How to Get Your Team on Board with Your Vision

Jun 10, 2010, Written by Sue Miley

If you want everyone on your team to be enthusiastically working towards your business vision they first need to know what it is and fully understand it.

What is a vision?

To me it is the ultimate picture of the business you want to create.  I believe that for Christian business people God gives us our vision.  The mission is the impact we want to have with our business.  It is the purpose of our business.  I am not talking about having a plaque on your wall that states your corporate mission in paragraphs that no one could remember if they wanted to.  I am posing the questions:  Where are you going and why?  There is a reason you started your business.  What is that reason and what are you hoping your business will look like down the road?

Write a couple of sentences that express your vision/mission?

How will it look if it was where you wanted it to be?

Some of you have employees in your business and some may be a solopreneur like me, but we all have people we depend on.  They may be vendors, contract employees,  friends, or even clients.  It is important for everyone else in our world to know our vision/mission also.  Jesus sent out the apostles to spread the word to Jew and Gentile.  The goal of the gospel is that every knee shall bow in every nation.  Jesus wants to make sure everyone knows about Him and His saving grace and he is using the ultimate in networking—-His followers!

Do your employees/stakeholders know the vision/mission of your organization?

Here is a test: (Answer yes/no)

______  Given multiple choice of 3 different missions, could they pick out yours.

______  If asked by someone else could they clearly communicate it?

______  Is it top of mind for them as they conduct their role in the business?

______  Are they passionately carrying the torch – sharing the mission in appropriate  ways as they conduct business for your organization?

If the answer to any of these questions is “no”, how can you change that?  Do you feel it is important to change it?

I have read three 2010 copyright books in the past two months that all espouse that the key motivator for employees and stakeholders of a company is:

To have challenging and important work!

If they do not know the purpose of the business they are working in, or for, how can they feel that their work is IMPORTANT?  Who needs to know?

EVERYONE.

It really doesn’t matter what kind of work you do, it is important to someone.  We may not think a business cutting grass is very exciting, but it is for the busy corporate executive who get’s to enjoy time with their family rather than mowing grass on Saturday.  It is for the neighbors who all used to talk about your yard, and your laziness, before the grass cutters were on the job.

The Mission for the Grass Mowing company could be…

  • Making neighborhoods beautiful.
  • Keeping peace between neighbors.
  • Doing our part to help busy people have time for their families.
  • Taking care of the everyday stuff so you can do what you were born to do.

When I was running restaurants one of the most important jobs were the dishwashers:

  • We had to have dishes.
  • If they were not clean the guests experience would be ruined.
  • Clean dishes kept health standards up, reducing liability and protecting health.
  • Dirty dishes would be a PR/Marketing nightmare.
  • If the dishwasher didn’t show up, someone else had to do it.

We could skip making a certain dish if we are out of an ingredient or if the chef who created it was sick…but we had to have dishes.

Does your equivalent to the dishwasher know how important his/her job is and how it relates to the company’s vision/mission?

If not, what action steps can you put in place to communicate the vision/mission of your business to EVERYONE!

The vision of Crossroads is to help Christian business owners to build a successful business on a foundation of their Christian values!  What is your vision/mission?  Share it with us in the comments!

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Sue Miley

Sue Miley MBA, MA, LPC helps small business owners build successful businesses on a foundation of Christian values. After 20 years in business, and 10 years as a Christian counselor, Sue uses a combination of faith, business and psychology to help clients in business and in life.

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