Page 49 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

Building a Unifying Vision 39

Sometimes, of course, the approach to collaboration on a new vision is
much less deliberate than this. Richard Ober, who is now CEO of the New
Hampshire Charitable Foundation, was attending a conference earlier in
his career when he was running a small but growing nonprofit. He had an
epiphany about ideas that might be useful for a fund-raising brochure, so
he drew a quick sketch of his ideas on a scrap of paper and then pulled it
out a few days later at a development committee meeting. One of the board
members said, “Hey, this isn’t just a brochure—it’s a vision for the whole
organization,” and the rest of the committee agreed. Only then did Ober
bring the brochure to others in the organization to flesh it out. He
presented it at an all-staff meeting where he took suggestions for what had
been left out and then asked those who had participated to draft a more
complete version. Those people began to develop ownership of the vision
as a result.
Involving others in the vision process can be challenging for a leader,
particularly if you already have a strong view of where you want your or-
ganization or team to go. This kind of debate requires that leaders accept
that they are not the font of all wisdom and, in fact, may not have the best
answer—a lesson in humility. It requires that you listen more than you
broadcast. But this act isn’t passive; it requires that you be highly engaged
as you probe, ask questions, spot and challenge assumptions, and learn
about different ways to frame the situation from many different people. It
also requires you to actively synthesize many different ideas and view-
points, and capture them in new, compelling ways. However deeply your
own perspective is captured in the ultimate product, the process requires
your creativity and energy for constant learning, pattern recognition, and
effective articulation.

Step 4. Align people’s work with the vision
Once you’ve finalized the vision statement itself, it’s easy to think that
you’re done, especially if you’ve already involved a significant number of
people in your organization or team in the process. The reality, however,
is that engaging your people in creating or reshaping a vision is just the