How To Lead with Vision | Leadership Skills Training

Successful leaders have a vision for their business. Whether you are CEO of your firm or a practice leader, you will be more successful when you lead with vision.

The “Vision Thing”

What is a vision? A vision is reality in the future. A vision shows where you want to go and what things will be like when you get there. Vision is derived from the Latin word videre, which means “to see.” Your vision can be a powerful driving force to keep your team members focused on the growth you want to achieve. Working on your vision requires you to consider mission: What is it you want to do? Our mission is to transform the lives of professionals. We truly want professionals to be different after an encounter with us. For your mission to be powerful, it must make a difference. Without a difference, you will be just another vendor of services.

Usually, the difference you make with your clients will trans- late into competitive advantage for your firm. Prospects and clients use you because of the difference you make in their business.

Acting on Your Vision

Once your vision is in focus and linked to an appropriate mission, your strategy must support the achievement of your vision and mission. Remember, your strategy is more flexible than your vision or your mission. Your realized strategy may be quite different from your intended strategy, because you adapted along the way.

Once you have a clear vision, mission, and strategy, your attention must focus on getting the structure, systems, and staffing in alignment with your goals.

Structure and Systems

For example, if your vision calls for rapid and consistent growth, you must have structure, systems, and staffing that will support the growth. To achieve rapid growth, a firm must be able to make decisions quickly. We often encounter firms who have high growth strategies but because their structure is a partnership, the high growth cannot be achieved. A partnership structure, by its nature, is more deliberative and less concerned about making decisions quickly.

The same can be true with systems. For example, hourly billing and collection systems deter partner attention from serving the client. To achieve your vision, you must adopt systems that won’t fight the achievement of your goals.

Conclusion

A team that is emotionally moved by their vision has the strength to overcome the obstacles of business life. A clear vision for your firm creates a good picture of your future. Sharing this picture with your associates can be a major motivator to them.