“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.”
— Warren Bennis
In the overall scheme of business strategy, nothing is more important than your ability to share with both team members and clients alike “why” the world is a better place because of your organization.
Harmonizing a well-defined vision, purpose, and statement of values and communicating those elements with clarity and sincerity of purpose is the starting point for developing and executing upon a sustainable business strategy. Which underscores the role of business leader as Prophet in the marketplace.
The office of Prophet includes two dimensions: 1. Visionary — recognizing and identifying opportunities and possibilities that others do not see; and, 2. Realist — capably and continuously defining reality in terms that keep team members focused on delivering value while enabling clients to perceive and understand that value in relation to the success of their own businesses.
As the Chief Dreamer of Dreams, creating a vision that inspires, energizes, and engages people in a meaningful way is your top priority. It supersedes adept dissection of a balance sheet, insightful deal making, and skillful management of people and processes — because where there is no vision there is no visible path to success. No meaning to the work that must be accomplished. No inescapable reason for client loyalty. No purpose for achieving the unachievable.
An Excellent example of a vision with staying power is that of the Pike Place Fish Market — “to become World Famous.” The vision is much loftier than it sounds, because the type of fame sought by the folks at Pike Place goes well beyond awareness of the organization and superficial celebrity. The team’s single-minded vision and focus is to make a Word Famous Difference by having a positive impact upon each person they encounter. Now that’s a vision that inspires! Do you have the courage to take a similar leap of faith?
Part and parcel of vision are Purpose and Values. Although these second two elements are more pragmatic they are of equal importance in defining your business and / or brand strategy. Where vision is more esoteric and elevated, purpose and values entail what is happening in the day-to-day grind of business operations and how the organization fits within the context of the marketplace.
Purpose and values are the keys to executing on your vision. They are your means as a leader of continually defining and redefining reality both within the organization and the marketplace. Abraham Lincoln said, “Determine that the thing can and shall be done and then we shall find the way.”
The Hebrew prophet Hosea lived in turbulent economic and geopolitical times much like ours today. At that time, circa 753 BC, Israel was a divided kingdom and Hosea was God’s messenger to the northern kingdom. He was raised in a time of opulent prosperity. Those with wealth enjoyed lavish, self-indulgent lifestyles, paying little regard to moral or ethical behavior in the marketplace. Hosea used dramatic imagery and metaphors to bring the people back to reality and an understanding of their role in living out and proclaiming God’s goodness, grace, and mercy to the surrounding nations.
Likewise, as a Prophet CEO you must vigilantly keep your organization’s vision, purpose, and values in focus. Tribal storytelling, management by walking around (MBWA), a keen understanding and effective communication of market conditions, intuitive use of data and critical business intelligence, highly differentiated positioning of products and services, and precise market segmentation practices are some of the ways you can accomplish this seemingly overwhelming objective.
Leadership is a privilege, not an entitlement. As you contemplate the near– and long–term future of you organization, consider ways you can fine-tune and hone your prophetic skills. Ask yourself the tough questions, like: why are you in business? Why does it matter to your clients? How are you different than competitive alternatives? If you do not have ready and compelling answers to these questions, chances are your business strategy is failing you and you are short changing your team members and clients.
Imagine the possibilities. If you can imagine it, you can do it.
About MindMeld: Our vision is that your business will grow, prosper, and make a positive and lasting impact on the world. We accomplish this vision by helping you discover and communicate the value of your products and services and capitalize on that value — including a step-by-step guide for value engineering your organization.
To learn more please contact me at: doug.knuth@mindmeldmarketing.com.
© copyright 2015, Doug Knuth, MindMeld Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved.