Page 42 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

32 HBR Leader’s Handbook

TABLE 1-4
Is it time to create or revise your company’s vision?

If the answer is yes If the answer is no

Do we already have a clear, compel- Congratulations. Keep Consider whether the vision
ling, and unifying vision of what we reinforcing the vision needs to be created or improved
want the organization to achieve in and working toward its or whether it needs to be com-
a few years? Can I articulate it? Do realization. municated more effectively.
other people refer to it regularly?

If I asked 25 people at random Congratulations again. The vision needs to be communi-
about the vision of this organization You not only have a vision, cated more effectively.
(or this unit), would they give me but everyone knows what
more or less the same answer? it is.

Are people excited about the vision This is even better. Your This is a signal that you have
of what we are trying to accomplish people not only know the work to do. You’ll need to engage
as an organization and of working vision, but are also ex- your people so that they can
here? Do they have a sense of pur- cited about it. connect emotionally to where the
pose that gives meaning to their organization is heading.
activities?

Has the business or competitive This is also a signal that You’re probably in a relatively
environment changed significantly? work may be needed on stable environment (unusual
Are there new competitors with dif- the vision, and that you’ll these days), and maybe you don’t
ferent business models? Are we no probably need to engage need to focus on changing or
longer able to attract the best and other stakeholders (e.g., modifying the vision. But don’t
brightest people? customers, suppliers). get complacent. Keep monitoring
what’s going on.

Can we connect the dots between Being able to tell a Try to put the different pieces
our mission, vision, and values (or complete story with all together into a story that can be
operating behaviors)? of these pieces is very conveyed simply and easily.
powerful. You’re in good
shape

Step 2. Develop your starting-point vision
Once you determine that it is time for a new or revised vision, you need to
put together a draft starting point to set the process in motion and to con-
vey your perspective on what to include. This doesn’t mean that you need
to be the sole visionary for your company or your part of it, but at the same
time, you can’t be absent from the process and just give your vision team a
blank sheet of paper.
Based on extensive surveys of thousands of working people in organi-
zations, professors James Kouzes and Barry Posner, in their HBR article