Visionaries notoriously live in the future. They dream up what’s possible for their organizations and launch their company forward with their innovative thinking. But these lofty aspirations can seem like hallucinations to their people without the proper roadmap to guide them. If you’re a Visionary, learning how to make your vision a reality involves three simple steps.
1. WRITE IT DOWN
When you handwrite something, you use multiple parts of your brain. That hardwiring actually increases your chances of achieving it. For years, experts have extolled the virtues of writing (yes, actually writing) down your goals. I’ve seen many Visionaries realize how vague their goal was by trying to get the words on paper.
With EOS®, you can do this more easily within the Vision/Traction Organizer® (V/TO). By answering the eight questions on the V/TO®, you get your vision onto paper. Then you can refine your vision by collaborating with your leadership team so they all see the same thing, thus creating buy-in.
2. SHARE YOUR VISION
Another piece of the puzzle is a little good old-fashioned peer pressure. When you share your vision with others, it creates a sense of accountability to do what you say. EOS bakes accountability into its framework.
Answering the questions on the V/TO with your leadership team helps you crystallize your vision and plan out how you will achieve it. But you don’t want to share all your hard work with just your leadership team.
Eventually, you’ll want the entire company to see and understand your vision. You can do this by holding a State of the Company address where everyone hears the same message at the same time. These State of the Company sessions get everyone rowing in the same direction. You can also ensure your vision gets shared by having your leadership team members filter the message down through their departments.
This way, the entire organization holds you accountable to do what you said you would. When you share your vision and how you personally plan to achieve it, your actions need to be consistent with the message you’ve sent.
3. REVIEW PULSE
An important part of this process is regularly reviewing your vision with your accountability partners. You can’t go through this exercise and share it just once, expecting things to happen.
The Meeting Pulse® keeps everyone on the same page and on track. Even disciplined people fall off the path or get distracted.
From an EOS standpoint, we review To-Dos and Rocks weekly during Level 10 Meetings™. Plus, leaders hold each other accountable during quarterly meetings and as part of Quarterly Conversations™ with their direct reports. And some people may even need more touchpoints to stay focused.
The point of The Meeting Pulse is to keep the circles connected instead of smothering or becoming disconnected from one another. So The Meeting Pulse differs for everyone and may change as goals progress. Those interactions force you to keep moving the needle forward from positive peer pressure.
Simple, Not Easy
So many visions go unrealized because leaders don’t take these three steps to accomplish them. While the formula is simple, many people don’t do it or don’t do it all the way.
They don’t write down their vision. It just stays in their head, which also means it may not be clear either.
Or they’re afraid to share it. Because putting things out for others to ask questions or challenge creates a level of vulnerability that makes them uncomfortable. They realize that sharing it with others means they’re on the hook (which is the point!).
Or they share their vision but only share it once. In this case, they don’t have an accountability partner to help them stay on track, checking back with them on progress.
Remember, when you have a great vision, don’t just think it; ink it!