the business.



Doesn’t that seem too “enterprise-y” for a small operation, asks James? Lloyd
reassures him that even small businesses can benefit from creating a vivid
vision that details the culture and values of the team, how they interact and
share knowledge, and the overall experience of the business.

Lloyd explains that this comprehensive approach helps to align the team and
ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals.


GETTING EVERYONE TO BUY IN

There are challenges, James and Lloyd know, in communicating a vision to a team
in a way that makes them feel invested and included.

Lloyd shares a consultative approach used by his brother in the education space,
which involves talking to everyone on the team, surveying customers, and then
bringing that information to the founders or directors to create a document.





Lloyd stresses, however, that ultimately the vision of the business is the
owner’s, and while it’s fine to take input from the team, it’s the primary role
of the visionary to create the vision and to share that vision with the team to
get them invested and excited about it.


WHY REPELLING IS ALSO IMPORTANT

It’s important, too, says Lloyd, that a vision not only attracts people who
align with it but also repels those who don’t. It’s crucial to know who is
repelled by your vision because they won’t work well in your business, and it’s
better to attract clients and team members who want the same things as you do.

There’s a social media influencer, for instance, who has a controversial
approach and a large following. While James may not agree with his ideas, Lloyd
supposes the guy has found his tribe, despite repelling many others.



James acknowledges the influencer’s abrasiveness – “If you don’t have a six
pack, you’re not working in my company,” works for a certain audience. In his
own business, James sees the importance of respecting his team’s preferences and
creating an inclusive environment.


DOES YOUR TEAM KNOW YOUR GOALS?

James wonders if his team would be able to articulate the goals and values of
his business, in his absence. He certainly hopes their understanding aligns with
his own vision.

Lloyd agrees this is a good test and clarifies that by “goals,” he doesn’t
necessarily mean financial ones. He explains that while some financial
information, like sales numbers, can be shared, other details, like personal
income or other employees’ salaries, can remain private.

The vision document, says Lloyd, should help team members reverse engineer how
to implement the owner’s dream, focusing more on the qualitative aspects, like
what the business feels like and who the clients are, rather than quantitative
measurables.



Lloyd further explains, however, that while the vision document focuses on
qualitative aspects, team members can use it to create relevant quantitative
goals for the current year or quarter. Knowing the long-term vision, they can
set measurable goals in areas like sales, marketing, IT, and operations. This
approach enables the team to work towards the owner’s dream while setting and
measuring relevant short-term aims.


WHAT LLOYD DOES TO FIX THINGS

When a business owner is frustrated that their team cannot read their mind and
automatically do everything they envision, Lloyd begins by asking them to paint
a picture of what “good” would look like, and describe their current challenges.
He then conducts a more detailed assessment to determine if the team is aware of
the owner’s pains and challenges.

Lloyd not only asks the founder about the challenges and pains but also surveys
the team members to understand what is working well and what common pains need
to be addressed.

The initial assessment, says Lloyd, typically takes about a month. During this
time, he and his team conduct interviews, examine processes, and share interim
findings with the business owner weekly. At the end of the assessment, they
provide a roadmap of suggested actions to fix identified issues and offer to
implement the changes if the business owner desires.





Lloyd stresses the importance of starting with understanding the current state,
the desired state, and the pain points. While it would be ideal for business
owners to conduct this assessment with their team, he says, it is often not
obvious to them how to do so. Lloyd’s external perspective helps him see things
that may not be apparent to those within the organization.


HAS LLOYD EVER FAILED TO HELP?

It’s a common issue, says Lloyd, that businesses have ineffective vision or
mission statements, often because they were created just for the sake of having
one. He highlights the importance of having a vision and values that resonate
with the entire team and suggests limiting values to three to five that truly
matter to the business.



Lloyd also shares a hack for making values more memorable by creating an acronym
from the business name or a part of it, using each letter to represent a value.
And while the acronym helps make the values memorable, the most important part
is having well-defined values that encompass how the business operates and how
the team feels about the work they do.


THE ULTIMATE TAKEAWAYS…

In wrapping up, Lloyd highlights the importance of a visionary leader being
strong on vision and sharing it effectively with the team to ensure they are
invested in the outcome.

It’s important too, says James, to share one’s vision with the team not just
once, but regularly to ensure its effectiveness.

Listeners are welcome to visit Lloyd’s website, virtualdoo.com, to rip and
deploy his sample vision – virtualdoo.com/vision – and to share their own
visions with him for critique.



Join the James Schramko Membership, where your next big decision is supported,
your path is guided by playbooks, and a thriving community awaits to enrich your
journey!



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Filed Under: Business, Business Model Pricing Packaging Tagged With: business
model, Business Models, interview, James Schramko, Lloyd Thompson, Team, team
management, VirtualDOO


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