share your vision

Share your vision. Your vision statement and core values should be the beating heart of everything your business or organisation does

Share Your Vision

Simple Leadership Tips That Will Improve Your Management Skills

Managing staff is one of the toughest parts to running a business because everyone is different. They all have different requirements, expectations, knowledge, capability, passions and with some their attention lies elsewhere (for example it could be a part timer who is also a student). 

Yet with the right management skills they can still be motivated and inspired to perform their job roles with pride, purpose and skills. However, you must remember that if you are my manager, I have to do what you tell me to do. If I don’t, I could lose my job, but I don’t necessarily follow you! Leadership is a decision you make not a seat you sit in and with training it is possible to be a manager who leads and a leader who manages. 

Whether you want to improve the motivation levels of your current team, improve moral, listen more effectively, inspire new team members, manage individual’s performance, have that difficult conversation and become a little more assertive, these tips will help.

“Effective leaders set high standards for performance and values, validate efforts and contributions, and ensure cooperative interaction and performance in a trusting, respectful work environment.”

Tip 1 - Share your vision – often

When we ask team members in the businesses we work with how they are getting on in their role, the response is usually “alright I suppose” and then when we ask them to justify their response they say something like, “Well I’ve not been in trouble recently!?”. 

Does this sound familiar? If so it’ because the member of the team doesn’t know where they are going (they’ve probably also not seen their job description for a while either). You need your team to take passion in their work, you need to set a vision. 

Step 1 – create a vision statement

These don’t have to be huge statements. Pepsi’s vision is “Beat Coke” – simple!

A carefully crafted vision statement is at the heart of every successful business. This statement clearly and concisely communicates your business's overall goals and can serve as a tool for strategic decision-making across the company. 

Before determining what, your vision statement is going to be, you need to understand what it is not. It should not be confused with a mission statement. Those statements are present-based and designed to convey a sense of why the company exists, to both members of the company and the external community. Vision statements are future-based and are meant to inspire and give direction to the employees of the company, rather than to customers. A mission statement answers the question, why does my business exist? while a vision statement answers the question, "Where do I see my business going? 

A vision is aspiration - A mission is actionable.

Tips for creating your vision statement

Vision statements should stretch the imagination while providing direction and clarity. A good vision statement will help inform the direction and set priorities while challenging employees to grow. The vision statement should be compelling not just to the high-level execs of your company, but also to all employees.

Here are some tips to keep in mind:

  • Project five to 10 years in the future
  • Dream big and focus on success
  • Use the present tense
  • Use clear, concise language
  • Infuse your vision statement with passion and emotion
  • Paint a graphic mental picture of the business you want
  • Have a plan to communicate your vision statement to your employees
  • Be prepared to commit time and resources to the vision you establish

Your completed vision statement will give your team members a clear idea of your company's path forward. Then, it's up to you to nurture and support that vision and to inspire your employees to do the same.

Step 2

Let your whole team know what the vision is and also let them know how important their role is to achieve that vision. Your vision statement (and core values) should be the beating heart of everything you do, and team members should use it in their everyday decisions. For example, “To be the best business in the area”. If this was company A’s vision their team can think is what I am doing right now going to help us become the best business in the area, it’s yes or no – make the decision. 

Step 3

Praise team members who perform their role in a way that backs up the vision, publicly and privately..

Step 4

Retrain anyone who falls short of service and business expectations. Have that informal chat and if necessary, implement a performance improvement plan and do it now. Don’t brush it under the carpet, ignore it or hope that it goes away – what you permit you promote!

Step 5

Share the vision when hiring, during one to ones, performance reviews, appraisals and team meetings. 

All these and more are discussed in our 12 month action focused leadership and management program which holds the team responsible for achieving their part of the vision. 

Tip 2 to follow

Share Your Vision

As well as lots of smaller businesses and organisations, below are examples of some larger organisations who have received training from our director of learning at Ultimate Leadership Training:


spring care

arches
Zeelo

branded
Gatwick School

ned
catch

Nimbus
CAB

Please contact us to discuss any training requirements you have, we either deliver for you or sell you the course for your trainers to deliver to your team


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Share Your Vision