by Ana L. Palles

Have you checked your vision lately? You need to. Most of your co-workers or employees have no idea what or where it is. 

Where there is no vision, there is no hope. - George Washington Carver

One of the single most important jobs management has is to communicate the vision. What are we trying to accomplish? Where do we want to be in 5 years? What does our company to look like in those 5 years?

What's the plan? 

The very essence of leadership is [that] you have a vision. It's got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet. - Theodore Hesburgh

I once attended a 3-day business requirements gathering session. The reason for the session was that it was discovered that some groups were going off and building systems without having gathered requirements for what these systems needed to accomplish. The problem was a failure to take into account the fact that no one in that room had any idea what the strategic plan was for the organization.

Now, let's think about this. Anything we build will take months, even years, to put into place. There are impacts to be assessed, development that needs to occur, testing, training, customer communications and business integration and transition.

Companies often find themselves behind the eight ball when it comes to having their infrastructure in place to respond to shifting market trends, deploy new initiatives, or to reinvent their business presence, primarily because of the tangled nature of the processes and systems that they have created.

If we don't have the context of a master plan to work within, we fail miserably. It's okay to stagger a plan, break off bite-sized pieces if you will, as long as those pieces are a part of one whole that all are working towards.

Sometimes the impacts can be life-threatening to the organization, such as jeopardizing the company's ability to do business with particular customer sectors, or leaving the company vulnerable to lawsuits.

Companies that are in trouble often are desperate and focus on the immediate forgetting that their primary need is to stop the panic, chart out a course for success and get the employees rowing in the same direction. They think it is ok to ignore planning and establishing direction because if only they just get through this tight squeeze, they’ll be fine for next time. Wrong. How many times have these efforts led to even greater long-term problems, bringing them deeper into the hole and repeating mistakes in their own past? The confusion amongst the workforce, not to mention the incredible waste of high salaried staff that inevitably occurs when direction is vague, erodes the company’s ability to survive.

Corporate workgroups are like children. The problem is, the children have been given long pieces of rope, and while we hope they coil them up neatly into piles that can be tied together as needed, they have instead taken off at a run with one end, chasing the dog, cat, and neighbor's rabbit all around the yard and all around you as you stand there in shock and dismay. Before you know it, you are wrapped in knots that will take years to untangle. Perhaps you'll still be around by the time you can get the last one off.

The missing piece here is the plan, of course. What are they trying … no, what do they NEED to do as a company? Where do they need to be in 5 years? Get everyone on board and follow that leader!

So, what's the plan?

Everyone has one, and no one has one. That's a true statement. 

Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. - Warren Bennis

Your child needs structure and yes, some discipline.

Think about your average college freshman. Their objective is to get a degree. In order to graduate, they need to visit their guidance counselor and put together a class list and schedule. A plan based on a vision of what I want to be in 4-5 years.

It cannot be said enough: the student needs structure. They cannot take whatever blend of courses they find appealing; these courses must fit within the parameters of the requirements for that degree. Some of the courses may well be elimination courses — do you really have what it takes for this degree or are you a casual student?

It doesn't matter. The point here is that the person knows the path they must follow. They have been given the plan and enforcement is without question. Degree requirements are predefined and no diploma is awarded unless these are met.

Management must determine the plan and ensure that it is communicated and institutionalized. For example, make sure your organization can answer the question: How does this map to the objectives of our master plan? How does this move us closer to the goal?

This gives everyone direction and purpose. This also provides a means to evaluate activities within the company. 

I have found that being honest is the best technique I can use. Right up front, tell people what you're trying to accomplish and what you're willing to sacrifice to accomplish it. - Lee Iacocca

One area of significant waste in corporations is the proliferation of projects that do not tie-in with a long-term organizational strategy. Think how much money would be saved on projects that end up aborting, or worse yet, continuing to the bitter end only to be terminated as soon as it goes live. Or projects that stay around painfully and become obstacles to other projects.

The problem here is that groups cling on to projects that yield nothing simply because of fear that they will become redundant, or laid off. Unfortunately, this is a sad reality as more often than not, corporations base decisions of who to keep and who to let go on the wrong criteria.

One company for example, deliberately laid off their top performing top rated employees while keeping lower rated, poorer performers simply because of discontinuance of a particular project, or shifting priorities. A small business would never make this type of mistake. A top performing employee can be redeployed into any other area and thrive. This is because the qualities that make them star rated usually includes drive, initiative and dedication.

You get the picture.

Having a vision is critical. You’ll never arrive if you don’t know what it looks like, and it certainly is not your staff’s fault if they are all going in different directions. People will follow their leader, but you need to stand in front of them, tell them where they’re going, why and what it will look like once they get there. This is what Lee Iacocca did for Chrysler when they were heading straight for bankruptcy. The turnaround he effected in that company was legendary and to this day, he is regarded as one of the great business leaders of his time and a personal hero to many.

Your team needs to know that you can see that goal off in the distance. Set the vision and keep encouraging them to get there. 

Don't underestimate the power of a vision. McDonald's founder, Ray Kroc, pictured his empire long before it existed, and he saw how to get there. He invented the company motto — 'Quality, service, cleanliness and value' — and kept repeating it to his employees for the rest of his life. - Kenneth Labich